Talk-Polywell.org

JoeStrout · Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:52 pm Post subject: "The verdict is positive"

Please see Alan Boyle's latest report on EMC2's progress, "Fusion We Can Believe In?"

Aero · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 868 Location: Eastern Iowa

That's good news! Hey everyone, the review is over! Very Happy

Do you think we can get some information to help our theory forum?
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Aero

Nanos · Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 337 Location: London UK

I wonder when we might get more details.

spaccemonkey · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 10

I don't suppose that anyone has any information on when the results of the wb7 will be published? Did they attempt fusion, or was this just a test of the confinement? So many questions, so little data. I'd like to just know if this is reasonable or not, do we have a new fusser with no possibility of break even or can we finally get enough clean power? ( I realize that even in a best case model, the latter statement is pie-in-the-sky.)

I've dreamed of a fission powered future my whole life, and it's broken my heart at every turn... still it's a lot cooler than a jet pack.

Shubedobedubopbopbedo · Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Posts: 60

So Nebel's results were not unambiguous. For the next step in his research I would focus on eliminating the ambiguity. After all, there were many versions and iterations of tokamaks built to understand what was going on inside them. There are countless phenomena unique to tokamaks, and I expect there may be similar phenomena unique to the polywell design as well.

I would give the go-ahead for more experiments. Particularly for measuring devices that yield more data about the plasma while it is running.

There should be a way to verify Bussard's scaling rule by running the same wiffleball device at different power levels and field strengths. But like I said, better devices need to be used to determine what is going on with certainty and high precision.

just_an_observer · Joined: 03 Apr 2008 Posts: 18

NOw that's a nice Christmas present

icarus · Joined: 07 Jul 2008 Posts: 376

I must object to the Polywell following being described as "cult-like".

Bussard was a top class scientist and there are good legitimate reasons why this might work.

Now Tokomak fusions pushers have blundered on with little but blind faith that they can stabilise their plasma trubulence for over 4 decades, all evidence to the contrary, how is that not cult-like.

JoeStrout · Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:17 am Post subject:

icarus · Joined: 07 Jul 2008 Posts: 376

Joe: it was this paragraph that got me going.

Jeff Peachman · Joined: 13 Jun 2008 Posts: 69

woo-hoo!
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rj40 · Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Posts: 181 Location: Southern USA

This sounds like good news. However, I thought the next step was to just go for it and build the net power machine. The report seems to say that Nebel has backed off of that. Still good news.

djolds1 · Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 770 Location: Lancaster, PA

choff · Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 337 Location: Vancouver, Canada

Happiness, they probably want to build a test machine that can be run steady state to definitely prove it will work, since WB7 only runs in bursts.
I will have to forego the sacrifice of my firstborn, just to satisfy the critics of Polywell. Anybody hear of a company called General Fusion, in this months Popular Science mag. They're building a fusion reactor that will run like a diesel.
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CHoff

djolds1 · Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 770 Location: Lancaster, PA

MSimon · Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:18 am Post subject:

I don't mind being part of a cult. After all the evidence of the potential was rather thin on the ground when the "promoting" started.

And so far the evidence is still rather thin.

All we know now is that WB-6 has been confirmed. What we don't know is - can it be scaled to a power producer. And for that we need WB-8 (what I used to call WB-7x) a continuous operation machine maybe several of them about the size of WB-7.

Thanks to Doc B, Tom Ligon, Rick Nebel, Joe Strout, Roger Fox, Indrek, Mark of Ask Mark, Art Carlson (who keeps us honest), Alan Boyle, Instapundit, and all the others who have joined in to make the next step possible.

The cult has gained a following.

Yeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaa!
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