Reply To: Global Warming

[Aeronaut]

Brian H wrote:

I do have one small problem with the phrase “harnessing ( or leveraging ) plasma instabilities”. To my mind “instability” connotes a random, uncontrollable process, and focus fusion is hardly that. Instability is what is plaguing the ITER project.

The plasma focus works as it does because it exploits the inherent properties of the electromagnetic force to control the plasma. It expresses the jujitsu of physics, whereas the tokomak represents the brute force approach.

Perhaps this is a small point, but the impression I get of “working with instabilities” is nowhere near as positive as “harnessing the electromagnetic force”. Compare the image of trying to maintain order at a day care center with that of controlling a lightning strike.

TCG

The science of “instabilities” is probably too important to abandon. Perhaps changing the phrasing to “exploiting instabilities and their power” would come closer to how the “pinch” is used to hyper-compress the plasma.

Tough call, indeed. I always thought the X-ray picture looked and acted a lot like water spiraling down a drain. Sure it can be called an instability, but its all part of the plan. Might want to emphasize that the Blake coil pretty much eliminates the shot to shot variations of other DPFs, which means unmatched precision.

We also have detailed formulae and experimental evidence (in either technical paper, preferably the second one) that reinforces the control aspects.