I sure hope that somebody finally gets fusion off the ground, they’ve been promising fusion power since I’ve been a kid.
In fusion, light particles (often hydrogen nuclei) fuse into heavier ions (such as helium nuclei, or alpha particles) and release their excess mass as energy. In order to fuse, the particles must reach a very high temperature (e.g. tens of millions of degrees), transforming into the highly conductive plasma phase. Without any control of the energy being produced, though, continuous chain reactions would result in a massive explosion like the hydrogen bomb.
Popular in the ‘70s but in little use today, magnetic mirror machines consist of a magnetic field with high strength at the magnetic axis in the center and low strength on the periphery. This set-up enables confinement of charged particles—and now, as Fisch finds, can allow an efficient method for cooling, which is important for controlled fusion.
Fisch explains that his cooling method—called an alpha-channeling effect—is similar to an effect that he and his colleague Professor Jean Marcel Rax predicted in 1992 for use in tokamaks, which are arguably the most popular candidate for producing fusion energy today. Like magnetic mirrors, tokamaks also employ magnetic fields to confine the hot plasmas required for fusion.
Fisch’s magnetic mirror idea would allow the alpha particles to travel both perpendicular and parallel to field lines due to the open geometry of mirror machines. Torus-shaped tokamaks, on the other hand, bend the magnetic field lines back on themselves for confinement, prohibiting axial movement of particles.
It would be nice if the idea provides the advantages described, as we really need to make fusion power more than just a research hole to throw money into.
Yeah, fusion would be the ultimate solution the power problem.
(We might all have to give a royalty to Mr. Fusion though…Dude, when it starts rolling in, spend it wisely… but make sure you spend it. 😉 )
Only completely new concepts will bring fusion to commercially useful level. Magnetic mirrors (or not), the tokamaks and such are the most crude way to solve problem (letting aside the bomb). I made a short page sometime ago on work of Prof A.G.Ruggiero (of BNL Nat.Lab.) that I see as the most likely way we could develop usable fusion energy source. I am not aware that he has either that particular work published or web page on it but I know he did apply for the appropriate patent… My page gives only the basic info. The concept has many advantages. Crucial ones beeing that the practical sizes of generators include household supply you could have in a garage and no harmful fuel or byproducts (ex. radioactive waste)… Link: http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~dusan/cc/fusion.html.
Everyone knows you just need a Casio keyboard and a good 100watt speaker blaring a particular harmonic frequency.
That was a so-so movie. The nuke blast was neat. Bad science as always with Hollywood.
Seriously, here’s to hoping. Fusion would be the answer to space exploration. Just change the solar panels for heat sinks.
Funny to see the European Union “investing” sums similar to the US war effort on terror. Neither is going anywhere fast.
I’m hoping those engineers in the UK that promise us a perpertual motion machine using magnets and gravity turns out true.
– too lazy to find link
– hey it’s Friday
If you read the article, the ‘inventor’ isn’t even saying this technology on it’s own can solve the problem of fusing atoms absent some large gravity well (i.e. the sun). He doesn’t indicate it’s ready for primetime even as something that could help some other method of man-made fusion either. He’s says it’s “cool” but that’s about it.
I found the speach given by Bussard at Google’s campus, regarding a technology that utilizes magnetism (which is very strong) to force atoms together in the same way gravity (which is comparatively very weak) does, as much more encouraging. He apparently has worked out a lot of the science & engineering, and now just needs more cash to build something practical.
Check it out here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1996321846673788606
You can find more info on it via search. I’m no expert, but I think he may have something.
FYI – the reason he was hitting up Brin & Sergy is b/c Google has cash (obviously), but just as certainly needs cheap energy to keep all those servers humming. Prior to now, he was doing all this on the military’s dime, but the war in Iraq essentially has made everything else they do expendable now. Very short sighted, and one more reason (as if another were needed) on how this elective war is killing us in more ways than one. Anyway, Bussard’s Q&A at the end was as enlightening on how people have to navigate the beaurocracy as it was on the tech itself.
4,
Bussard is indeed a visionary, I hope he succeeds in his effort.
Fusion is definitely one of those things I have been rooting for for the past 30 years. It’s definitely been a rough road, with more to come, but there are a lot of scientific people with good minds and pure hearts behind it. I hope it succeeds.
I thought your readers would be interested in looking at these energy technologies:
Aneutronic Fusion: Here I am not talking about the big science ITER project taking thirty years, but the several small alternative plasma fusion efforts.
There are three companies pursuing hydrogen-boron plasma toroid fusion, Paul Koloc, Prometheus II, Eric Lerner, Focus Fusion and Clint Seward of Electron Power Systems
Vincent Page (a technology officer at GE!!) gave a presentation at the 05 6th symposium on current trends in international fusion research , which high lights the need to fully fund three different approaches to P-B11 fusion
He quotes costs and time to development of P-B11 Fusion as tens of million $, and years verses the many decades and ten Billion plus $ projected for ITER and other “Big” science efforts.
And:
Should Google go nuclear ?
If anyone could make the Fusor work it probably would be Google.
Also:
The Navy Heats up “Cold Fusion” with Use of CR-39 Detectors in LENR Experiment:
Extraordinary Evidence – “Cold Fusion”
The field of low energy nuclear reactions, historically known as cold fusion, has never had simple physical evidence of the claimed nuclear processes to physically place in the hands of doubters.
Until now.
Scientists at the U.S. Navy’s San Diego SPAWAR Systems Center have produced something unique in the 17-year history of the scientific drama historically known as cold fusion: simple, portable, highly repeatable, unambiguous, and permanent physical evidence of nuclear events using detectors that have a long track record of reliability and acceptance among nuclear physicists.
Using a unique experimental method called co-deposition, combined with the application of external electric and magnetic fields, and recording the results with standard nuclear-industry detectors, researchers have produced what may be the most convincing evidence yet in the pursuit of proof of low energy nuclear reactions.
New Energy Times, issue #19
“Extraordinary Evidence”
http://newenergytimes.com/news/2006/NET19.htm#ee
Regards,
Erich
We all need to remember the “fusion constant”, i.e, no matter where we are in time, fusion is always 20 years in the future.
Yeah, fusion would be the ultimate solution the power problem. …
Fusion is definitely one of those things I have been rooting for for the past 30 years. …
…fusion is always 20 years in the future. …
completely new concepts will bring fusion to … include household supply you could have in a garage and no harmful fuel or byproducts …
I want to thank everyone for the accolades and attention. Hey, you guys are pretty good too.
#9 – What’s great is that you’re not too energized by the praise to take a moment to thank your fans. Not many celebrities actually care about the little people. You rock, man.