
Originally Posted by
theorist
So Plasma is a random variable that as to be adjusted to, so can the magnetic field not be set up on a random algorythm? please forgive the spelling.
Please reread with care what Strange so painstakingly wrote with care. Nowhere do I see him make a statement even remotely suggesting that "plasma is a random variable."
Ok, so you're not a troll, but you are appallingly careless with reading and logic. Rather than trying to shotgun your way to knowledge, how about trying actual, careful, deliberative study?
Here's what Strange told you, in other words: For fusion, we want to bash light nuclei (from hydrogen, here) to make heavier nuclei (helium). We start with hydrogen at very high temperatures (this creates ionized hydrogen; the collection of high temperature ions is what we are calling plasma). We want temperatures so high, in fact, that the nuclei will bash into each other with sufficient violence to cause them to stick together.
To keep the temperatures high long enough to get the job done, we have to prevent the plasma from cooling by contact with surfaces. The solution? Get rid of surfaces. The "magnetic bottles" used to confine the plasma are not made of matter, so there are no walls that could cool the plasma.
The problem? The magnetic bottles are not stable. They develop the equivalent of aneurysms. Stabilizing these bottles has been the sticking point for fusion work for decades. Progress continues to be made, but very slowly. It is hard work replicating the sun on earth.