#institute

[gageisahomeboi]

Another one

[the-interidiot]

ATTENTION FANS OF FALLOUT 4!

I’m doing a video analysis on Synths from Fallout 4, and it would be hugely helpful to complete this short survey sharing your opinion on the topic of Synths! It’s very short, and all written questions are optional.

If you can, please reblog this so it reaches a few more people. :)

[theqhreator42]

you can tell Fallout 4 was not written by scientists because this guy expresses surprise that a project has dragged on for months

[macbeth-n-cheese]

Study in Synth Anatomy

Based on gen. 2 models

Finally done with this! It was very difficult to find good references for their insides, but I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Wanted to give it a vintage medical book vibe ^^

(the French words are names I gave to the parts lol)

Edit: changed my signature and fixed this mistake that was driving me mad lol

Translation for the text, clockwise from the title:

'Anatomy of the Synthetic Man

Coolant Filter

Fuse Box

Reactor Casing

Coolant Pump Motor

Torso Mobility Joint

Auxiliar Coolant Tank

Negative Pressure Pump

Coolant Tank

Upper Limb Motor

Upper Limb Pulley Array'

There are a lot of HC parts that I ended up not including, because it would be wayyy too busy

[theology101]

I’m bored, so I’m rewriting fallout 4. Lets start with the big factions

Fallout 4 Enhanced, part 1 - major factions

The Minutemen

So despite trying to uphold the values of Old World America, it’s a military junta made up of disorganized paramilitary troops. My brother in Christ, thats Yugoslavia.

After retaking the Castle, we should have the ability to form a democratic government and perfect the Commonwealth Provisional Government. And then have elections for Governor that the player can run for but also very much can choose not to. If you’re playing an evil Institute run one candidate should be Mayor McDonough as your puppet, but forbidding you from running. If we’re rebuilding America, let’s start with Democracy, eh? I think that the president should be Abigail Finch, but I’ll take Blake Abernathy or Preston Garvey.

Also, I want there to be a continuous through line of the Gunners-Minutemen rivalry. Honestly, once the Institute is gone, I want a big set piece battle against the Gunners in Quincy (maybe destroying the Overpass with Artillery?) and freeing the still captive population of Quincy. Give us a fourth act, semi protracted factional conflict

I think it would actually be fun if this was a multi faction battle, but we’ll get there.

Railroad

The biggest negative for them (besides the brain wiping) is that they put a lot of focus and effort into freeing *only* Synths. Which makes sense, because there are only Synth Slaves in the Commonwealth (besides ones explicitly being removed) - so here is an idea, say that is because of the Railroad. Make them be this famous and legendary group who’s broken up countless slaver groups and factions, and have no turned to the Synth as their latest Crusade.

It’d definitely give them a lot more good will with your average citizen who, even if they don��t like Synths, remembers their story. A large, established network that stretches across the entire East Coast that has the vast resources to fight the Institute on a level, if asymmetric, playing field. Hell, let’s even have a few long-term Brotherhood infiltrators who are leaking secrets to the Railroad (Maybe they’re a vertibird pilot who “throws their trash” and agents pick up the encoded message). They know of the Brotherhood and have agents in the Capital Wasteland, it isn’t impossible. There should be an option to assassinate Maxson and replace him with Danse whos more sympathetic and wont attack them, but also won’t work with them either.

Speaking of, during the Battle of Quincy, they should be freeing slaves. We see massive empty cages when we go in game, have them filled and make it the basis of the Gunner’s new slave trade operation. We convince Desdemona for a joint strike, so while our artillery is firing, a few squads of heavies and infiltrators hit the cages, free the prisoners, and bounce before anyone notices.

Brotherhood of Steel

This one is going to be the most radically changed, because I think the Brotherhood, while cool in principle, felt undercooked. Which is why I think there should be sub-factions within the Brotherhood of Steel - Hard Liners and Sympathizers, split between their view of Synths. Brotherhood Ideology is not monolithic, in fallout 2 there were debates if Super Mutants were bad, or Hostile Super Mutants only, and similar ones about Ghouls exist in Fallout 3. And then there are the ones who are Space Marines fighting for the God Emperor Elder Maxson.

