Comments on: Comments on 15272

Post number 15272

mrbula — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 22:51:04 -0800

The next threat to the Bush energy policy: Table-top nuclear fusion.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 22:59:35 -0800

"the researchers might be deluded by Mother Nature, whose principal object in life is to make fools of scientists." This made me happy.

By: bingo

bingo — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 23:02:06 -0800

Next: laptop nuclear fusion, followed eventually by palmtop nuclear fusion.

By: phatboy

phatboy — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 23:36:04 -0800

I saw a demo of this process (minus the actual fusion) while I was at UCLA. They used a single tiny bubble of air suspended (I can't remember how) in a bath of water. The luminecient bubble looked like a star shining in the liquid. The guys who were doing this at UCLA had an article in scientific american seven or so years ago, including instructions on how to do this at home.

By: donkeyschlong

donkeyschlong — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 23:39:27 -0800

Clever clever, Bing. :)

By: panopticon

panopticon — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 23:53:13 -0800

bingo, I prefer desktop nuclear fusion, it's more expandable.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 23:55:06 -0800

> Table-top nuclear fusion. Oh, great. The Chinaware Syndrome. > They used a single tiny bubble of air suspended (I can't > remember how) in a bath of water. Come on over my place on the kid's bath night and I'll show you how it's done.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 01:02:14 -0800

Hrm. Well right now it put out less energy then it took to do, so it's not really a threat to anything at the moment.

By: rocketpup

rocketpup — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 01:31:27 -0800

If the experiment bears out and if the process can be used to create a self-sustaining fusion chain reaction that produces surplus energy (with a tiny device no less), it could very well solve a lot of problems. How would you like to:

Provide everyone on the planet with drinkable water
Render the Kyoto Protocol moot
Dismantle the world's existing wire-based energy infrastructure
Take advantage of cheap interplanetary space flight
Circumnavigate the globe on your fusion-powered roller skates with a thimble full of deuterium
Experience ultra-realistic virtual reality pr0n. (One can hope??)

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 02:47:19 -0800

Like rocketpup, I am praying to the dark chthonic gods to whom I pay allegiance (not really, but that sounded pretty good, didn't it, in an 80's faux-metalhead kinda way?) that this turns out to be for real and workable. I'm serious.

By: talos

talos — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 03:13:13 -0800

This has caused much controversy already, even before its publication (due to be included on the Mar. 8 issue of Science). Science magazine, it seems, was under pressure from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to cancel publication, necessitating the magazine to defend the publication in this editorial (PDF file). The original papers along with a news article describing the furor are linked to from this page. We will have to wait and see if replication is possible, or if this was a fluke, resulting from a bad experimental setup.

By: Mossy

Mossy — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 04:39:24 -0800

The idea doesn't sound that bad - scaling it up may be a bit of a problem though.. Also, I'm sure the big energy magnates wouldn't want it to work, so it'll get a lot of bad PR if it doesn't turn out to be crud experimental procedure/mother nature being a fiendish lil imp again.

By: Jos Bleau

Jos Bleau — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 05:46:43 -0800

Since 'cold fusion' is taken, can we call it 'fizzy fusion'?

By: talos

talos — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 05:55:10 -0800

It's not exactly cold fusion: The authors argue that inside the bubbles the temperature achieved is in excess of 1,000,000 degrees Kelvin (as would be necessary for fusion to occur). It's locally hot fusion we're talking about.

By: bingo

bingo — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 07:21:40 -0800

How about "cool fusion"? Dig it!

By: willnot

willnot — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 07:47:53 -0800

According to the science nerds on Slashdot, well respected nuclear physicists have tried to reproduce the experiment with better equipment and failed. Also, there is speculation that even if it were true, it is unsustainable as increasing temperatures would destroy the effect. I don't know if the people on /. know what they're talking about, but they sounded believable, and I wouldn't be getting my hopes up for cheap portably energy just yet.

By: rushmc

rushmc — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 08:11:43 -0800

"the researchers might be deluded by Mother Nature, whose principal object in life is to make fools of scientists." What a profoundly stupid comment. And I cast my vote for "bubble fusion," as is used in the graphic accompanying the article.

By: afx114

afx114 — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 08:33:31 -0800

as soon as a better energy source is discovered, the energy companies will take it to court and deem it harmful to their business model, and get it banned. or they'll buy all the patents and file them away in a nice hidden box.

By: dwivian

dwivian — Tue, 05 Mar 2002 09:44:03 -0800

Since it requires sound waves, I'm voting for Jazz Fusion.