Fusion is what powers us. Thermonuclear fusion that goes on in the sun powers our crops that we eat directly or indirectly through meat. Its the sun's energy thats trapped in as fossil fuels that we use as most of our power and that powers our gadgets. The Sun mainly contains hydrogen, thats it.

Attempts have been made to recreate sun on Earth, like the ITER,  and it would take long for it to really produce fusion that would put out more energy than it would consume. But there is a new stuff from Lockhead and Martin which takes another approach by producing fusion with very small reactors. Reactors small enough to fit in a ship. A discussion about it is going on here https://joindiaspora.com/posts/5712964

So what are the advantage of fusion. Its cleaner than fission, that is almost no more fukishima like incidents, no need to search for a place to put out the waste as they are harmless. Its non polluting, as there is no carbon in it. The fuel is abundant, its just hydrogen from water we need to run it.

If nuclear fusion reactors become affordable in such a way small communities can install them and make it give them unlimited power, things will change dramatically. Electricity will be so cheap that you will almost never be charged for it. The cost of shipping cargo will be slashed by at-least 30%, as ships will have fusion reactors in them. Space travel and travels to moon and mars will be possible as we have so much energy we can travel so much faster. Space stations will be built that would have almost no end life. Sea water will be boiled, salt removed  and sent inwards to  make deserts blossom. Global warming would stop. Metals cost would reduce dramatically as foundries will have unlimited cheap energy. Power laser business will boom. Asteroids will be mined to build our future space stations. Humans could move out of earth.

But whats the negative part. Recently Obama visited India. On his agenda was a sinister goal, to deny cheap medicine to Indians suffering from chronic disease, so that in the name of patents and intellectual property expensive American medicine will be forced on them. If India doesn't comply to patents WTO and the World Bank would slap economic sanctions and cripple our economy.

In the same way many patents wold prevent poor societies from harnessing this technology. For example as equal as this fusion reactor, the concept of representing nothingness as a number, Zero is a great invention with limitless possibilities. Zero is an unpatented invention. All can use it without paying royalties to India. The manufacture of medicine uses the concept of Zero millions of times a day, yet those medical know how is protected by patents and denied to Indians.

In other words we are bearing the brunt of others greediness. In the same way the concept of Zero thats used in these fusion reactors and their control system, will still be protected by patents and its benefits will be denied to the humanity as a whole. The deprived people will be deprived and people who have this power will get powerful.

So lets see what succeeds, science and tech equally for all, or the greedy business mind that has ruled the world till now.