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The Z Machine

sandia.gov — This is a stop action photo of a device at Sandia Labs releasing its capacitors' charge. It is about the size of a basketball court. It has achieved temperatures of 3.7*10^9 K (highest man-made temperature ever). During the 100 ns discharge, the power output is 2.9*10^14 W, equal to 80 times the power output of all the power plants on earth.

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  • Ridgeliner7, on 05/17/2008, -6/+19Very cool !
    • sanman, on 05/17/2008, -5/+26The Z-reactor! It's a science project!

      We built that to shut the hippies up!
      • yaddayaddayoda, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3I think I played a pinball machine that looked like that.
    • kipmartin, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2i need one of these -- my apartment is a bit nippy in the morning.
    • stupidfilters, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1more like very hot
    • Spuy767, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3More like. . . very old. This picture was taken in March of 1998 I believe. It's a snap of the "z-machine" during an X-ray discharge.
    • pokebud, on 05/18/2008, -0/+0Not really looks more like someone is designing a new "Gay Spiderman" outfit
    • BlackCow, on 05/18/2008, -1/+1But can it run crysis?
  • bogoslav, on 05/17/2008, -3/+45Really impressive! But I didn't clearly get the purpose of this?
    • diggrnumber1, on 05/17/2008, -0/+13to study nuclear fusion
    • greenblob, on 05/17/2008, -12/+1011. To see what happens.
      2. Because it's ***** awesome.
      3. Who cares about practical application anyway?
      • romistrub, on 05/17/2008, -0/+43 -> Probably whoever funded this? :P
      • Jeffreybolle, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I do. Especially with an apocalyptic energy crisis looming!
      • docbob84, on 05/17/2008, -0/+0I think he meant "why are they doing this? What are they studying and what kinds of things is it telling us?" At least that's what I'm thinking lol. I want some idea of what we're looking at here, because you're right, it is ***** awesome.
    • HotGore, on 05/17/2008, -2/+4What why do we need a reason?
    • ahoyhoy, on 05/17/2008, -2/+26It's Ark technology!
      • Phyltre, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2I thought that was Arc with a c? ...But then I'm not too well-versed on the canon.
    • dhughes, on 05/17/2008, -1/+41 Purpose = Disco.
    • bokep, on 05/17/2008, -2/+12To get a nice picture
    • Justice101, on 05/17/2008, -4/+6It's for the new Indiana Jones Movie. He found, and opened The Ark!
    • rift137, on 05/17/2008, -3/+10makes really good cookies.
      but really, used to study plasma as a new source of energy. In its center is a ball of plasma created by superheated carbon wire, and encased by magnetic fields so that the earth dosn't blow up.
      • michaelb323, on 05/17/2008, -12/+2its there to cost us billions
        • fluxion, on 05/17/2008, -0/+7because what possible use could humans have for nuclear fusion?
        • shadowsurfr1, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3I thought that was Bush...
    • Fritzed, on 05/17/2008, -1/+26Full explanation - http://www.sandia.gov/media/z290.htm
    • grytpype, on 05/17/2008, -8/+1Who needs a purpose? It's cooler than dogsh*t!
    • Attol, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Its the interweb in what seems to be a gigantic tube.
  • louiebaur, on 05/17/2008, -3/+2Nice picture
  • Omek, on 05/17/2008, -0/+15Yes, I'm curious as well. What is the purpose. I certainly looks cool tho...
    • cyborg, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5It's one of the largest X-ray generators in the world, and it provides tests for materials that aid in the computer modeling of nuclear weapon explosions.

      In otherwords.......you'd vaporize instantly should you have bad luck around that thing.
  • macwac, on 05/17/2008, -12/+2It released 80 times the power output of all power plants on earth..(100ns) if thats true, why can't we use this to store energy and feed our energy grid. I'm sick of paying high energy bills =P

