#fallout institute

[somethingaboutmint]

My misc lil courser oc. His names boobs and he is very angry

#fallout #fallout 4 #fo4 oc #fallout oc #fallout institute #art'd #im not joking btw i thought it would be funny if i named him B0-085

[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.)

#actual insanity #fallout #fallout 4 #why am I like this #nuclear fusion #physics #institute #fallout institute #the institute #worldbuilding #meta #oneifbyland #wasteland survival guide

[until-the-brahmin-come-home]

i want the Institute to go impossibly, paradoxically deep into the earth. i want there to be entire floors no living thing has stepped into for years. i want impossible geometry. i want spaces where you can hear echoes of conversations that happened long before you arrived (or long after). and - crucially - i want no one in the Institute to actually notice, because they've all been born and raised into this space and think it's normal.

#fallout 4 #fallout institute

[redsafalloutfan]

Doodled some coursers

Tried to cartoonify the outfits

#fallout 4 #fallout #art tag #courser #synth #fallout institute

[spooky-donut-ghost-house]

(Brotherhood and Institute justifiers will be blocked btw)

#fallout #fallout 4 #fo4 #fallout institute #the institute #brotherhood of steel #the brotherhood of steel #bos #fallout bos #fallout brotherhood of steel #fallout the brotherhood of steel #fallout the institute

[tunnelsnacks]

#fallout 4 #fallout #fallout institute #I mean I watched this video before I knew litterally anything about the creator #left a bad taste in my mouth if I remeber correctly

[boohoocthulhu]

Falloutober day 5, because I missed the rest :( (I will still post them)- THIS THING CALLED DEFEAT

Btw, everything I’m drawing for Falloutober is au based. I.e NOT CANON Maxson has a completely different personality and role in the story. If anyone wants me to, I can explain most of it.

#falloutober2023 #fallout #fallout oc #fallout 4 #brotherhood of steel #original character #fallout institute #fallout original character #so eepy #back hurty #:( #fallout au

[dandelionmischief]

OC-TOBER Day 2 - New OC

My newest, Yanisha. Another Fallout oc (there's gonna be many). Institute bio scientist with her dream job until she's forced to do missions above ground in the wasteland. And then her home gets blown up. Don't know much about her yet but after the Institute is blown to bits she's half forced to work as a medic in my other oc's Vault 88.

#bweirdoctober #oc-tober #fallout 4 #fallout #fallout 4 oc #fallout oc #fallout institute #my art #clip studio art

[satans-left-asscheeky]

Proof the institute is evil

#fallout #fallout 4 #fallout shitpost #fallout institute

[ixar-of-the-bargains]

Ok so blowing up the Institute makes perfect sense for Maxson's Brotherhood. It makes a lot less sense for the Minutemen, given it also blows up so much of Cambridge (and, at least on theory, kills thousands of people), but I can accept it as a "we literally have no other way to ensure this doesn't happen again" hail mary decision. And it would make sense for the Railroad to blow up the Institute based on how much they're pissed about the Switchboard.

However, the Railroad version of the Nuclear Option happens in the context of a Synth rebellion. Narratively, the idea is that not only are Synths people but that they are, just as Railroad believes, slaves and what's happening is a slave revolt in which the Railroad's job mainly is to act as a counterbalance to the Coursers, who are still loyal to the Directorate and (unlike the squishy and generally-incompetent human masters of the Institute) not someone you can just gun down and dominate through basic numerical superiority.

Z1-14 isn't so much an Railroad asset as they are his collaborators in the rebellion, and much of Underground Undercover is basically "stall for time until the Synths have manufactured enough weapons and undergone through enough training in secret to stage the rebellion". By the end of Nuclear Option, the Institute is basically gone. The SRB is more or less wiped out, the other Divisions are either subdued or similarly wiped out. The Synths have won. I fully expected Z1 to, at that point backstab the Railroad and go "yeah by the way we're not blowing up all of Cambridge, thank you for your help but we can deal with it from here."

#fallout 4 #fallout #fallout railroad #synth rebellion #fallout synth #fallout institute

[h3raklion]

More memes because I'm bored. Institute edition

#fallout 4 memes #fallout memes #fallout institute #the institute #x6 88 #synths #fallout 4 #fallout

[slocum-dodson]

The railroad won't help me fight the gunners because I sided with the institute to save my son and have functional showers. They're so whiney, I freed all the synths so they should just learn to play ball.

Golly, they treat me like I'm not a symphony of pain.

