Fossils or Fusion

"Where are they?"

We're not alone in the universe, astrophysicists and cosmologists have concluded after considering the odds. These scientists use electromagnetic devices for observations and communications. Hoping to reach others, they've looked, listened and sent messages. So far there is no evidence. Maybe a different channel is used by other intelligent beings. The lack of a response, in any case, is somewhat troubling.

Our continued presence here, whether or not we're actually stewards of the earth, can't be taken for granted. We have developed, through extraordinary efforts, thermonuclear weapons that might end life on earth. Similarly, less focused efforts in the production of energy have unintentionally initiated changes in the climate, which if not checked, will be equally disastrous.

Some known factors in climate change are lining up, as on a slot machine: a pair of coal mines, four oil derricks in a row. For the fossil fuel business, the future looks dire. For people caught in hurricanes and blizzards, extreme snow and flooding, tornadoes, drought driven forest fires, there's no question. The changes are a litmus for politicians: truth versus propaganda.

But another and more powerful source of energy is also known. It doesn't spew greenhouse gasses or radioactive waste. We see it happening in the sun. And here on earth the fusion of hydrogen atoms has been achieved for brief periods of time, releasing a great amount of energy and requiring great energy to keep the reaction contained. Current methods require about as much energy for containment as the reaction generates. If this ratio can be changed to favor generation, fusion power becomes viable.

At this stage, fusion power might be compared with the Manhattan Project, which got underway in 1939. The concentrated effort to get a more destructive bomb culminated with the Trinity Test in 1945. That's about 6 years. Now a similar effort is needed to get the containment problem solved for fusion in a full scale reactor.

Scientists monitoring the climate say we have about 10 years to meet the challenge of greenhouse gas emissions. If they are not controlled soon, the opportunity will not return. Irreversible damage is happening that will take us over the edge of the tipping point.

Expressed in some way incomprehensible, perhaps a Sentinel stone, earth might become an epitaph: “Humans – not very intelligent!”

On the other hand, perhaps fusion power will achieve containment. Fossil power then looks like a candle in a coal mine. Humans make another extraordinary effort, for life on earth. If successful, it’s better than being turned to stone. It might possibly point the way past being turned into radioactive dust.