    Its really cool looking though - new wallpaper. Reminds me of something out of Unreal, Halo, Doom etc..
    • TJ11240, on 05/17/2008, -0/+11because its a capacitor
    • macwac, on 05/17/2008, -3/+6isn't the purpose of capacitors to store energy?.. i never said to produce energy.
    • diggrnumber1, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3the power output is only for 10^-7 s, and power is energy released PER SECOND, so it actually only consumes about as much energy per discharge as 100 normal households over the course of 2 min (according to wikipedia).
      • badjoke, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Sorry if this sounds dumb (just trying to understand it) but how can it discharge that much energy? Did it just collect a ton of power for a long time? Where did the energy come from.
        • apophenic, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5It collects the power of a long period of time. It's like how the flash on a camera has to warm-up: its capacitors are charging, to release all the stored energy in one short flash. Capacitors discharge very quickly.
        • jmpeagle, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1probably from conventional power plants, they let it charge for a long time
        • badjoke, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Thanks for answering and not being douchy. :)
        • diggrnumber1, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1nothing can collect power, since power is the rate at which energy is expended. it releases a lot of energy really fast, so that's how it can achieve such a high power output.
      • Asheis, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1I'd like a non-wiki source for that...
  • RedneckRandy, on 05/17/2008, -2/+14210^14W. Isn't that a Jiggawatt? Do they drive a DeLorean through the center when the charge unleashes?
    • diggrnumber1, on 05/17/2008, -0/+26A Jiggawatt (Gigawatt) is only 10^9 W. 2.9*10^14 is 2.9*10^5 GW, or 2.9*10^2 TW (Terawatts). This is equal to 0.1 PW (petawatts), which would be 1/10 of one quadrillion watts (yes, 0.1 quadrillion is a real number).
      • lmf49, on 05/17/2008, -0/+10Great Scott Marty!
      • yaddayaddayoda, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6So what you're saying is... you *could* drive a Delorean through this when it's discharging, but the Delorean would turn into incandescent vapor.
    • JoemcC00L, on 05/17/2008, -2/+32Jiggawho?
    • BTraina, on 05/17/2008, -1/+22Jigga what?
    • BaronVonZ, on 05/17/2008, -3/+26Jigga please!
    • czeman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+7Gigawatt or Terawatt, who the hell wants to pay THAT electric bill?
      • smaisch, on 05/17/2008, -3/+1It creates that energy, not consumes it. -_-
        • possiblyneil, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Like hell it does. It stores charge, then releases it. Were the charge comes from I don't know.
        • czeman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2I guess I forgot the /joke tag at the end. I apologize. However...

          "Z releases 80 times the world's electrical power output for a few billionths of a second; however, only a moderate amount of energy is consumed in each test (roughly equal to the electrical energy consumed by 100 U.S households in two minutes."

          ...that's still an electric bill I wouldn't want to pay myself.
      • fuzzybeard, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2We, the taxpayers do.

        /your government at work
        //actually doing something that looks COOL.
    • lucutus, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1It's actually 290 terawatts
    • fuzzybeard, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1I think you got Back To The Future mashed up a bit with Stargate SG-1 there.

      /indeed.
  • diggrnumber1, on 05/17/2008, -0/+66wikipedia has a detailed description of the uses of the machine and how it works:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_machine

    also, this photo makes a great wallpaper. it definitely has high enough resolution.
    • txtphile, on 05/17/2008, -4/+1I don't know why I'm commenting this, but I feel compelled:

      I followed this link and read about the:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive

      And almost instantly began laughing when I saw the words "Mexican physicist."

      I am a brown-skinned human myself, and have dealt with prejudice all my life (god damn america!). But I'm also a pretty laid-back and empathic guy who prides himself on being open-minded. If pressed I would have said ten minutes ago: "I don't have a racist bone in my body."

      Oh well. Just thought I'd share. Dig me down.
    • greenleave5, on 05/17/2008, -1/+0thank you for the link
      however, it seems i am too stupid to comprehend the matter
    • VSKBadCRC, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1I read almost the entirety of the Wiki article, and I still have no idea what this machine does.

      All I know is it looks cool.
  • db0255, on 05/17/2008, -8/+11but does it tie my shoes? that's the question.
    • AndrewDB, on 05/17/2008, -3/+8No, the question is:

      Will it ble.. ah ***** it and forget it. We've said it enough.
      • Silentnite85, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4Now I'll never know what the question was!
  • OpCzar, on 05/17/2008, -3/+26Ah, so that's what powers Ironman's house!
  • uriman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+32they can make this, but they can't make make sharks with lasers on their heads? unbelieveable
  • JoemcC00L, on 05/17/2008, -2/+21Now to make it the size of a peanut jar and use it to power some sort of metallic battle suit!

    Sorry, couldn't resist...
    • Psi57, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2I want a MadCat.

