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Conversations about science, technology, history, philosophy and the nature of intelligence, consciousness, love, and power. Lex is an AI researcher at MIT and beyond.
#485 – David Kirtley: Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics, and the Future of Energy
Lex Fridman Podcast
2 hours 45 minutes 22 seconds
17 hours ago
#485 – David Kirtley: Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics, and the Future of Energy
David Kirtley is a nuclear fusion engineer and CEO of Helion Energy, a company working on building the world's first commercial fusion power plant by 2028.
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OUTLINE:
(00:00) - Introduction
(03:00) - Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections
(11:35) - Nuclear fission vs fusion
(21:35) - Physics of E=mc^2
(26:50) - Is nuclear fusion safe?
(32:11) - Chernobyl
(38:38) - Geopolitics
(40:33) - Extreme scenarios
(47:28) - How nuclear fusion works
(1:20:20) - Extreme temperatures
(1:25:21) - Fusion control and simulation
(1:37:15) - Electricity from fusion
(2:11:20) - First fusion power plant in 2028
(2:18:13) - Energy needs of GPU clusters
(2:28:38) - Kardashev scale
(2:36:33) - Fermi Paradox
Conversations about science, technology, history, philosophy and the nature of intelligence, consciousness, love, and power. Lex is an AI researcher at MIT and beyond.
