[extropy-chat] A ROOM-TEMPERATURE PALM-SIZED NUCLEAR FUSION DEVICE

[Adrian Tymes]

--- Dan Clemmensen <dgc at cox.net> wrote:
> What has happened to the list? Here we have the first simple, fully 
> replicable,
> fully understood benchtop fusion device, and the only two responses
> are 
> dismissive.

I am under the impression this is far from the first.  Desktop
fusion has been done before.  The great unsolved problem, which this
does not appear to do much towards solving, is how to efficiently tap
the reaction for much less energy than one gets out of it.

> Look: Its a first try. Yes, the result is not exothermic, but since
> the 
> science is
> well understood, scientists can use this as a basis for improvement. 
> With just a bit
> of cleverness, it may be possible to engineer a micro-scale chain 
> reaction and
> achieve a controllable break-even.

That's what they said about macro-scale fusion 50 years ago.  It's been
shown to take more than a bit of cleverness.

That said, this will definitely be easier to work with than
macro-scale fusion.  The same is true of most types of desktop
fusion, for instance sonoluminescence.  (BTW, has there been any
significant progress on turning that into an energy source lately?)