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jamesr wrote: The anode would have helium gas pumped through, in order to keep its surface below 800K or so. The outside of the vacuum chamber and other parts (eg. the capacitors) can be conventionally water cooled.

Perhaps the heat energy could be recaptured for helium cooling with a Brayton closed cycle gas turbine.

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As I read the debates concerning the seriousness or validity of Science Fiction vs science fact I thought of Leo Szilard.

He was an admirer of the fiction of HG Wells and was partially inspired in his conception of the nuclear chain reaction after reading “The World set Free”.

Science Fiction can help inspire science.

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Let’s include “2010 The Year We Make Contact.” The Soviet Spaceship Alexei Leonov was powered by a Tokamak Fusion Reactor. Then there are the multiplying monoliths that cover and implode Jupiter creating fusion and a mini sun. 🙂

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Hello Free Water. I’ve been rereading your posts and have questions. You do a good job of capturing attention but follow up is needed. Questions:

What is the degree of fall off per humidity. Can it provide water to irrigate a pasture in a semi desert area? drinking water in the Sahara? If the answer is yes do you have tests and stats to confirm!

If it can, what power supply would your company make available? Solar?

In humid areas it might supply drinking water for disaster areas but is it more efficient than the devices in place to purify waste water?

In general, given adequate power sources how many gallons per hr (lets say) can your device provide per relative humidity?

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Did Chris Hagen of National Securities Technologies, Tallboy DPF Las Vegas, have these problems with switches? For that matter did the DPF F-1000 in Warsaw? Rezwan had mentioned collaboration among the various DPF groups, Chris Hagen especially. Great idea. Any useful feedback?

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Again I think I understand your position somewhat. I think you favor the breakup of the energy monopoly with FF distributed widely and locally. Absolutely! Also a return to an authentically competitive market place open to individual investment would be nice.

Painting or covering the asteroids white to reflect sunlight, interesting. Haven’t heard that one before. You would probably have to cover the entire rock due to movement. Comets would be a different problem.

If FF is harnessed to spaceflight that could be another area for privatisation.

As to whether Global Warming is real or not, you seem adamant in denial. We will have to agree to disagree.

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Well. I think I understand your position somewhat. Here goes (if I’m off I’m sure you’ll correct) There are geologic disasters no one can do anything about like the plate shiftts off Haiwaii and the Canaries you discuss. Yep, S..t Happens and sometimes the best we can do is good disaster recovery (not much in evidence at present).

OK, but other potential disasters we can try to avoid. We might check man made global warming or monitor asteroids that could impact earth. We can take action, presumably we aren’t dinosaures.

I’ve never heard anyone say “We just don’t have enough disasters!”

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Hello Phil’s Dad,
If I’m guilty of anything, it’s too much brevity. I shouldn’t have covered the totality of global warming potential effects in one short sentence…bound to lead to confusion. Your explanation of how tsunamis have been cuased by techtonic plate shift is fine, but your statement “tsunamis have never been caused by climate change” indiactes premature closure of inquiry. I don’t think many would rationally deny the melting of polar ice when there are massive changes in glaciers, the effects of which are pronounced.

Techtonic plates are affected as a result of changes in isostasy/eustasy and post glacial rebound on glacial isostatic adjustment. This can have an effect on seismic activity(i.e.: volcanic activity, earthquakes and, yes…tsunamis). Granted all this is a worst case scenario, current thinking is that the impact takes place over a hundred years or more, but we can’t say with certainty, given the current rapid pace of deglaciation. We, hopefully, have time to change our energy infrastructure before we reach that point.

Faulting, fracturing and seismicity

Sea level and climate

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There’s one element that gets lost in discussions of climate change be it excess co2 or cyclic, WATER! Climate change brings excess water where it’s not needed, ie. tsunamis, and arid conditions elsewhere. No water no forests or grasslands. The US is loosing half its western forests do to drier conditions. Don’t take my word for it just check the drastic increase in forest fires in the pacific/western areas. The firefighters out west believe in climate change. Solutions can get problematic but possibly trees and grasses that can proliferate in arid conditions could counter increases in desertification we also see in sub Sahara.

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Indeed!

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Thank you for that FEYNMAN post. A great example of the levels of inquiry, levels that can move from everyday inquiry to scientific then what? Maybe mystical? Does it matter, we work with what we have.

But Why did you post it! Just kidding.

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Got it. But seriously I was hoping to shake the tree and have the latest results fall out. Just overanxious I guess!

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Thanks for the system breakdown Aeronaut. When the last “Duck Test” was run with Deuterium did any of the data not accord with anticipated results or require any significant modifications?

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There you have it unknown vs unintended consequences. If we manipulate at all it should be as minimal as possible, prevent ice cap meltdown if possible. Various Geoengineering solutions have been proposed:

* Space shading via sunscreen

* Pumping sulfur into the stratosphere as volcanoes do

* Injecting sea salt into the atmosphere for shade

See Scientific American Nov. 2008 Robert Kunzig. Massive reforestation is probably the most benign along with rapid conversion to Green technology in general. Focus Fusion would be especially desirable, once perfected, since it could be mass produced, widely distributed and sweep most alternatives aside based on economics.

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There’s the rub. First we would have to keep the warming from increasing. A reversal might be desirable but realistically that isn’t practical even if all fossil fuel burning ceased in the next ten years. Even if we prevent it from getting worse (stabilize) there will be consequences ie. additional arctic meltdown, coastal flooding etc. etc. Focus Fusion along with other nuclear/green solutions can help and ultimately reverse global warming. However we may have to employ what Werner Von Braun called Planetary Engineering (Geoengineering) (Wikipedia) until they can have an impact.

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