Got a question about Eric Lerner's DPF? I'll ask him!

Point out news stories, on the net or in mainstream media, related to polywell fusion.

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EricF
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Location: Pell City, Alabama

Post by EricF »

I have a question. I am kinda surprised that the military isn't funding this as sort of an exploration into charged particle beams for weapons. How far do you think the ion beam that the plasmoid ejects from the central cylinder will travel before it dissipates into the atmosphere?

I was thinking about this today, and how one would try to allow for the vacuum to remain constant until the moment the particle stream fires off, and have a notion of some sort of a weak magnetically sealed hinge functioning as a one way valve, that would blast open when the particle beam approaches (due to the charged ions exerting a force), and then slam shut again as soon as the beam has finished discharging from the device.

djolds1
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Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:03 am

Post by djolds1 »

chrismb wrote:If it were that easy, don't you think NASA would've come up with a battery consisting of a gamma-emitting isotope surrounded by foil layers? Instead they use an incredibly poor efficiency plutonium 'thermonuclear' battery.
IIRC something like that was invented in the last year or two - cited on Brian Wang's Nextbigfuture. OTOH, RTG's are a robust & established technology, preferable for risky applications.
Vae Victis

chrismb
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Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:00 pm

Post by chrismb »

djolds1 wrote:
chrismb wrote:If it were that easy, don't you think NASA would've come up with a battery consisting of a gamma-emitting isotope surrounded by foil layers? Instead they use an incredibly poor efficiency plutonium 'thermonuclear' battery.
IIRC something like that was invented in the last year or two - cited on Brian Wang's Nextbigfuture. OTOH, RTG's are a robust & established technology, preferable for risky applications.
Show me this little miracle....

joedead
Posts: 108
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:31 pm
Location: Manhattan, NY

New Meet-up at the end of the month!

Post by joedead »

Eric's back in NY later this month. I'll be there again, once again hopefully bringing questions from Talk-Polywell......


So, what should I ask him this time?

chrismb
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Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:00 pm

Post by chrismb »

My question, above, please.

ladajo
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Location: North East Coast

Post by ladajo »

Chris,
There are more things that have been flown than RTG's when it comes to Fission Power sources on space craft.
There were/are some promising designs that have been built and tested succesfully. The issue, as always, has been funding priorities and tree hugger interference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOPAZ_nuclear_reactor

Consider this with Heat Pipe Technology and maybe Stirling engines...you have viable spaceborne power systems for long haul high power requirement missions. Well beyond what Nuclear Batteries/Solar or Chemical could provide.

chrismb
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Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:00 pm

Re: New Meet-up at the end of the month!

Post by chrismb »

joedead wrote:Eric's back in NY later this month. I'll be there again, once again hopefully bringing questions from Talk-Polywell......


So, what should I ask him this time?
My question above, please - the one that says: "Why does he think his approach will work better than all the previous DPF experiments that concluded it wasn't a route to viable fusion power? Is it just that little 'twist'? Is that really going to make such a big difference it'll jump the gap of viability? "

joedead
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Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:31 pm
Location: Manhattan, NY

Post by joedead »

My question above, please - the one that says: "Why does he think his approach will work better than all the previous DPF experiments that concluded it wasn't a route to viable fusion power? Is it just that little 'twist'? Is that really going to make such a big difference it'll jump the gap of viability? "
Your question has been noted. I'll try to ask in the most diplomatic way possible!

Solo
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:12 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Post by Solo »

Hey, I found the website for the Innovative Confinement Concepts Workshop 2010:

http://www.iccworkshops.org/icc2010/proceedings.php

They've got all our usual suspects: General Fusion, Eric Lehner, LDX, FRC stuff, and even a bit on POPS (not by Nebel, tho!). Oh, and some guy with a very polywell-ish "spherical cusp" idea.

DeltaV
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Post by DeltaV »


chrismb
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Post by chrismb »

Solo wrote:Hey, I found the website for the Innovative Confinement Concepts Workshop 2010:

http://www.iccworkshops.org/icc2010/proceedings.php

They've got all our usual suspects: General Fusion, Eric Lehner, LDX, FRC stuff, and even a bit on POPS (not by Nebel, tho!). Oh, and some guy with a very polywell-ish "spherical cusp" idea.
It's a shame that these things are for academics only. I mean, if someone has an idea who's not an academic then they wouldn't be funded to go to such a thing even if they had had some pre-warning of it, which they wouldn't've had, and even if they had means and awareness to overcome those then they'd still not be accepted to present.

I think today's "science" culture would make the blood boil of those who laid the foundations for modern science, if they were here to see it.

Maybe Aero is actually correct in the other thread - viewtopic.php?p=34548#34548 - folks can't make fusion devices in their basements - bu tnot because it is impossible but because they are effectively prevented from doing so. Maybe the mythbusters would find that out; they should try to come up with an idea, build it, patent it, seek academic support, then present it. They would find that they are refused purchase of things they need, get generalised unspecific dismissals from the patent examiners, academics would look the other way, and there would be no route to dissemination. Actually, now I dwell on it, Aero, you are probably right, but for all the wrong reasons.

Solo
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:12 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Post by Solo »

Haha, I totally missed that internal fusion engine!
@Chrismb: I see your point. In fact, I really wish I could have gone, but I'm not sure they'll allow spectators who aren't presenting, and it would be kinda expensive. Anyway, let's stay on topic. I'll start a thread the science culture in 'general' if you want.

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