Hard Liners: Kells, Quinlan and Teagen

Sympathetics: Ingram, Cade, Neriah and Madison Li

Maxson himself starts off as a Hardliner, but based off of choices in other questlines, the Brotherhood’s own new quest lines from the characters I just mentioned, and your charisma in dialogue checks, can be changed into being Sympathetic.

Kells is just a straight military man, also the easiest Hard Liner to convert once you convince him of the military impossibility of trying to actually find Synths, his quest would probably be making an airbase at one of your settlements for the Brotherhood. Quinlan is just a Maxson sycophant and propagandist and has fully bought into whatever Maxson says, even writing his propaganda piece, he also already has quests so he’s good. Teagan is a right bastard and Synth Racist, who will also disapprove of you making democracy if you’re a Minuteman - you have one quest were he sends a squad to intimidate your settlement and they kill the squad and you can either punish them or bring Teagan up on charges of plundering and terrorizing innocents.

Ingram feels a lot of sympathy for the Synths due to her own bio-mechanical nature and thinks that some institute tech can be used for good like agriculture or limb replacement. Her quests should be about finding a way to lessen her work load, maybe with robots, maybe by training and recruiting settlers, maybe by optimizing the Prydwen - her quest ends with her leaving the power armor frame and getting to sleep. Cade is a doctor, he isn’t too interested but since he cant tell a Synth from a Human under tests, he doesn’t really trust the Brotherhood to perform summary executions of them - his quest should just be getting the Covenant research to validate his assumption of ‘dont kill synths.’ Neriah thinks that Institute research in general, especially in bio science, and that Synth researchers with their long lives and rad resistance would be a massive boon for the Brotherhood, she also thinks Synths are similar to Star Paladin Cross and he was fine? - her quest already exists. Madison Li obviously values Synths and the Institute and, one step further, doesn’t want to destroy it either. Hold trials and take over? Sure, but not destroy a perfectly good lab filled with good people

Also, someone on the Sympathetic side is a Railroad agent but idk who, you decide! Not the only one, but definitely the highest ranking

Based off of all these people and their quests, I want a Far Harbor style “Everyone pause and let’s talk about it!” where there is just a full on debate between the leaders of the Brotherhood about wether or not Synths need to be destroyed, or just the method of creating and controlling Synths, allowing them to be free people. Hell, let this happen after Danse runs off but before you go get him. Make a case that the Institute records you stole have him as an escaped slave who then enlisted, of his own free will - while he needs to be taken off the active line of fire while the Institute still has the ability to control him (albeit only up close and if he hears it, so maybe just blast death metal?), let him be the thing that changes Maxson’s policy.

Or if you’re an absolute bastard, instead of doing anything that I just said you encourage everyone’s worst tendencies. Tell Cade that Covenant is almost there and that you let them carry on, get Proctor Ingram believing in conspiracy theories and Teagan an alt-right podcast where they debate whether or not the Brotherhood should have mandatory breeding regulations. I doubt anyone would play it, and all this option would do is lock you out of other stuff (probably preventing or toppling the Commonwealth Provisional Government but hey, at least you get to be Elder of the newly founded Commonwealth Chapter!), but if someone wants to be a bastard and not an unhinged freak who eats corpses, this is how

Let your choices in the story matter.

For the Battle of Quincy, just send a vertibird or two and drop in some guys in power armor and heavy weapons. Land them inside the walls while the Minutemen storm the gates - after the Artillery and Railroad have escaped, of course

The Good Ending

Before we get to the Institute, this is what I call the Good Ending. With the Brotherhood no longer having a desire to take down the Synth, and the Railroad, while powerful, very much lacking the firepower to take down the Institute, are both brought to the Castle for a meeting between Maxson, Desdemona, the Governor, Preston Garvey and you (if you’re not Governor-General). There is shouting, yelling, insults traded (maybe there is even an intermission) but unless you fuck up badly or intentionally screw yourself, you have a joint Minuteman-Railroad-Brotherhood attack force against the Institute.

