Lets make sure it's called the 'Bussard Reactor'

Discuss life, the universe, and everything with other members of this site. Get to know your fellow polywell enthusiasts.

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djolds1
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Post by djolds1 »

Tom Ligon wrote:Dr. Bussard never referred to interstellar ramjets as "Bussard Ramjets", and he would never have called a Polywell (r) reactor a BFR. That never stopped anyone else, and I like BFR.
It is a proper tribute.
Tom Ligon wrote:Polywell is actually trademarked by EMC2. Magrid is not (I was surprised at that, because I think it is the key component). Alas, Wiffle Ball (r) is trademarked by the corporation of that name, although I've found no evidence wiffleball is. However, if I were CEO of Wiffle Ball (r), I'd gladly license the use of the name for something that saves the world.
In some ways it doesn't matter. Whatever the popular name becomes, trademarks aren't going to stand in the way of. If polywell becomes the popular name, EMC2's legal staff can go into convulsions and Polywell will still be used.
Vae Victis

DKelley
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Post by DKelley »

jormungandr wrote:Well, you could call it a Bussard Electro-Nuclear Hybrid Reactor... BENHR?
"Yeah, Xcel wants to build a "Ben-Hur" and the community is rallying around it...."

And, maybe we could stick with "BFR" for ship or rocket engines. The captain yells to the engine room, "Beef 'er up!"
"Just because you can," doesn't mean "you should."

djolds1
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Post by djolds1 »

DKelley wrote:And, maybe we could stick with "BFR" for ship or rocket engines. The captain yells to the engine room, "Beef 'er up!"
"BFR" has a distinct, non-Bussard meaning in the rocket community. :)

Duane
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Betruger
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Post by Betruger »

I think Polywell is really not that bad. Why not Bussard Polywell? Everyone would know it's a fusion reactor, cause that's what it is.. It would have Bussard in it, would be pretty simple, doesn't really take much effort to say (tho it's not completely fluid either), and anyone curious would figure out or hear from word of mouth that polywell describes the shape of the confinement scheme.. It'd be obvious to anyone who saw a layman publicity schematic for the other fusion designs that this was something different.

Maybe we even could come up with some arrangement of a polywell (truncube or dodec etc) or two that'd spell the initials, BP? Then again "BP" coincides with BP fuel.. BPR maybe?

djolds1
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Post by djolds1 »

Betruger wrote:I think Polywell is really not that bad. Why not Bussard Polywell?
Or just "Bussard" (contra 'Diesel').

Duane
Vae Victis

PolyGirl
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Naming the Reactor

Post by PolyGirl »

I have gone through the various postings on “what to call the reactor” and my choices are either Bussard Fusion Reactor or the Polywell Fusion Reactor, to which both can be contracted to Bussard Reactor or the Polywell Reactor, respectively. People will more than likely get used to the word Reactor and understand that the word Reactor used in association with the generation of electricity will mean fusion reactions. The English language is notorious for having the same word in different contexts meaning different things.
The more I know, the less I know.

alancj
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Post by alancj »

The choice is clear: The Bussard Fusorater.

pfrit
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Post by pfrit »

The only name that I am against is BFR. In acronyms, "BF" and "BU" mean something. I would spell it out, but the filters would delete it. And really, the reactor would be SMALL! Truth in advertising.
What is the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don't know and I don't care.

djolds1
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Post by djolds1 »

pfrit wrote:The only name that I am against is BFR. In acronyms, "BF" and "BU" mean something. I would spell it out, but the filters would delete it. And really, the reactor would be SMALL! Truth in advertising.
It intrudes on "Big F**king Rocket," which is not to be permitted.

It can also be elided into "Beefy," which may insult the girth-challenged and those deathly afraid of mad cow disease. Valuable customer demographics. :lol:

I'm still waiting for feedback on when my 10GW Bussard will be installed on my QED rocket.

Duane
Vae Victis

olivier
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Location: Cherbourg, France

Post by olivier »

Let's check what BFR stands for in other languages :
  • German : Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, that is Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. Ominous...
    French : the accounting acronym for besoin en fonds de roulement, that is Working Capital Requirement. Ironic...
BFR sounds good to me anyway :lol:

djolds1
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Post by djolds1 »

olivier wrote:BFR sounds good to me anyway :lol:
Let me put it this way: what would we want immortalized for at least the next several centuries?

A Three Letter Acronym?

Or Doc Bussard's Name?

Duane
Vae Victis

olivier
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Location: Cherbourg, France

Post by olivier »

Sold! :wink:

LCARS_24
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Contact:

Post by LCARS_24 »

Just joined; first post. The term polywell seems logical to me.

But in Star Trek terminology we have had the term Bussard collector for many years. It's similar to a Bussard ramscoop but without the physical scoop. A Bussard collector is located behind each of the forward nacelle caps of a starship or shuttlecraft and projects a field to draw in trace hydrogen from space for processsing into fuel. And this device was definitely named after Dr. Bussard.

Another acknowledgement in Trek tech is the impulse engines, a vital component of which is the fusion generator housed in a spherical casing. It's depicted that way in all the schematics, and that was a nod to the polywell concept. Rick Sternbach, who designed many ships and devices for Star Trek over years, clearly pointed these things out and has had a lot of nice things to say about Dr. Bussard.

One other item is something called microfusion thrusters, which haven't directly been tied to the polywell concept in such an obvious manner but can be assumed to depend on small polywell reactors. These propel the photon torpedoes, and when the insides of one are shown on-screen, the propulsion system is not what we get to see.

Skipjack
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Post by Skipjack »

Well Polywell makes the most sense from a technical POV. However calling it a "Bussard reactor" kinda has a romantic thing to it.
First it would be in memory of a great man and second Bussard is also the german word for a kind of raptoric bird and that is kinda cool ;)
I also think that the general public has an easier time remembering the 2 syllible Bussard versus the 3 syllable Polywell. In terms of marketability that is an advantage. After all, if this thing works, it needs to be marketet.

tombo
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Post by tombo »

The Duwamish chief for whom Seattle was named was horribly afraid of having the city named after him.

A radio interview with a grandson of Charles Lindberg said that the shadow of the famous man kept the family as far from media spotlight and flying as possible. He had a very hard time doing anything with airplanes, but that when he tried it he loved it. (Then he became one of the movers behind the x-prize)

I think that Dr Bussard's family should have the main say in this.

But, after all the work us engineer types do on this, the marketing people will do whatever they please with the name.
They will probably do focus groups and all that.
-Tom Boydston-
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn’t be called research, would it?" ~Albert Einstein

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