#character rp #fallout 4 #fallout #the railroad fallout #fallout railroad #the institute #fallout institute #sim settlements 2

[s3a0tterart]

Wanted to have a small series of chibi designs of (@ursa.major.art on Instagram aka Rain/Eddie) and my characters as like little sneak peaks to their designs incase it takes me a while to get to them and gives me soemthing to draw during the little down time between work as i dont get a lot of commisions

Characters on page- (mainly mine)

Brigg Mizrahi (wasteland mechanic)

Leonie Gatorclaw (Nukaworld Overboss & Alchemy user)

Freddy Price (Recluse surgically ’fixed’ cyclops)

Baby Parton (Genetically Mutated Raider)

Anaisha Joshi (Institute Scientist, head of new srb & fabrication lab)

“Spitter” Tuyen Ortega (Raider, Hellrider Gang 3rd in command)

#art #digital art #speedpaint #character design #fallout oc #fallout 4 #fallout fanart #fallout #fallout 3 #fallout new vegas #fallout institute #fallout raider boss #fallout nuka world #fallout railroad #fallout original character #fallout character

[rzyraffek]

How fallout 3 and new vegas characters would react to s/o Who is from railroad

(I will use they/them prouns)(swf)

Fnv

Arcade

"??? You telling me there are fake robo humans that act and feel like humans and you want to protect those????" This guy will be so confused, He will think that Curier is making stuff up lol. If Curier is synths(and Look like nick from f4) or they have any synthecic friends. Oh boi he will ask soo many questions "does stimpack works for you" "do you feel cold/heat" "how on earth machine has consiousness". And if he find out that Institute sometimes kidnaps people and replaces them AND EVEN SYNTH DOESNT KNOW he will be so paranoid:( but if u explain that we are litteraly at the other side of wastelands and theres no way in hell they would send a synth there, he gets calmer :)

Raul

Hes too old too understand, He never cared about politics. Hes the last to judge Curier by looks or 'robo' friends

Boone

As long as Institute isnt intrested in spying on ncr he doesnt care. Untill curier tells him about kidnaping that Institute does and making synths do all kinds of bad stuff he might accualy help them ^^

Vulpes

He would be like "ewww technology eww fake humans ble destroy" He would be aginst synths at all, in fact He would support slavery(the most shocking thing i ever written guys)) and say stuff like "those are robots they dont have mind/lower life form should take order from humans" . Plz dont try to argue with him he will get offended

Ulysses

He is a smart(but v sad) individual so he would easly understand the idea of high intelegence that can think and feel like other human being. He would be chill about it and maybe plan on bombing instytute(He likes bombing) (i wouldnt be suprise if he was a synth aswell tbh)

Falout 3

Butch

I hope that he is smater than he looks bcs he grow up in valut which gives more education than most of places in whole wasteland but idk man. He would be this Type of person which will bully synths for joke untill LW (if they are close) will tell him and explain what hes doing is bab.

Charon

He usually agrees with what his 'owner' says(even if LW doesnt treat him like that, He still has this mindset from past)If LW will Just explain that Institute bab, freedom slay, He will be like🧍

I wrote this few weeks ago but for some reason I forgot to post it. Once again I beg for requests (my life is very boring)

#fallout new vegas #fnv #fnv courier #vulpes inculta #arcade gannon #fnv arcade #fnv companions #fallout 3 #fallout charon #butch deloria #fallout institute #fnv ulysses #craig boone #fnv boone #raul tejada #fnv raul

[busybee217]

How did jack Cabot’s research get under the institute’s radar? Like wouldn’t they be interested in what he was doing? The serum may have cured father for all we know.

#fallout 4 #fallout inquiry #jack cabot #fallout institute

[sswitchblade03]

Gen 1 synths weren't built for the Mojave heat... but there was Wrangler thriving after being found that day in 2239 by a 16 year old Faith Bishop. It's internal hardware had been burnt out, voice module broken, and full of sand, but Faith had seen Mr. Gutsy's in worst states. She had fixed them up and gave them the name Angela, the nickname Wrangler was given by Knight Riley once he met them.

Even when Faith had passed and Riley returned to the Brotherhood, they took care of dear Marina. The young girl needed someone, even if the caretaker wasn't considered human.

Thank you so much @technicallyoneofakind for naming this bb! And helping me flesh out the character :D

Had the idea of adding more Institute references in other parts of the country... doing all the work to make a bad plotline good here Bethany.

Also baby Wilder and his dad :D

#fallout #fallout oc #fan oc #art #fallout nv #new vegas ocs #fnv courier #fallout courier #courier six #oc: wrangler #synth oc #gen 1 synth #oc: wilder #fallout institute #institute oc #institute synth