The Brotherhood still play Pacific Rim, as a distraction, while Railroad operatives sneak through the tunnel system in the Charles. By the time Liberty Prime has blasted a hole into the Earth and Minutemen and Brotherhood troops are storming the base, Loyal and Rebel synths are already fighting on the ground for their freedom. Unlike in game, some of these scientists absolutely would not go down swinging. I can talk those nerds in bioscience or engineering are gonna fight to the Death? SRB sure, but come on. Maybe not all of them are genuine and there is some post game shit with that but with your planning and overwhelming advantage, the Institute falls rather bloodlessly

Now, you can decide to do what Arthur wants you to do and blow it up, or… you can decide to give the Institute to be jointly run by the three factions and the Synths. It’s just a social hub, maybe some act 4 shenanigans (racial conflict)

Oh boy,

The Institute

Hey what’s their goal?

Like, beyond keeping the surface permanently destabilized (Sabatouging any collective government, fomenting conflict between Goodneighbor and Diamond city, seeding Super Mutants at random to ensure chaos) so it remains their pretty, perfect little petri dish, what are their goals?

I got the idea for this from a youtube video, so I’m just gonna say it “Why did you program them to feel fear?” Like, what purpose does it serve to give the Synths complete, perfect sentience and then enslave them? The Gen 2s seemed to be doing just fine. Okay, maybe you wanted to make perfectly humanoid ones, why arent they all like Coursers? Why, why, why? And no one can give me a damn answer!

So, here’s an idea: Shaun is dying of Cancer, so he had his eyes set on True Immortality. A Gen IV Synth, perfectly capable of human thought and creativity, perfectly human in every biological way only superior - faster, stronger, quicker reflexes - immune to radiation, disease and starvation and, once they reach a certain age, become immortal. And I did say “reach a certain age.” Using biotech and nanomachines, lil Shaun is the first Gen IV Synth, born as an infant in a lab womb and fully capable of spreading as a new Ubermensch i mean, new tomorrow. Shaun was going to wait until the body was in its 20s, but his brain cancer is getting so bad that only fragments of his mind can be copied into the 10 year old body.

This should be an active debate of whether or not this is the next step in Cyborgs and Synths (after all, was Kellog not just a Synth at a certain point?) where as some view it as a gross violation of human dignity. Show me some angry academics, damn you! Regardless, some (especially older people) should be Quite Excited about getting flash copied into a “perfect” Gen IV body. This also, at least to me, explains why they needed to be perfectly human - they wanted a perfectly platform to hold onto their intelligence and not go insane or lose their “soul” like the Necrontyr-Necron. It gives an actual reason for all the weird shit they do

As Director you get to decide wether or not this gets to go ahead or not - also whether or not you should kill and replace people with Synths. Give me moral consequences, damn it, there is NO WAY Piper isnt getting replaced in an Institute Victory and you the player should have to carry that burden.

Also i want assassination missions where I replace people with Synths. I think it would be a fun stealth segment to get NPCs alone and either kill em or teleport em. We’re a shadowy cabal, we should be able to end all the faction disputes quietly. Send the brotherhood home, break apart the railroad in a single night. Right proper evil stuff. Or, if you want to play terminator, you role up with an army of death bots and destroy everything for the Gen IV Synth Army!

End Notes

Fallout 4 needed a fourth act. After the Institute is gone, nothing changes. I just blew up a solid chunk of cambridge and am i high ranking leader in two military governments and im a secret agent, and that’s it? No interaction with each other beyond killing? No “crossing idealogical boundaries for the greater good?” I don’t want to fanboy for New Vegas but there, I could cross boundaries and convince people to join their enemies for their own safety and betterment. Preston Garvey is just like “Hey, we can blow up the Blimp if you wanna. Danse is cool, and I know there are kids on board, but I don’t want them breathing down our neck.” Like, motherfucker I’m their Sentinel - no.

The point of the series is “War Never Changes, so Men Must Change.” There’s no change in Fallout 4. There is no seeing the bigger picture and reaching peace. Once the Institute blows up, most factions could probably just go home because the only reason they’d bother to do anything is to kill each other. And that’s deeply boring to me.

Next episode, the minor factions - Gunners, Children of Atom, Raider Gangs, and Super Mutants

[amazinglyegg]

Nick tries to explain what trees are to DiMA

+ DiMA's drawing he made after that conversation (Nick's not too good at explaining things...)

