#313 overall
Plasma Physics and Fusion
edX
2 recommenders · 2 threads · recommended in 2 years, 2018–2021 · score 1.5
An edX course covering the physics of plasmas and the engineering approaches to fusion energy, including magnetic confinement devices such as tokamaks. Commenters mention it as a source on why net-energy fusion on Earth is hard.
Commenters point to it as one of edX's distinctive courses not available elsewhere, and one suggests it gives useful context on the feasibility of fusion reactors.
Science & Engineeringintermediatefreeinteractive MOOC#plasma physics#fusion energy#tokamak#magnetic confinement#edx
Recommendations by year
20062026
For context on fusion reactors I recommend edx's plasma physics and fusion course. From that it seemed fusion reactors that give a net power surplus, maybe, are just not possible in such confined envs on earth. 80 years of incredibly smart people with billions chasing the problem, with the first Tokamak reactor going back the 60s. Even ITER, the world's most expensive scientific endeavor ever, is still a question mark if it will work.
Would love to be convinced otherwise to be hopeful of confined fusion reactions on Earth.
I have also done many MOOCs and I largely agree with you.
Concretely, I found Udacity was simply too expensive so I preferred Coursera as it had great quality at a good price.
Udemy is full of low-quality trash so I don't bother with it.
EdX has some excellent courses that aren't available elsewhere (for example, Plasma Physics) and also has much more reasonable pricing.
I mean, I live in Europe and for the price of an Udacity course I could attend a full brick and mortar course that is much more appreciated by employers.