      [Yes, I did get your joke too]
    • lolwutpear, on 05/17/2008, -0/+0You think that's hard? Try doing it in a cave with a bunch of scraps.
  • garfonzo, on 05/17/2008, -3/+34Scientist A: Sweet, that was seriously hot hey?!
    Scientist B: Shya! Fire it up again, I'm gonna throw this bag of sliced pickles in to see what happens...
    • Silentnite85, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Best cheap electricity experiment ever: Hook a pickle up to two wires in the dark and watch the sparks. Just do it outside, nobody likes the smell of science.
    • Duositex, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1A bag of pickles? What?
  • FaithclubDotNet, on 05/17/2008, -2/+9Thanks for my new desktop wallpaper.
  • paulishuku, on 05/17/2008, -19/+2I swear I've seen this picture on here before... Oh well.

    iPhone 2.. WOO!
  • kprooney, on 05/17/2008, -0/+9I want one
  • legoalert33, on 05/17/2008, -15/+10Who divided by zero?
    • generalalcazar, on 05/17/2008, -3/+2I don't know, but that sounds like fun!

      2/0
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      ow
  • Tcasey0478, on 05/17/2008, -9/+2Can you say, Half Life? haha!
    • lennybird, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6leave out the "haha!", and you would've potentially been dugg up. From experience, I've found diggers don't like cheesy laughter via words.
  • apophenic, on 05/17/2008, -11/+62004
  • Osirus1156, on 05/17/2008, -2/+4Neat, it kinda looks like an A.I. brain or something!
  • LimeParrot, on 05/17/2008, -1/+11It reminds me of the 'machine' in "The Prestige".
  • Walty, on 05/17/2008, -3/+72"During the 100 ns discharge, the power output is 2.9*10^14 W..."

    Thats what she said.
  • futureisours, on 05/17/2008, -1/+8You could use it to kill a vorlon.
  • Princeamor, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Hmmmm.... I wonder what would happen If someone jumps down through there...
    • davidlick, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6The original atoms that made up your body ceasing to exist comes to mind.
      • Sasquatcho, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2total photonic reversal... don't cross the streams.
  • puttsy, on 05/17/2008, -3/+1What is it and where can I get one?
  • hergs, on 05/17/2008, -11/+3This is quite interesting and all, but uhh... there are people starving all around the world.
    • Fartag, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3Hey Og, planting those seeds, trapping and selectively breeding animals, digging trenches to the river, and burning that clay and heavy rock metal in the fire is interesting and all, but let's keep following the animal herd to where they go next so we don't starve!

      In other words, don't kick science in the nuts because we don't know what experiments or research may be unveiled by it! Besides the Z machine has plenty of uses (from Wikipedia) testing materials under extreme temperatures and pressures and providing data for computer nuclear weapon simulations, and potential for investigation of aneutronic fusion (fusion with no radiation waste!) and eco-friendly-Nukes (no fallout).

      Just think how many billions of people might have starved in the _future_ due to an energy crisis and missing out on sustainable aneutronic fusion because the Z machine had its funding taken away. Sad indeed.
      • RxDaniel, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Eco-friendly-nukes made me laugh way too much, I think I might have a problem.
        • Fartag, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Yeah that sounds terribly ridiculous now that you mention it and I read it again :( I think what I meant was more eco-friendly in the sense that it harmlessly moves animals (bears, deer, fish, people, ...) and plants out of the general area and into other planes of existence. And lightly digs enormous craters, and that there's no fallout for whatever's left.
    • satyarth, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1 That problem's solved because this can apparently make microwave pizza.
  • elambing, on 05/17/2008, -6/+6But... what does it do?
    • NihilFist, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3It makes pizza.
    • HelloNavi, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1But... will it blend?
    • darlyn, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2In case you didn't wiki it, this machine is used for testing the temperature and pressure limits of a material.
  • vensure, on 05/17/2008, -8/+0Half life 2 anyone? =|
  • Haidoken, on 05/17/2008, -8/+1Can't we use that stored energy for something? Hook it up to the power lines and sell it back to the grid.
    • davidlick, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4It said 80 times the total output of ALL power plants in the world... I'm pretty sure it would blow up the planet or something.
  • mantone2, on 05/17/2008, -0/+10Actually it doesnt look like this anymore. they changed the way the electricity runs through it and theres no more 'pretty' arcing. This all happened last fall. They are using a new electronic system to get the pull down in the nano-second range (cant remember how short but im thinking 500 ns. mabye less?) And they are using less water (a lot less) and less wiring to limit self induced impedence.
    its pretty sweet, theres a lot of press releases on it.
  • Nero9171, on 05/17/2008, -5/+3Hello new wallpaper...
  • Ghoztt, on 05/17/2008, -1/+98"Now Gordon, if you would be so kind as to push the specimen into the beam..."
  • hollyminkowski, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1I think it is an electronic pulse generator.
    It would create a very intense magnetic field if the capacitors were dumped into a small coil.
    Also this could power a hefty laser and generate one whopping big laser pulse.
    A small version of this sort of thing is available as a desktop unit called a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator...these are used by MDs to induce an electrical current in the brain by magnetic induction. They produce magnetic fields of about 2 to 5 Tesla. The magnetic coil for these is usually twisted into a figure 8 pattern to focus the field in mainly one direction.
    http://hkin.educ.ubc.ca/faculty/franksi/mcllab/Lab ...
  • danmurf, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6"Dr. Freeman. You really shouldn't be out there. At the moment of synapse, as I teleport, this chamber will be bathed in deadly particles that have yet to be named by human science."
  • gtochad, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1this is in my physics book :O

    very pretty
  • TanisDLC, on 05/17/2008, -1/+7That is the coolest bug zapper I've ever seen!
  • trp5023, on 05/17/2008, -7/+9but will it blend?
  • theloofa, on 05/17/2008, -5/+3a) what the hell is it?
    b) where do i get one?
    • pandorazboxx, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Sandia Research Labs, and no you can't haz.
  • yoda17, on 05/17/2008, -7/+2Wow, isn't this picture from like 100 years ago?
    • RxDaniel, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1It does look like the kinda thing Tesla would have made.
    • Sinestro, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I thought the same thing when I saw it.

      It's in my high school physics textbook, and I've seen it on the internet numerous times. There might even be a segment on the history channel about it.
  • w3v3, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3I don't know what the hell it is, but it sure looks awesome.
  • scizor600, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4but does it play zork?
  • DM01, on 05/17/2008, -0/+16They're waiting for you Gordon, in the tesssst chamberrrrrr.
  • tracywood, on 05/17/2008, -8/+2Humans must progress, it is nature, but towards what? When half the planet goes to bed hungry, I can't help but think the progress we are making is not in the direction that matters.
    • MunkMunk, on 05/17/2008, -1/+0Well, with this progression, it seems that sooner or later we'll be able to blow large chunks of earth out of orbit without the worry of radiation aftermath...

      Sounds like fun...

      But really, what really irks me is that IF and that is an IF, they do screw up the procedures and somehow blow Albuquerque up, I swear I'd think of a way to kick whoever's fault it was in the balls....

      ...even though I would be non-existent...
    • holmesfour, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Production of food costs energy, how else do you propose that we get it other than through research?
  • solidcube, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1Uh... why is the discharge almost completely planar?
    • Sinestro, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I'm not 100%, but i do believe it's because its resting in water. This is possibly distorting the light.
  • kidpjpa, on 05/17/2008, -3/+7Great Scott! 1.21 Jigawatts!?!?!

  • Meatball01, on 05/17/2008, -0/+7Gordon doesn't need to hear all of this, he's a highly trained professional.
  • Punjabdasher, on 05/17/2008, -17/+3I CAN HAS WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN NEW MEXICO KTHNXBAI
    • leerdag, on 05/17/2008, -1/+0Hope the New Mexicans don't mind us invading their state to find the WMDs that they are hiding. So says the intel reports. While we're at it, I think the Texans are up to no good with that "pull-leg-gamy." You know. Not to be confused with organnamy. Where you fold them organs and make peace dinosaurs. Technique I learned from the califlowerians.
  • RandomGorilla, on 05/17/2008, -0/+37I do believe this machine constitutes steps 4, 5 and 6 in someone's world domination scheme.
    • Infidelcastr0, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5Step 1. Underpants
      Step 2. ??????
      Step 3. Profit
      Step 4. Z-Machine
      Step 5. Z-Machine
      Step 6. Z-Machine
      Step 7. ??????
      Step 8. THE WORLD!
    • Pssdoff, on 05/17/2008, -0/+61. Steal Underpants
      2. ??????
      3. Profit
      4. Use profits to buy Z-Machine
      5. Use Z-Machine to build Z-Machine Clone Army
      6. Z-Machine Clone Army steals all underpants on Planet Earth
      7. World Domination
      8. Finally get a Digg article to the front page.
  • dapengi, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2Hey i have stood on that machine. Its ***** crazy how big it is and how the building shakes when it goes off.
  • Greengoo, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Prepare for unforeseen consequences...
  • ysss, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Good news, everyone! My parabox has just been opened!
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