Okay now for my silly little headcanons I need to write down before I explode

DiMA has blue eyes so the scientists can differentiate him from the rest of the synths!

I picked blue specifically because his entire Acadia room is blue with all the computers and such, which is a nice contrast to Nick's warm color scheme.

They were both tests to see how personalities would work on gen 2's - Nick being a preset personality and DiMA being left to his own devices to "naturally create" a personality of his own.

A small detail in Detroit: Become Human is that at the beginning of the game ("Waiting for Hank...") Connor sits very stiffly on his chair, but by the end of the game ("Last Chance Connor") he sits casually and a lot more naturally on the table instead

That's how I imagine DiMA to be - very stiff and awkward at first, but starts to mimic those around him (especially Nick) as time goes on

After enough time he starts to pick up on basically everything Nick does. Sighing, drumming his fingers on the table, even his accent!

He was practically a child without the whole "underdeveloped brain" part

So basically an information sponge who asks "why?" every three seconds

Nick found it annoying sometimes, but DiMA was the only person he could talk to so he always caved eventually.

Plus, trying to explain everyday things to him helped keep his mind off their situation.

Like, imagine having to explain to someone what the color purple looks like. Or what a dog looks like when they've never seen any animal except for humans before!

Nick was actually very cold to him at first, and continued to be every time he got his memories wiped and reset, but he would inevitably warm back up to DiMA every time

(except for the few times where he got his memories wiped several times a day, or even several times an hour... which was extremely stressful for both of them)

That being said, Nick's memory wipes were always a traumatic situation for him, and he'd have to re-learn who and where he was every single time

Through trial and error DiMA started to figure out the right way to comfort him and bring him down from any violent outbursts or panic attacks he had

Trying to escape the Institute was almost like a timeloop puzzle in the sense that DiMA had to re-explain everything to Nick and just hope they had enough time to figure something out before Nick got taken away and reset again

On a lighter note, DiMA loves drawing and would try and draw whatever Nick tells him about in the dust on the floor or on the wall - nothing could stop this man from creating art!

He also writes in nearly perfect font because he has perfect hand-eye coordination (and copied the font from the papers the scientists print off)

ALSO tiny detail, he drew his eyes yellow like Nick's because he had never seen his own eyes at that point, and assumed he looked the same as Nick <3

Okay that's enough for now I think!! Hope you enjoyed it!!

[tulips-moon]

Ojos azules

Ok, porque ustedes lo pidieron, fanfic de Gojo Satoru.

Advertencias: Acoso, secuestro, denigración, violencia, machismo, dime si me perdí de alguna. Nota: Espero les guste mucho, si crees que podría mejorar en algo, por favor dímelo acepto cualquier crítica constructiva.

Gojo Satoru, un chico que realmente solo se acostaba con una chica y la dejaba, un chico con mucho dinero, muy poderoso y guapísimo, el hechicero más poderoso, un tipo gracioso y despreocupado... Era perfecto, ¿no? Tenía todo lo que necesitaba, ¿verdad? Nadie tiene todo lo que quiere siempre, solo Satoru, pero aún él necesitaba algo... algo que nunca encontró hasta que te conoció: Amor maternal. Si en una pareja puede ser raro, pero aunque no lo creas puede que allá chicas que cuiden de todos, que les den ese lindo amor maternal que necesitaban, esa comprensión, cuidado, atención, empatía, amor, afecto, eso que solo una buena madre te puede dar (Una madre ya sabes a lo que la gente dice por qué hay mamas que no son así y no está mal.) Desafortunadamente tú tuviste que ver a Satoru como un niño necesitado de amor, parecía que la única que lo notaba eras tú lo cual le encanto.

Al principio Satoru solo quería follar contigo y botarte, pero... Algo en ti lo atrajo, algo que quería solo fuera para él, tu empatía y afecto incondicional, eso hizo que te quisiera conservar para siempre, solo para él y talvez con tu mamá que lo trataba igual de bien que tú.

