Search found 18 matches

by billh
Fri Aug 04, 2023 4:38 pm
Forum: News
Topic: Helion Energy to demonstrate net electricity production by 2024
Replies: 660
Views: 104490

Re: Helion Energy to demonstrate net electricity production by 2024

I appreciated the extensive interview Kirtley did a few months ago and all the recent news about Helion is very encouraging. I was curious that with all the topics he covered I don't recall him talking about cost. Sometimes when an obvious issue goes unmentioned it indicates potential issues. Any th...
by billh
Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:07 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Thank you, Talk-Polywell
Replies: 6
Views: 2316

Thank you, Talk-Polywell

I've been mostly lurking here at Talk-Polywell for nearly 15 years. I'm a chemical engineer, a geek, and - until I retired a couple of months ago - an engineering software developer for over 40 years. I love this forum. It is the best place for keeping an eye on the progress toward fusion. The physi...
by billh
Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:20 pm
Forum: News
Topic: Fusion devices are not "nuclear fusion reactors"
Replies: 13
Views: 4499

Re: Fusion devices are not "nuclear fusion reactors"

As a chemical engineer, I would say we run into this all the time. Reactors are a common piece of equipment in chemical plants. It just means a vessel in which a chemical reaction takes place. But for the general public, "reactor" means "nuclear" and "nuclear" means "Chernobyl". People quickly accep...
by billh
Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:12 pm
Forum: News
Topic: Fusion in Shipping
Replies: 13
Views: 4114

Re: Fusion in Shipping

Long time lurker here. I was just wondering: for shipping applications, how do you charge the capacitor bank for startup when you're not on the grid? Or maybe a better way of framing it, how long could the reactor be shut down at sea before the capacitor bank would discharge too far for a restart?
by billh
Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:03 am
Forum: News
Topic: Recovery.Gov Project Tracker
Replies: 1822
Views: 1335424

Re: Recovery.Gov Project Tracker

This was about the last thread that ever had any news about Polywell and now it's gone to compost... :cry:
by billh
Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:13 am
Forum: News
Topic: Is the ABSENCE of news, news?
Replies: 56
Views: 30345

Re: Is the ABSENCE of news, news?

Or, it could just be that there is no clear path to success, but there are still tantalizing hints it just might work, and the Navy figures a small bet on a long shot with a big payout is a reasonable investment. I think this is the most likely explanation. And as long as the Navy is funding it, we ...
by billh
Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:11 pm
Forum: News
Topic: Blowing hot and cold on fusion
Replies: 11
Views: 10476

What I would strongly expect, if the results are significant, is that one of the replicatable experiments can be written up really well and investigated. Why would LENR people not do this? Greed, perhaps? If they truly believe their experiments have produced energy through nuclear fusion maybe they...
by billh
Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:46 am
Forum: News
Topic: Recovery.Gov Project Tracker
Replies: 1822
Views: 1335424

China Lake and Point Mugu are the locations of the sponsoring organization: Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD). I don't think that implies anything about EMC2 moving to one of those locations.

http://www.navair.navy.mil/nawcwd/
by billh
Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:15 pm
Forum: Implications
Topic: Constraints on growth even in a world with cheap electricity
Replies: 95
Views: 113220

No one can say with any certainty that we will be able to continue growing our material culture without bound. However, it is by no means certain that we are near some maximum and face an inevitable decline. My own guess is that, if humanity survives long enough, we will find the current era to be o...
by billh
Tue Dec 28, 2010 1:30 am
Forum: News
Topic: Small update from Lawrenceville Plasma Physics
Replies: 131
Views: 57307

Pretty cool. The slideshow was a bit like a history of civilization. You start in the early frames with a plumb bob and a T-square (known to the ancient Egyptians) and by the time you get to the end you have a fusion reactor!
by billh
Sat May 08, 2010 3:33 pm
Forum: News
Topic: emc2's website
Replies: 232
Views: 151222

As long as they have funding they don't need a PR machine. That's a good thing, actually. I'm happy to wait until they have something definitive to announce. Well, not exactly "happy" but I can live with it. :)
by billh
Fri Apr 30, 2010 1:34 pm
Forum: News
Topic: emc2's website
Replies: 232
Views: 151222

Robthebob wrote:when was the last time dr N had any real communication with this website? I was wondering where you got the information of the fuel mix in order to do pB11.
He was pretty active up until June 2009. Since then, not a peep.
by billh
Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:45 am
Forum: News
Topic: Alan Bolye's Latest Artice
Replies: 53
Views: 25451

have you ever thought that perhaps they purposely tweaked the device to produce the bright plasma sor the puspose of a picture? how boring would it have been to the general public without the light Recall the picture of a glowing plasma on the old EMC2 website, which specifically said it was a Heli...
by billh
Sat Mar 27, 2010 1:07 am
Forum: News
Topic: A nuanced approach to EMC2
Replies: 33
Views: 13707

Tom Clarke, Thank you for a calm and fair summary of the situation. I agree with you completely. I think the anger at Rick Nebel is completely unjustified. He hasn't over-promised and he hasn't lied. He just...hasn't said much. It always seemed likely that the only way we would ever learn anything a...
by billh
Thu Mar 25, 2010 6:26 pm
Forum: News
Topic: emc2's website
Replies: 232
Views: 151222

If the glow is just black body radiation then the color would only tell you the temperature. If it is from the emission spectrum of the gas then perhaps you could infer the composition. The paper you linked was heavy sledding for a non-scientist like me, but it seems to be talking about measuring ve...