[vansig]

If you do fusion research,
people will say you are a dreamer, that fusion wont happen for another fifty years, that you will upset the balance of power, and that other energy companies will kill you.

do fusion research anyway

[vansig]

i think the essential point is, that if the plasma touches the chamber wall, that’s bad. so maybe the vibrations would make it bounce?

[vansig]

Yes, they operate like a transformer, and should probably be just as efficient (routinely, HV transformers are more than 98% efficient).

In fact it is exactly like a particle accelerator, but operating in reverse, as a particle decelerator. The currents in the secondary will be pumped by regular ion beam pulses through the primary, ( probably 900 or 1200 sub-microsecond pulses per second), and these will very likely be connected to one or more resonant circuits.

The conversion to electrical transmission lines will be interesting, since the ion beam pulse is quite short, whereas the power grid operates on 50 or 60 Hz. Among the components, I foresee a high frequency resonator, (perhaps 10 MHz?) in the circuit, and a gang of 15 to 24 phasing coils.

[vansig]

the problem i have with the Big Bang theory, is that it concludes that, because the universe is expanding, that it must have been compressed in the past.
that conclusion requires that matter cannot be created, except at the beginning.

yet, we see cracks in that framework, since the standard model has been modified to propose the existence of dark energy.. which introduces an unexpected and huge factor. indeed, the largest.

instead of all that,
what if matter is being created all the time, from this mysterious dark energy? and there was no big bang, yet the universe is expanding; it always has, and always will.

[vansig]

Rezwan wrote: Re, criteria #2, What’s “short”?

there is a conventional wisdom that breaks tasks down into that which can be done in a single day only, (as estimated by the developer who will do it); the proposed task list is prioritized by the product owner, and grouped into a list items that will consume no more than 2 weeks total. after the two weeks, the cycle repeats, with a new list.

[vansig]

mchargue wrote: Well, actually the idea that ‘missing mass’ constitutes a ‘proof’ that dark matter must exist is experiencing a little push-back.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-universe-not-so-missing-mass.html

Next up, ‘Dark Energy’…

Pat

but it isn’t the “missing mass” that constitutes evidence for dark matter; it is observed astronomical phenomena like the Bullet Cluster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_Cluster

[vansig]

Impaler wrote: I find it hard to imagine this thought has not occurred to cosmologists before and been studied.

It’s not at all a hard thing to test if sensitive instruments are used, tiny amounts of anti-matter have been created in accelerators but I don’t believe any attempt has ever been made to weigh it. This is probably a good test to run just to make absolutely certain were not missing some hugely important piece of the picture.

It has been imagined, but in fact it is extraordinarily difficult to study, because only single atoms of anti-hydrogen have thus far been created; and forces that would be able to contain antimatter for study are many many orders of magnitude stronger than gravity itself.

[vansig]

AaronB wrote: Our shots are numbered by date first, and then the shot number for that day. Today’s first shot would be 08311101 (month, day, year, shot #).

there is no good reason not to switch every date code to year-month-day, which is reasonable since computer operating systems automatically sort file names into lexicographic order.

the practice of ordering things month-day-year should be subjected to public ridicule.

[vansig]

if i recall correctly, the goal is to operate at 40 torr

[vansig]

fantastic!

[vansig]

Rezwan wrote: @vansig & annodomini2, are you saying we should change “unlimited” to “abundant”?

While updating the website, I noticed in some places we had “abundant” already. Probably from a previous discussion.

Yes, “abundant” is the better word.

Also, I noticed we had “affordable” rather than “cheap” – because we didn’t want to be seen as cheap. There was a discussion about that at some point as well.

Aside from that, our mission statement doesn’t [em]exclude[/em] conservation. Obviously, until we get it working, we can’t stop conserving, and even after it’s working, I think a big motivation for conservation comes down to not wanting to bother with excess stuff and building. We’d still like energy efficient buildings because it does away with the loud hum of cooling and heating machines (AC units and fans annoy me).

Even after it’s working, we shouldn’t stop conserving. But it sure would be nice to guarantee each and every person on the planet a kilowatt.. as a fundamental right.

[vansig]

by the way, how does gravity behave w.r.t. antimatter?

do galaxies and anti-galaxies repel each other?

[vansig]

The objections I hear, are from people who believe that the world should learn to conserve energy first; that unlimited energy will lead to unlimited destruction of natural resources and unlimited population explosion.

Changing that opinion requires discussion of the feasibility of recycling, comparing its cost to that of pillaging protected lands; and whether the technology can be turned into a weapon by people like Dick Cheney.

[vansig]

I try not to mention it to the NIMBY crowd; to them, “nucular” [sic] means deadly radioactive waste and no amount of discussion will change that. what might change that is, that important influences, (eg: GreenPeace UK) are beginning to change their position on nuclear energy.

So, to the technical audience, they express some interest in hearing that fusion may be more than just Tokamak; but they usually end the conversation with “I’ll wait until I see peer review publications”.

[vansig]

In physics chat rooms, the thing that seemed to open doors to discussing DPF most effectively, was mentioning that
“Lerner’s paper was accepted for publication in physical review letters.”

At that point, it’s no longer a “fringe” topic

[Author]

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