Vas caminando a tu casa tranquilamente, una noche hermosa con el cielo lleno de estrellas que adornaban preciosamente la luna, el aire era fresco con una brisa relajante, tenías un café que Satoru te compro, pero lo tiraste, pues estabas muy molesta, pues habías descubierto que él solo te quería para tener sexo contigo, además el café tenía mucho azúcar.

Cuando llegaste a tu casa casi te da un infarto, viste a Satoru Gojo sentado en tu sillón comiendo galletas y chocolate, que le preparó tu mamá. Su sonrisa estúpida cambio cuando vio que no traías el café, no había botes de basura cercanos para cuando lo hubieras terminado y tú no tirabas basura en la calle. Le hablaste en un tono de molestia y odio.

T/N: ¿Qué demonios haces en mi casa? Satoru: Solo... vine porque soy tu novio... T/N: JA... No, ahora lárgate de mi casa

Tu madre se extrañó ante este comportamiento poco usual entre tú y Satoru, pelo lo entendió después de todo, los problemas de pareja pueden ser usuales en parejas jóvenes como tú y Satoru. Ella solo sacó a Satoru mientras él te mira con furia y obsesión, algo que hace recorrer un escalofrío en todo tu cuerpo, solo viste esa mirada cuando tu mejor amiga te estaba coqueteando, **extrañamente** ella desapareció unos días después. Lo mismo que pasaría contigo, pero no lo sabías

Subiste a tu cuarto y te dispusiste a dormir. Cuando despertaste, dios, deseaste no haberlo hecho. Estaba Satoru frente a tu cuerpo encadenado y semidesnudo, él te miraba peligrosamente, con celos, odio, obsesión y crueldad. (Parte 1/3)

[cileklipalet]

[5yours-yours2]

im doing a fun tma thing for Joe spooky season where I draw characters into the different tarot cards :) I did the fool today and I have 21 more to go!

[edaworks]

Wasteland Survival Guide: The Institute, Fusion Reactors, and M.I.T.'s Actual Basement

It's that time again. Periodically I make unreasonable longposts about Fallout-related topics (it's a good way to keep track of fic research). Today I'm tackling nuclear fusion, the Institute, and the real-world Massachusetts Institute of Technology's basement.

Yeah, Yeah, M.I.T. is the Institute, We've All Seen - Wait, What Do You Mean, "The Vault Laboratory?"

M.I.T. - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - is a highly exclusive research university with a well-deserved reputation for hosting brilliant minds.

It also got its serial numbers filed off in order to host the in-game Institute. Why? Probably because of all the very real research into robotics, artificial intelligence, and power armor (no really). And because M.I.T. is actually doing now what the Institute tries to do in-game with nuclear fusion.

And, of course, because of the vaults in the basement.

You know what? I'll just start at the top...Read on below.

I'll be focusing on fusion-related research in this post, and comparing in-game Institute work on fusion to what's actually happening over at M.I.T. (We'll get to the Media Laboratory and robotics and AI and the, uhm, power armor stuff in a separate post. Or three.)

all actual M.I.T. researchers/faculty/students and/or nuclear physicists have my sincere apologies, I don't know shit about shit but I'm doing my best

I Didn't Sign Up for a Physics Class, but Okay

Here's the thing about nuclear fusion generators - y'know...the ones powering nearly** the entirety of pre-war in-game America?

Including self-contained, miniaturized reactors (fusion cores, fusion cells, microfusion cells, Corvega engines, assaultron and robobrain power supplies, recharger weapons, G.E.C.K.s, etc.) and full-scale reactors (powering vaults, the Lucky 38, the Prydwen (and Rivet City before Maxson Happened), missile silos, etc.)...?

We don't have them yet.

Of course we have nuclear power generation, what are you talking about?

Yes - but nuclear power plants currently operating use fission reactors! Fusion reactors, though? Well...

For the pre-war in-game universe, even more than for us, that fuel-to-energy ratio would have been absurdly important. Companies rushed to implement fusion for damn near every possible use, but waited until the Resource Wars left them no other choice. "No more (viable) oil reserves? Well, shit. Fusion it is."

Because of this, by October 23, 2077, pre-war Western markets were still somewhat new to adopting miniaturized nuclear fusion reactors.

