The days of reliance on inefficient power sources have received another nail in their temporal coffin with the news that India is joining the international group that will build a fusion power plant in France.

Source: BBC News

There are pessimists in all places (one must assume) trying to limit progress, but the prospect of harnessing the power that runs the sun so efficiently must be grasped with both hands.

It often escapes the public’s attention that there have been no significant developments in the understanding of the fundamentals of the universe since Einstein. Transistors, the internet, Wi-Fi, jet engines, bar codes, the laser – they’re all amendments or utilisations of existing understanding.

I do not believe we know all there is to know about the fundamentals and I’m sure there have been developments of understanding since Einstein that just haven’t yet bourne fruit, but in the meantime we must embrace the practical use and exploitation of the rules of physics that we know to date.

The ultimate requirement (in my book) of human exploration of the galaxy/universe relies on scientific advancement and the paltry £5 per person currently spent on space projects by the ESA should be increased to focus on new technology. The USA spends a relatively large, but still paltry, £64 per person on the NASA budget per year.