17 yr old creates nuclear fusion in his basement

[Claymonkey]

... yes? If, by "effect" you mean "raise the temperature of".

Further pointing out the lameness of the project that I got an A on because of presentation.

[Gurm]

That reminds me of a science project I did in 7th grade. I had MONTHS but did it in a weekend. It was "Does salt content in water affect boiling"

... yes? If, by "effect" you mean "raise the temperature of".

[Dr Mordrid]

His was a device called a "FUSOR", invented by Filo T. Farnsworth...the US developer of scanned television...and co-evolved by Farnsworth and Robert Hirsch...the former director of the US Office of Fusion Energy.

FUSOR's use electrostatic confinement of the fusing plasma while the "biggies" use magnetic confinement in TOKAMAK devices like the ITER being built in France.

The problem with TOKAMAK's is that it's very difficult to confine the plasma stream and neutrons from the reaction eventually transmute the chamber lining into radioactive isotopes and do other damage.

The electrostatic devices have evolved over the decades from the simple spherical device this kid built, and which most anyone could build a tabletop/line powered version of, into a device designed by physicist Robert W. Bussard called Inertial-Electrodynamic Fusion, AKA "Polywell fusion". Polywell's have fuel cycles that leave no residual radiaton whatsoever, so maintenance is minimalized. It also has a much higher reaction rate than a TOKAMAK because particles that do not collide and fuse are recycled endlessly.

Bussard claims that in a Polywell with superconducting coils the power output of the device scales as the seventh power of its radius, and the energy gain scales as the fifth power.

Bussard is the designer of the Rover nuclear thermal rocket, has a long history in the fusion field at the US Dept. of Energy and developed the Bussard RamJet/RamScoop which in fiction was portrayed as part of the USS Enterprise's warp nacelle.

Ironically the Polywell has modes of operation ideal for use in a spacecraft electric drive.

Bussard has recently teamed up with Jim Benson, owner of Benson Aerospace .... the company developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane, to further evaluate Polywell and if all goes well get funding for a demonstration reactor.

2006 International Academy of Science "Outstanding tech" award

FUSOR core in this story;


Bussards Polywell core;


Polywell test chamber;

[Claymonkey]

Well sadly, the little girl with the REALLY DETAILED presentation about how she watched plants grow for 3 weeks... probably won. Science fairs are weird like that.

That reminds me of a science project I did in 7th grade. I had MONTHS but did it in a weekend. It was "Does salt content in water affect boiling" while a lot of the other people in the class did all these elaborate and intricate projects. However, I got one of the highest grades because it was presented REALLY well and showed the scientific method fully.

Still.... seriously FUSION!!! Give him the damn medal.

[Gurm]

Well sadly, the little girl with the REALLY DETAILED presentation about how she watched plants grow for 3 weeks... probably won. Science fairs are weird like that.

[Helevitia]

LMFAO! I was thinking the same thing.

I can almost hear it now, "Fusion reactors or so last century"

[Gurm]

So he was ONLY a finalist at the science fair? WTF? What were the OTHER entries? Teleportation? The cure for cancer?

Since when does building a FUSION REACTOR not get you an automatic win?

[Helevitia]

haha!

[Sasq]

and your sig matches soo damn well

[Helevitia]

Awesome.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6654