For instance, Chryslus' first fusion vehicles - intentionally reminiscent of the absolutely wild Ford Nucleon concept car dreamed up in 1957 - came to market in 2070, less than a decade before the nuclear exchange.

As for the other benefits of nuclear fusion...Atom knows the in-game universe could do with less radioactive contamination:

It is no wonder the Institute wants to get the reactor in their basement up, running, and running better than originally designed.

Real-life M.I.T. is no stranger to running fusion reactors - they've been at it since the late '60s - but as it turns out, they are currently also "building a better mousetrap," and if they succeed they will be achieving all the Institute would hope for in clean energy production - without the moral deficit.

If nuclear fusion is so great, why aren't we using this technology yet IRL?

Because - and I cannot stress this enough - we are attempting to levitate bits of the Sun inside a donut to make really hot things boil water* so steam will turn a fan attached to a dynamo to power light bulbs.

*(there are two other ways to generate power using this heat)

Naturally...this comes with some complications.

We know fusion reactors can be the most energy-efficient form of power generation - we just need better reactors. That's where M.I.T. comes in.

The biggest problem right now is efficiency:

TL;DR - as of April 2024, all fusion reactors as a matter of course still consume more power to run than they are able to produce (meaning they do not reach "breakeven"). Many cutting-edge reactors also require tritium (very rare) as well as deuterium (very common) fuel.

We did not even see a fusion reaction that reached "breakeven" for power production until December of 2022. That reaction occurred at the National Ignition Facility in California, and their results just passed peer review in February of this year (2024).

Several in-progress reactors aim to improve on this, including ITER (the combined work of dozens of nations) in France, and SPARC: the new reactor under development by Mass Fusion Commonwealth Fusion Systems and M.I.T.'s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC).

Another big problem with this technology is that it involves plasma.

Plasma, as a particular song reminds us, is what the Sun is made of and The Sun Is Hot. That means plasma carries some very real 'we're-losing-structural-integrity, the-warp-core-is-breaching' risks, and we must jump through all kinds of hoops to work with it.

Why are we shoving the Sun inside a donut, again?

The most well-funded, well-researched way of smashing atoms together involves plasma and magnetic confinement fusion.

This shit is beyond cool. It may also look very familiar:

In-game, the Institute is trying to get what appears to be a spherical tokamak reactor up and running.

Bethesda's choice of reactor was no coincidence: M.I.T. operated the Alcator C-Mod, a spherical tokamak, while Fallout 4 was under development - but that reactor could not achieve "breakeven" IRL, and per Shaun's in-game dialogue, the fictional Alcator C-Mod couldn't either. (Weird given the miniaturized fusion devices everywhere in-universe, but okay, Shaun.)

However, M.I.T. stopped operating that reactor in 2016, a year after Fallout 4's release. SPARC, their planned replacement reactor actually has the sort of power potential we see in-game - and they aim to bring fusion power to market in this decade.

M.I.T., right now, in real life, is doing exactly what you're asked to help the Institute do in-game: build a fusion reactor that surpasses "breakeven."

What the hell is a tokamak and why does it look like half of a Star Trek warp core?

Your typical tokamak reactor is a great big donut-shaped vacuum chamber (the torus), traditionally surrounded by AT LEAST three sets of electromagnets (sometimes many more). M.I.T.'s design for the new SPARC reactor is a bit different, but let's start with the basics.

Why so many magnets?

Because plasma, being Literal Sun Matter, cannot come into contact with the torus containment walls or it will instantly burn through. (This happened in France in 1975. Following initial "well, fuck"s and a couple years' repairs, the logical next step was to publish a paper about it.)

The magnetic fields work to heat the plasma and provide current drive (keep electrons moving in a consistent direction through the plasma and around the torus), while also keeping it from touching anything, preventing a "warp core breach." I'll take a stab at explaining it but the Department of Energy probably does it better.

Meet the magnets:

Toroidal field magnets (blue, above): These enormous D-shaped magnets wrap around and through the torus, conducting an electrical current. This creates a magnetic field that keeps plasma from drifting horizontally into the containment walls.

