Search found 3140 matches

by TallDave
Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:09 am
Forum: Theory
Topic: POPS Paper
Replies: 33
Views: 24159

Next Energy News - they are on the verge of very fringe science. Plus they published a report that California was going to fund Dr. Bussard that turned out to be false. Yeah, that was a fun ride. Arrgh. I'll always wonder what the real story was on that article. Did they make it up? Did they hear s...
by TallDave
Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:55 am
Forum: Theory
Topic: What is the basis for the B^4 portion of the power gain?
Replies: 12
Views: 9650

Terminology issues. As to the cusps, I would have thought that there would be cusps where the coils run parallel to each other along what represents the edge joining the hexagonal faces of a truncated cube. But it looks like the "line cusps" are not *along* these edges, but protrude through the cen...
by TallDave
Sat Oct 27, 2007 8:03 am
Forum: Design
Topic: Experiments with solid-state magnets
Replies: 51
Views: 38430

Re: Star magnetic fields

Tom Ligon wrote:Earth's magnetic field is supposed to be formed by molten iron moving.
That's what most experts think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_magnetic_field
by TallDave
Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:30 am
Forum: Design
Topic: Control Processor
Replies: 63
Views: 44404

Heh, interesting thread. I'm still noobish enough that I had to look up PID loops and ENOB. TGFWikipedia! Of course, I mostly work in a 4GL embedded database language, so all my day-to-day problems are in a totally different frame of reference, but I have enjoyed being able to do things in Progress ...
by TallDave
Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:30 am
Forum: Design
Topic: Power Substation Picture
Replies: 4
Views: 5844

That's hawt.

I wonder what a 3 million volt transformer will look like.
by TallDave
Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:21 pm
Forum: Theory
Topic: Publish or perish?
Replies: 6
Views: 5534

It's interesting so few people seem to know the project has been funded again already, or that it actually happened last month. I guess the confusion's not terribly surprising, given the lack of press releases. They aren't saying much, so I'm not sure if the r^5 gain scaling is going to be tested in...
by TallDave
Fri Oct 12, 2007 8:29 pm
Forum: Theory
Topic: What is the basis for the B^4 portion of the power gain?
Replies: 12
Views: 9650

Thanks guys, that helps a lot.
by TallDave
Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:48 pm
Forum: Theory
Topic: What is the basis for the B^4 portion of the power gain?
Replies: 12
Views: 9650

That worries me a bit.

Hmm. I wonder if that's going to reliably scale to 100MW.

Only one way to find out for sure I guess.
by TallDave
Wed Oct 10, 2007 2:10 am
Forum: Theory
Topic: What is the basis for the B^4 portion of the power gain?
Replies: 12
Views: 9650

What is the basis for the B^4 portion of the power gain?

Why does the strength of the B field scale the fusion so dramatically? Bussard mentions this scaling in both the video and the Valencia paper, but I'm not sure what he's basing this on. Was that from his experimental results?

This is a major point I see skepticism on.
by TallDave
Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:17 pm
Forum: Theory
Topic: Economics of Polywell Reactors -- .022831/kwh to start?
Replies: 6
Views: 5236

You have a steel vessel 10 ft in dia. You have vacuum pumps. You have magnetic grid power supplies. You have cooling water pumps. Once the design is done and you go into production these costs are insignificant. Say $10 mil to $20 mil per plant . Maybe less. Maybe much less. That seems reasonable, ...
by TallDave
Mon Oct 01, 2007 6:20 pm
Forum: Theory
Topic: Economics of Polywell Reactors -- .022831/kwh to start?
Replies: 6
Views: 5236

Economics of Polywell Reactors -- .022831/kwh to start?

I thought it might be worthwhile to try to determine what sort of cost and useful life we need from Polywell reactors for them to be competitive with current electric producers. Here's a rough guide of electricity prices over the past 40 years. http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/brochure/electricity/electr...
by TallDave
Tue Sep 25, 2007 3:38 pm
Forum: Fund-Raising
Topic: Bussard's Website Taken Down?
Replies: 4
Views: 7325

JoeStrout wrote:
Shubedobedubopbopbedo wrote:No updates lately though, eh?
Nope. We're all waiting with baited breath, but apparently no announcement is forthcoming. I guess we have to just be patient and hope that the results will be published when they're ready.
You're supposed to put the bait on the hook, not eat it!
by TallDave
Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:28 pm
Forum: Fund-Raising
Topic: ARPA-E: a likely new funding source for polywell research?
Replies: 13
Views: 20853

Oops, no they're not DARPA-related, they're DOE. They just have similar names.
by TallDave
Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:24 pm
Forum: Fund-Raising
Topic: ARPA-E: a likely new funding source for polywell research?
Replies: 13
Views: 20853

Heh, it does sound perfect. From the guys who brought us the Internet. I wonder if DARPA-E's imminence was a factor in the Navy's re-funding decision. With oil at $80/bbl somebody was going to snap up Polywell, sooner or later. It's interesting Bussard is claiming the $200M Phase II development will...
by TallDave
Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:02 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Anti-Gravity Matter = no dark matter
Replies: 8
Views: 7006

Well, I hear about things like the alleged Pioneer anomaly and I wonder. And this might explain that. After review, this is interesting, but seems a bit amateurish. I'm not sure how you can fit a positive mass antigravitational particle into the Standard Model, and calling them "transparent" is a li...