3D visualization brings nuclear fusion to life

actu.epfl.ch

27 points·rntn··7 comments

"Real-time graphics" is typically used in gaming to differentiate between pre-rendered content and content that is rendered on the fly. It's not related to a 1-1 time scale of the content it's displaying. So, my assumption here is that they mean it's actually being rendered as you are using it and at an acceptable framerate, as opposed to the need for it to be simulated, rendered, and played back as a video.

words are often used precisely and correctly within their corresponding fields. often the same words are used across fields to mean different things.

"error" in observations isn't a mistake, for example.

real-time means different things in games and physical simulations.

> The system is designed to turn reams of simulation and testing data into real-time graphics worthy of today’s advanced video games.

What exactly do they understand under "real-time graphics" in the context of nuclear fusion? Wouldn't we need a massive slow-down on the time-axis to be able to "see" anything at all? Or is real-time referring to the user being able to interact and modify the graphics in real-time?

Related question. Is there any open-source simulation software that can show visualizations of arbitrary chemical reactions, at the atom level?

This would be a fantastic time sink.

I am aware of LAMMPS or GROMACS which can be used for molecular dynamics simulations and visualizations.

But you probably need some physics degree to use them correctly as you have to specify the potentials that make sense.

It's classical physics so won't be totally accurate.

Now if only we could see a visualization of what Helion are up to. I'm getting such Agent Moulder vibes from that company.

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