Central solenoid (green, above): Inside the "donut hole" sits a massive, stacked electromagnet that generates enough electromagnetic force to launch two space shuttles at once. This heats the fuel to about one hundred million degrees Celsius so that it reaches plasma state, and helps "drive" the plasma current around the torus. (Radiofrequency or neutral beam injection heating/drive may be used as well for reactor prototypes aiming for power generation, because current drive from just the solenoid isn’t practical for continuous operation.) The central solenoid also creates another magnetic field called the "poloidal field," which "loops" around the plasma like a collar to prevent it from drifting vertically into the walls. The strongest central solenoid in existence was made for the ITER reactor...by General Atomics.

Outer poloidal field magnets (grey, above): A third set of electromagnets "stacks" up the outside of the torus, and helps maintain and adjust the poloidal field.

Together these three sets of magnets force the plasma to "float" inside the torus, shape it, and provide current drive. The stronger the magnetic field, the higher the reactor's power output.

Okay, and then what?

Given sufficient heat and drive/stability, the plasma fuel mixture undergoes fusion.

Neutrons released during fusion have plenty of kinetic energy (the kind of energy a kickball has midair before it hits you in the face), but no electric charge.

Since magnetic fields only affect negatively or positively charged particles, neutrons completely ignore the fields, sailing straight through and slamming into a "blanket" of metal coating the donut's insides. Neutrons passing into the 'blanket" lose their kinetic energy, which is converted to heat and absorbed by the "blanket." (ITER's "blanket" involves a lot of beryllium, which...behaves a bit differently IRL than it does in-game.)

Heat captured by the "blanket" is then used to generate power. For instance, a water cooling system can bleed heat from the "blanket," regulating temperature and creating superheated highly-pressurized steam to run turbine generators.

I notice you described a "typical" tokamak above -what's the atypical option?

Check out SPARC.

Its huge design departure is that it uses new high-temperature superconducing magnets (most existing types have to be cooled to vacuum-of-space temperatures using something like a liquid helium system to achieve superconductivity, which is a huge power drain) to create a monstrous magnetic field - and its size is tiny in comparison to its projected power output.

Neat. So why did you refer to plasma as a problem?

Well...between the heat and the neutrons, the "blanket," the "first wall" and all plasma-facing surfaces inside the torus take one hell of a beating:

"Neutron degradation of wall surfaces-" "Energy is released in the form of the kinetic energy of the reaction products-" In practical terms, that just means countless neutrons are doing THIS:

...but to the containment wall and other surfaces inside the torus, instead of to Batshuayi's face. And so:

Basically, this stuff breaks fast enough - and the only materials that don't break quickly are rare enough - to create a real barrier to commercial use.

And THIS is one of the problems they're working on solving in M.I.T.'s basement.

Now we can talk about the Vault. FINALLY.

M.I.T. is home to the Center for Science and Technology with Accelerators and Radiation (CSTAR). CSTAR's splash page announces:

Linear plasma devices? You mean like -

No, not like plasma rifles. Instead of weapons, we're talking about tools being used to solve the "plasma fucking destroys everything it touches" problem.

How does CSTAR do this? They've got CLASS. ...No, really:

This field is called plasma-surface interaction science, and if you want a really long but very informative read on how CSTAR's work helps move it forward, check this out. It involves the DIONISOS Linear Plasma Device - a "let's shoot it with plasma and see what happens" tool.

CSTAR also works to better undertstand how materials handle radiation damage, and how they behave after becoming irradiated.

And to handle this sort of work, one needs a...

The Vault Laboratory for Nuclear Science "combines high-intensity particle sources, precision particle detection, and a heavily shielded experimental area to create a facility for nuclear research in high-radiation environments." It contains, among other things:

the DT Neutron Generator, which is used in a variety of experiments, including radiation detector development (pretty damned important) and characterization, fast neutron imaging, and material activation (stuff becoming radioactive).

the DANTE Tandem Accelerator, which was "originally designed to produce high neutron yields for use in cancer therapy research."

And that is what's actually going on in M.I.T.'s basement: truth is cooler than fiction.

The takeaways:

Yes, M.I.T. really is building a revolutionary fusion reactor with parts from Mass Fusion Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

Yes, there really is a secure underground facility where incredibly advanced research related to nuclear fusion, radiation detection, irradiated materials, and degradation of materials due to radiation exposure takes place.

