Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Fusors still fun and maybe even very useful
Date: Jul 12, 7:29 pm
Poster: Mark Sloan

On Jul 12, 7:29 pm, Mark Sloan wrote:

I am still fairly new to this discussion board, but thought I'd post a comment anyway.

Ok, so the existing Farnsworth/Hirsch fusor designs are not ever going to be "tweaked" (or a new high transparency grid added) in a way which will result in getting even close to break even fusion.

If these fusors already worked as power generators, where would the challenge be?

The payoff I see for this approach may be to stimulate ideas and hardware that are simple and cheap (compared to mainstream efforts).

As we all know, successful development of fusion for power generation and space travel will change the course of history. The chance that an amateur will make a significant contribution is small, but it is bigger than zero. (Perhaps comparable to winning the state lottery.)

But that greater than zero chance of making a contribution is enough to keep my interest engaged. And it sounds like some people are having a lot of fun along the way. I know I have been having a good time learning about nuclear and Coulomb cross sections, nuclear resonances, the importance of obtaining non-thermal equilibrium velocity distributions, and the like.

Anyone know of online sources of information on the recent G. H. Miley and R. Bussard efforts?

For Miley, I have his paper "The Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Approach to Fusion Power," Current Trends in International Fusion Research, London and New York, England and NY: Plenum Press, 1997 but was hoping for something more recent.

Thanks,