This is obviously speculation for further into the future, there's some extreme practical issues with trying to build and operate a tokamak (or one of the other designs) in space. In theory something the size of Tokamak Energy's ST40 could be launched in one go, not including the absurd amount of solar panels it would need to power it. But ignoring those issues (or assuming it's far enough into the future that some of the hurdles of space industry have been overcome) would it even be beneficial to attempt?

There's a LOT of complex forces acting on the plasma. If you could remove gravity then you'd also remove and convection processes caused by different densities of plasma, which logically seems like it would simplify the task of containing/controlling the plasma.

Or else maybe it's irrelevant because the magnetic fields are so intense?

based on my (limited) understanding of a Tokamak, one of the biggest challenges of a Tokamak is that particles drift up or down depending on how far away they are from the center of the donut. To compensated for the drift a current is generated in the plasma to create a twisted magnetic field that continuously moves particles from the inside to the outside of the donut and back. the plasma current, complicates the design and prevents a tokamak from running continuously. A stellarator solves the same problem but with a very complex magnetically field.

i was wondering if instead of a donut shape reactor, if it would be possible to make a figure 8 shaped reactor that would effectively do the same thing ( switching particles from the inside ( one ring of the 8) to the outside (other ring of the 8) as the plasma current in the Tokamak or the complex magnetic field in the stellarator, but in a more straight forward way.

The 3rd edition of Techno-Optimist is out, where I cover some news from ZAP Energy and Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

https://twitter.com/is_OwenLewis/status/1786849929266335817?t=mrPOW74mOhUAUvLNuJeO4g&s=19

https://phys.org/news/2024-04-physicists-key-hurdles-fusion-reactions.html

Nature article reports 50% higher confinement time, fewer ELMs and 67% higher neutron flux:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07313-3

Where would one go to access fusion-related data? For example, does the NIF release data on their settings and the associated output?

See also the description here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetohydrodynamic_generator . In a not recorded seminar at MIT PSFC they explained obviously with ARC FPP in mind, they could increase the total fusion energy to electricity conversion rate from 35% to 55% with such a cylindrical Hall MHD Generator, using K and Ar in it, expecting a MHD conversion rate of 31%. But they have to do some more calculations and experiments before. They expect the cold, but fully ionized plasma in it to be well behaved, opposed to a fusion plasma.

scientists have primarily focused on two methods: magnetic confinement, as seen in tokamaks, and inertial confinement, utilized in laser-based systems. Problem=> They require immense energy input to achieve the conditions necessary for hydrogen nuclei to overcome their natural repulsion and fuse, often resulting in an energy output that barely breaks even with the input. Furthermore, sustaining the necessary high temperatures and pressures over time is engineeringly and financially challenging

Quantum Tunneling Amplification (QTA): let's play with quantum tunneling—a phenomenon where particles pass through a barrier that they, according to classical physics, should not be able to breach. in the sun, it enables nuclear fusion under conditions that would seem insufficient from a classical standpoint. could we amplify this naturally occurring quantum cheat code to crack the door to practical nuclear fusion?

We could engineer an ultra-cold atomic gas environment maintained within electromagnetic fields, we can create a lattice-like structure to precisely position deuterium and tritium nuclei for optimal interaction. Aligning these nuclei's oscillations through resonant frequency manipulation enhances their probability of tunneling through the electrostatic repulsion barrier separating them. Quantum entanglement further boosts this effect, syncing the states of multiple nuclei to achieve a collective tunneling phenomenon, thereby dramatically increasing the fusion rate.

By fundamentally altering the fusion equation through quantum mechanics, we could overcome initiating and sustaining fusion reactions efficiently.