Yes, I really would spend eight hours researching nuclear physics instead of doing more dishes. Shoutout to @twosides--samecoin for tolerating my absurd hyperfocus on researching this.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk on what M.I.T. is really doing in its basement.

Tune in next time for M.I.T.'s Media Laboratory, and how it is related to real-world power armor, plus: the relationship between Langley, P.A.M.'s IRL cousin, and Vault 101.

** (Fallout is wildly inconsistent re: how widespread fusion is in-game and when it was developed. I mean we're talking a two-decade spread of inconsistency! And somehow the technology - first available to the military - was then miniaturized and made available to the general public before becoming widespread for commercial power generation? And somehow we both do and don't have impossible cold fusion in game? It's a mess. I reject this reality and replace it with a fish, hence this post. Also, I hate fission batteries. don't talk to me about fission batteries, "fission batteries" are small fission reactors but they are definitely not "battery sized" - the "fission batteries" in-universe are so miniaturized that they are more likely another kind of atomic battery like a radioisotope thermoelectric generator and those are subject to a law of diminishing returns as the fuel decays/not producing a reasonably useful power output after over 200 years due to the isotopes normally used/can be VERY dangerous if the shielding is breached or removed, and - you know what, that's also a whole different post.)

[calder]

[condemnedtranscendant]

my new vegas 100% pacifism run mc!

day 181

[weeewooobitsfallout]

hey! It’s my birthday! Jew, how do you thingk peole in the wasteland celebrate birthdays and shit? Like cannonicly they celebrate Christmas and Halloween but what else?

How people celebrate birthdays in the fallout universe!

I did this by faction, hope that’s ok :)

Do raiders/watelanders know their birthdays? Their parents would have to survive through childbirth and to the point where a child can grasp the concept. Even then, would they celebrate? For many, being born in the post-nuclear apocalypse feels like a curse but do they still value their souls to the point they accept their existence? What about ghouls? Do they still keep living out of fear of the unknown, yet resent growing older with each passing day? Would they still care? 

Personally, I love the concept of raiders being akin to a kindergarten class when it comes to birthdays. Someone brings in a huge box of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes and they go to town. Most likely not presents, but a bit more respect and kindness. After all, isn’t that the best gift in the wasteland? To know someone cares?

The brotherhood would probably award the participating party with half a day off to do whatever. Many probably have family members who are outside of the brotherhood’s ranks, or in Fo4, back in the capital wastes. Giving time off (as a reward) can allow for communication between loved ones, boosting morale and giving something to work for. I can just see a knight stepping out of their power armor and heading downtown to see magnolia sing. 

No one in the institute would celebrate birthdays in a sentimental manner. Many will be recognized for a good job they did since they were first created/employed, but aside from that, birthdays will be scarce.

In the railroad, parties are kinda a big thing, mostly due to decon. Dez thinks it’s all a waste of time, but also secretly enjoys some levity. Lots of pranks and shananagins and cake smashing. It’ll be fun until someone runs in interrupting about some synth or safe house lost.  Then back to business as usual.  - (Side note: I headcannon the brotherhood interrupting during glory’s birthday party :). )

Minutemen is a bit tricky tbh. As a group, they definitely can spare a bit of supplies for a higher-ups birthday. If it’s just a regular soldier, they’ll probably get a pat on the back and a few nice words from Preston, with maybe so ammo. They don’t have a lot of time to spare, as well as materials to make it happen. 

At home, (with the individual families and settlements), it’s hard to day. Depends on the person’s situation and preferences.

I think a lot of people celebrate turning a year older on new years. I’m guessing NYE is kinda a big deal. Like, we survived another year! Isn’t that great? And notjust us, but the world as we know it. Things shift, but they also stay the same. But war. War never changes. 

Thanks anon for giving me this prompt!

[postcard-from-the-past]

Sleeping room in the Education Institute of Neuburg an der Donau, Bavaria, Germany

German vintage postcard

[starshadow8991]

Day: 7 Factions, I thought it would be cool to draw all the faction flags from Fallout 4. I hope you guys like them ^-^

See you guys tomorrow!