Well I'm a physicist, and I usually don't believe any numerical solution unless I have an analytical solution to an approximation of the numerical problem which I can compare the numerical solution to. Analytical solutions provide extremely useful benchmarks for verifying and validating numerical solutions.

There are two things wrong with the statement "rare earth mineral". First off it's an actinide not a rare earth, it's not that it is not generally considered a rare earth, it just isn't, full stop. Also it's an element not a mineral.

I did exactly as you said, I went into my garage, made sure all the doors are closed. Turned on my Tesla. I'm waiting, now what?

The point is to not allow the bubble to happen in the first place, not to be the first to predict the bubble crashing. If the bubble can be prevented, then panic selling won't happen. When the market bubbles, and then crashes, it doesn't go to an artificial low, it just drops the the point at which steady growth would have taken it. By predicting possible bubbles and preventing them, you should be able to get steadier growth.

But they don't want the bubble to happen, that's the point. By being able to predict that bubbles are happening, the markets can sell off sooner, rather than allowing the bubble to continue growing, and thus once the sell-off happens, it is not such a dramatic down-shift, since the prices were not allowed to rise to artificial highs.

So you are saying that we should throw all our eggs in one basket because you think one idea is generations ahead of the other, and forget about other approaches. How amazingly short sighted of you. Why does it have to be one instead of the other ? Why not look to the future beyond magnetic confinement reactors? Or you are so sure that this will be the answer to all our problems that we should stop research into everything else?

Of course there is, but NIF is already funded. LIFE is just beginning and needs more funding, so you need to advertise it, which starts with NIF.

It does have a lot to do with energy production. It is the first step towards LIFE.

LIFE, an acronym for Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy, is an advanced energy concept under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Based on physics and technology developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), LIFE has the potential to meet future worldwide energy needs in a safe, sustainable manner without carbon dioxide emissions.

LLNL is funded by NNSA which is part of DOE.

Yes it is primarily for research and stockpile stewardship, but it is also the first step towards LIFE , which is a prototype reactor.

They are not trying to sell NIF as the fusion energy production. It is the first step on a long road in that direction.

They are selling LIFE as the fusion energy of the future, this will be built on techonology developed for NIF.

From the link

LIFE, an acronym for Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy, is an advanced energy concept under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Based on physics and technology developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), LIFE has the potential to meet future worldwide energy needs in a safe, sustainable manner without carbon dioxide emissions.

The article actually never mentions "rare earth" materials. The slashdot article title is the only time the two words "rare earth" appear together. I think this is just a poor choice of words to describe materials that are becoming rare on our planet earth.