Volunteers wanted for oil spill fusion video

[benf]

vansig-21 June 2010 12:10 AM

They seem to indoctrinate their people to regard with distaste anything that has a nucleus. Many are even leery of microwaves. I predict a long education for this group.

They largely have had a fear of fission nuclear, which is justified. I may not agree with tactics some environmental groups have used, but overall they have for years been trying to call peoples attention to issues concerning the planet’s health, which I respect. They can help spread the word about new technologies that are real solutions to our energy problems and shouldn’t be excluded. These people have helped launch energy alternatives into the mainstream through their advocacy. From what I’m seeing on the web, some of these folks are open to clean nuclear energy research already.

Another angle I’d suggest would be this: In another eight administrations, the world’s population is expected to grow 50% (by 2050). We need serious solutions to our energy demands that we take for granted today and for overcoming poverty both now and with future generations. Focus Fusion can produce power on a scale to meet these needs, without stressing natural resources the way other alternatives can.

[Rezwan]

Indeed.

Now… to restate the point I hope a video will convey, it’s about the upside of uncertainty. Wordy copy (help!):

The BP catastrophe reminds us that we live in an uncertain world.
Our economy is dependent on energy.
Our current sources of energy are a dangerous business wrapped up in uncertainties.
The fuel we love the most is dangerous if mishandled.
In many parts of the world, it is a major cause of strife and political turmoil.

But we need energy. We are driven to extract it –
and to spend as little as we can in extracting it.
So we try to cut corners, and it blows up in our face. (yes, “WE”. Like you want to spend more money at the pump)

The folks at BP were hoping to get lucky, to get by without incident. They saved money on prevention, and now face the far more expensive cleanup, restoration, reparations and incalculable losses from this catastrophe.

The problem with the oil game is that it is rigged (cue picture of oil rig) for failure. It’s a dead end. It’s downwind of uncertainty.

The best that could happen is you keep extracting oil without too many mishaps or too many more casualties as supplies keep dwindling. The worst is catastrophe, rolling catastrophe.

But is there some sort of uncertainty we can flirt with that doesn’t threaten catastrophe? Isn’t there uncertainty with a strong upside?

Why are we so comfortable wasting our time with uncertainties that are negative, or -at best – business as usual? Why not attack, with gusto, the uncertainties that will open up the future? Like aneutronic fusion research [And here we have to link to more info with a line like “have you heard of aneutronic fusion? Here’s a starting point]. Unleash the energy of the stars.

The worst that could happen is we spend money and don’t get quick results. The best that could happen is we figure out how to harness fusion for the greater good of mankind and the whole planet – and move on to a pan galactic future.

What’s the opposite of catastrophe? And why aren’t we courting it?

[courting astral forces, rather than courting disaster. You know the root of disaster comes from dis-(expressing negation) and astro – star. Ill-starred event. So…harnessing the energy of the stars would be the opposite of disastrous. Just a thought.]

[zapkitty]

Er… just my opinion of course, but… no 🙂

However you do make it clear that in this case you are asking for funding for… something. Such clarification is a step in the right direction 🙂

Now, if that’s the case, what are you asking funding for? And where do you hope the funding will come from? Are you asking for government support? Private support? Any support you can get?

If instead you want more of a PSA about the possibilities of aneutronic fusion as opposed to current energy sources then your script should go down another path, I think.

[emmetb]

The video linked below, contains some ideas that might be interesting to this present disucussion. On several levels, actually. First, there is the presentation technique which is absolutely genius in its simplicity and clarity: a good way to launch a viral video that explains your idea (maybe not this one though). Second, there are some gem insights there in the actual content. In particular how (young) people perceive time and look to the past/present/future. That made me realize it might be a good idea to hammer home the time-dimension: tokamak fusion technology is 50 years into the future and always will be, where LPP is putting out monthly reports and hopes to come to some conclusion on feasibility this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg

We need people to be future oriented. We need to GET people to be more future oriented. This holds for mainstream fusion researchers who fail to leave their disproven solution concepts (tokamaks). It holds for environmental organizations who fail to recognize that past disasters with fision power should not automatically make us abandon anything that has a nucleus in it. Lead by example i would say: there is no point in saying Green Peace has always been opposed to nuclear energy therefore i won’t talk to any environmental protection activists. Instead look at it this way: convince just 1 of these organizations to change their stance and embrace your proposition and you’ve won a powerful vote. This will, admittedly, be hard because by their very nature these organizations ARE conservative and past oriented.

This should be at the heart of your message: look to the future, support us.

[emmetb]

http://heroicimagination.org/

last link, i promise, now i, for one, will shut up on the subject ’cause talk is cheap 😉

[emmetb]

by the way, how many posts i need to make here to get rid of “Newbie” classification?

[emmetb]

oops, i broke my own promise…

[benf]

Rezwan, perhaps we could combine what you first posted from Eric with what you have further elaborated. I think Patientman’s marketing approach makes some sense. With Eric’s script we have Attention and Awareness of the issue. With your follow up script we have Attitude as you become more ethically oriented. What needs development is the Action aspect. What can people from different walks of life do to support FF? Invest in the project as well as promoting this website and it’s interaction with different ideas, large and small, education, technical, social impact, futurist, etc. Ending on a positive outlook for the future here on our planet ties in with the beginning better than reaching for the stars (“pan galactic”), which might be overreaching here, but could be the subject for another video!

