If this topic gives you a sense of déjà vu, you’re probably thinking of this. This bit of news is similar, but concerns a different science fair project:

17-year-old fusioneer Taylor Wilson was among the over 100 high school students invited to the second-ever White House Science Fair. There is a photograph of Taylor with the President on this story on the White House website, but no mention of fusion as far as I can tell. Taylor’s project is described here simply as a “system to detect nuclear threats”, but it is in fact a type of Farnsworth fusor, ostensibly being used as a neutron source.

Whoa, check this out. Scroll to the bottom of the page.

wouldn’t it be great if Obama had the balls to put a fusion goal out like John F Kennedy did with the man on the moon mission?  hopefully his replacement will.

willit - 13 February 2012 02:20 PM

wouldn’t it be great if Obama had the balls to put a fusion goal out like John F Kennedy did with the man on the moon mission?  hopefully his replacement will.

?

Non sequitur. No candidate will seriously challenge the oligarchs’ literal grip on power. And Obama has been a most dutiful servant of the <1%. He will be rewarded with re-election.

But any of the candidates will authorize fracking in your backyard before they authorize funding for something that might disturb the powers that be.

No fast track for fusion research and a drill rig in your yard. That will be the result of the 2012 election regardless of who wins.

Well, any presidential candidate (or sitting president) who has read his Physics for future Presidents knows enough not make a fusion goal, because fusion power generation is too far away for him to be able to take credit for it before his one or two terms expire. Really, I just don’t think the political will is there for any president or congress to devote a more significant portion of the budget to fusion research. Until someone announces net gain from fusion and politicians start scrambling to see how they can take credit for the success, I don’t see the state of things changing.