http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 103327.htm
I am still skeptical, but these predictions are at least something positive after months of nothing but negative news on the Tokamak side of things.
Good news for ITER/Tokamak supporters
Weirdness...
I suppose solar flares and lightning are extreme examples of self-focussing 'current channels', but I'd only be guessing...
I remember reading years ago ( Scientific American, not Popular Mechanics
about some work that *might* have lain tangential to the 'StarWars' project. It was to do with pulsed energy transfer, at levels above those possible with 'physical' bus-bars. You're talking ST-ish 'plasma conduits'. Presumably the energy would be used to pump an ICBM-poppin' laser or such, but this project was 'civilian', studying the 'switch gear'.
IIRC, they found the power stream would spread a dozen ways due as many mechanisms-- Until they hit a power threshold. After which, the plasma would self-organise and settle down...
That was a dozen-plus years ago, and I've no reference. It was certainly a 'linear' configuration, rather than the toroidal tokomak. They were not trying for fusion, they were just trying to transfer power...
I remember reading years ago ( Scientific American, not Popular Mechanics
about some work that *might* have lain tangential to the 'StarWars' project. It was to do with pulsed energy transfer, at levels above those possible with 'physical' bus-bars. You're talking ST-ish 'plasma conduits'. Presumably the energy would be used to pump an ICBM-poppin' laser or such, but this project was 'civilian', studying the 'switch gear'.IIRC, they found the power stream would spread a dozen ways due as many mechanisms-- Until they hit a power threshold. After which, the plasma would self-organise and settle down...
That was a dozen-plus years ago, and I've no reference. It was certainly a 'linear' configuration, rather than the toroidal tokomak. They were not trying for fusion, they were just trying to transfer power...