[Patientman]

Currently, you folks are digging out the main concepts and refining them. Please don’t rush your process or the four “A’s”. Yes this video needs to be timely(yesterday), but then being patient is what will also give you the guts of the message.

The Time Perspective video was a great visually stimulating piece, it kept my attention. We are a more visual world and using words can back fire sometimes. “Donate Today”, is very powerful and if you add “Save The World Tomorrow”. You will get a very interesting response. Matter of Fact, the less words you use at the beginning the better. Most of your message in words should be on your home page, this is where you make the biggest case. Right now, you have lost the message and only a bunch of teaser articles, there is no meaty article that would draw a user into the rest of the site.

[benf]

Patientman, a request was made to create a 30 second video as a timely response to the oil spill crisis. I think we should honor that request by Eric and focus on that particular issue and how to respond to it. I’m in agreement on the value of images. The web site content however is really on another topic, in my view it is saturated with valuable content. That draws people in and engages them too.

[Patientman]

I agree that the web site is a different issue and should be addressed elsewhere. Sorry. I consider the larger picture as the end result of a puzzle. A small piece is this video, the ones that follow should continue to draw attention and build on the first one. It takes a minimum of three “views” for a message to finally click in a person’s mind. The media communication noise of the web and TV, overload people. You need to creatively convey the same message in many different ways and many times over, just to get their attention. Then go back and do it again to get their Awareness. If you plan out the big picture and break it down into these small pieces, your audience will put it back together. People love puzzles. 😛

I think you have enough to begin production on the first video. Do you have enough to define the next steps in the campaign? What are they?
1. Eric’s script
2. A History of approaches to fusion (sticks, wood, wind, coal, steam, solar, oil, fission…)
3. Throw out some ideas and see where they go…
4.
5. Get a meaningful and insightful conclusion that drives home how plasma fusion is cheaper, safe and unlike any other energy source ever…

[Patientman]

benf wrote:

vansig-21 June 2010 12:10 AM

They seem to indoctrinate their people to regard with distaste anything that has a nucleus. Many are even leery of microwaves. I predict a long education for this group.

They largely have had a fear of fission nuclear, which is justified. I may not agree with tactics some environmental groups have used, but overall they have for years been trying to call peoples attention to issues concerning the planet’s health, which I respect.

Education is a huge part of an approach to change perception and I believe that Focus Fusion needs to educate the all sides of the energy issues today. By taking an educational direction, rather than a “we have the answer” approach, you should be able to accomplish more. One thing today that everyone wants to know is cost of energy. Do you have a comparable reference on this web site?
I found this:

Imported Uranium is $46 a pound

The energy required to build nuclear plants, operate them, and mine and process the uranium may be so large as to cause a net energy deficit. Here’s a thorough Energy Analysis of Power Systems including nuclear energy and its competitors. The basic fact about nuclear energy is that the input energy is 4.8 percent of output energy if gaseous diffusion is used to enrich uranium and 1.7 percent if the newer centrifuge technology is used. Another way of looking at the same facts is that if gaseous diffusion is used for enrichment, the energy invested in building the plant is paid back in 5 months, whereas if centrifuges are used the payback time is 4 months.

I was unable to find the cost of a single fuel rod. They only last 18 months. I have some numbers from the Dept of Energy on “overnight” costs for building a fission reactor. The use of number is not my favorite approach to educating and audience, but having a list of comparisons may be useful in the video.

[Rezwan]

benf wrote: Patientman, a request was made to create a 30 second video as a timely response to the oil spill crisis. I think we should honor that request by Eric and focus on that particular issue and how to respond to it. I’m in agreement on the value of images. The web site content however is really on another topic, in my view it is saturated with valuable content. That draws people in and engages them too.

Yes. And I think step one is gathering public domain footage or still images.

The images required are (can also be stills if video is unobtainable) (Or even drawings inspired by these stills):

Video of live oil spill feed,

Video of some iconic footage from Gulf war/Iraq

Video—collage of panned stills: galaxies, quasars, video of solar flares

And we already have Torulf’s images free and clear.

So – who’s on that? Gather ye images, send the links to where I can download and edit. Or Patientman – if you could edit that would be great.

Much easier to slap something together when you have images to talk over.

[benf]

Here’s a link to Wikimedia oil spill images: Oil Spill
Also a couple of my own you can use if you like are attached.

Attached files

[Patientman]

I will have to re-size the ones I found at wikimedia:

Names:
800px-Kuwait_burn_oilfield.png
Amoco_Cadiz_1.jpg
Chernobyl_Nuclear_Power_Plant.jpg
Controlled_burn_of_oil_on_May_19th.JPG
EVOSWEB_013_oiled_bird3.jpg
Great_barrier_oil_spill_march_2010.JPG
Manripo071210_5.jpg
Oil_spill_in_San_Francisco_bay.jpg
Oiled_Bird_-_Black_Sea_Oil_Spill_111207.jpg
Three_Mile_Island_1979-04-11.jpg

I don’t think all of these pictures will be used. If you have the original Flash files for the Plasma Fusion video we could incorporate parts of it.
I have a storyboard template in my archives and will post it. We need to determine the format size. I thought 550 px by 400px was appropriate.

Attached files

[Author]

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