Reply To: Fantastic news.

[Brian H]

Breakable wrote: …
Look at the desperate Pollywell folk, who get a sketchy update from the Army once half a year under best circumstances.
…

Yeah, the Polywell guys are pretty much government toadies, I think. They’ve got their second kick at the government funding in hand, and are paying attention to the paymasters. Probably have had to sign secrecy papers up the kazoo, too. (But I think it’s the Navy they’re with?!?)

But FF was always an open and privately-driven effort. It’s just hard to swallow that the action has finally begun and as soon as it did, silence descended.
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Just checked on the Polywell. From the talk-Polywell FAQ:

EMC2 Inc. is under contract with the United States Navy to research the Polywell. The Navy has a publication embargo on documents produced by EMC2 for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.
Known Contracts
SOURCE Funding
…………………Amount Year Purpose
DARPA…………$50k 85-86 Concept Definition
SDIO/DNA…….$250k 87-88 Major Study
DARPA/HEPS…$10M 89-92 R&D;
DoE HQ………..$100k 92-93 toroidal polyhedral IEF – fuel/gas vacuum system separation means
USN SBIR……..$50k 92-93 Basic Concepts – Propulsion Apps
EPRI……………$150k 93 IEF Power Plant Study
USN SBIR…….$750k 93-95 Wiffle Ball behavior, Electron Trapping
LANL/UI……….$315k 92-94 ion-driven IEC system
SDIO/NASA…..$280k 93-94 polyhedral IEF for space missions
?? ?? ?? INTERREGNUM??
USN…………….$12.7M 99-04 Major R&D;Program
USN……………$3.2M 03-06 Transition / Follow-on
USN……………$1.8M 07-08 Reconstruct WB6 / Expert Panel Review
USN……………$300k 09 Install “compact, high temperature coil joints” and investigate electron parallel heat loss and wiffleball formation

I make it $11,945,000 over 10 years before the navy got involved, then a pause of 4 years, then $18,000,000 over 10 years for a total of $29,945,000.
And all they’ve got is a wiffleball? :gulp: 8-/ :cheese: