General Fusion in the news

Point out news stories, on the net or in mainstream media, related to polywell fusion.

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mvanwink5
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Location: N.C. Mountains

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by mvanwink5 »

They haven’t started compressing the plasmas yet, just injecting them into the LM-26 chamber. FYI, LM-26 has a lithium shell which will collapse by using massive current flow to the external coils. The spheromack topology FRC plasma is supposed to adiabatically collapse (GM has proven in tests), thus creating the high pressure & temperature needed for fusion.
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

crowberry
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Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 6:34 am

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by crowberry »

mvanwink5 wrote:
Thu Mar 20, 2025 2:46 am
They haven’t started compressing the plasmas yet, just injecting them into the LM-26 chamber. FYI, LM-26 has a lithium shell which will collapse by using massive current flow to the external coils. The spheromack topology FRC plasma is supposed to adiabatically collapse (GM has proven in tests), thus creating the high pressure & temperature needed for fusion.
A spheromak and a FRC have different magnetic configurations in that the FRC has no toroidal field, while the spheromak has an internal toroidal field going to zero at the surface. A spherical tokamak has a nonzero toroidal field on the surface.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spheromak

When General Fusion started they planned to compress spheromaks, but the performance was not good enough so they changed to using spherical tokamaks. I'm not quite sure what kind of plasmoids General Fusion will compress with LM26, but it would be natural to assume that they will use spherical tokamaks as they will use those in the future devices.

mvanwink5
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Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:07 am
Location: N.C. Mountains

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by mvanwink5 »

Thanks for the specifics on the plasma. GM did a lot of testing to find the right geometry for the plasma. Creating the right plasma dynamic shape in their injector that enables the plasma to retain geometry during adiabatic compression is a feat. Amazing work.
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

baking
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:51 am

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by baking »

mvanwink5 wrote:
Fri Mar 21, 2025 4:07 am
Thanks for the specifics on the plasma. GM did a lot of testing to find the right geometry for the plasma. Creating the right plasma dynamic shape in their injector that enables the plasma to retain geometry during adiabatic compression is a feat. Amazing work.
Who is GM?

mvanwink5
Posts: 2188
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:07 am
Location: N.C. Mountains

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by mvanwink5 »

LOL! Yes, typo, should be ‘GF', General Fusion.
Counting the days to commercial fusion. It is not that long now.

crowberry
Posts: 718
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 6:34 am

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by crowberry »

GF has a nice summary of their latest achievements now that they will try to start compressing plasmas with LM26: All systems go! LM26 ready to compress plasmas, https://generalfusion.com/post/all-syst ... s-plasmas/.

Skipjack
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Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:29 pm

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by Skipjack »

Looking forward to see their results!

crowberry
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Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 6:34 am

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by crowberry »

General Fusion has good and bad news. The good news is that the first LM26 plasma compression shot went OK.
On April 29th, we achieved a transformative milestone at our Vancouver, B.C., headquarters in Canada—we successfully compressed a large-scale magnetized plasma with lithium using our world-first LM26 fusion demonstration machine. The full, integrated system and diagnostics operated safely and as designed, and an early review of the data indicates we saw ion temperature and density increase, and our lithium liner successfully trapped the magnetic field.
The bad news is that General Fusion has a funding problem. I really do hope that they can sort out the funding shortage and continue with full speed to develop their technology further.
While this is a challenging time for General Fusion, it is also an attractive opportunity for those with the financial means to transform the world. Everything is in place—the technology, science, LM26, and the know-how and passion. All we need now is the capital to finish the job. We are opening our doors and actively seeking strategic options with investors, buyers, governments, and others who share our vision.
https://generalfusion.com/post/open-let ... rossroads/

Carl White
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Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:44 pm

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by Carl White »

Announcing to the world that they are in need of financial support unfortunately seems like desperation. The sort of thing one does after having approached many sources of VC unsuccessfully. :(

Carl White
Posts: 519
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:44 pm

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by Carl White »

Bad news :(

"General Fusion lays off staff due to 'unexpected and urgent financing constraints' "

https://physicsworld.com/a/general-fusi ... nstraints/

Canada has put a fair bit of money into General Fusion. If Trudeau up there had diverted even a tithe of all the money he was wastefully throwing around on woke causes (or just plain losing track of), General Fusion could have been funded to the hilt. A lot better of an investment in the future of the world, in my opinion, especially given how they are so serious about mitigating climate change.

Skipjack
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Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:29 pm

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by Skipjack »

Yeah, this is discouraging news indeed.

usesbiggerwords
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Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2021 7:20 pm

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by usesbiggerwords »

Carl White wrote:
Sun May 11, 2025 5:55 pm
If Trudeau up there had diverted even a tithe of all the money he was wastefully throwing around on woke causes (or just plain losing track of), General Fusion could have been funded to the hilt. A lot better of an investment in the future of the world, in my opinion, especially given how they are so serious about mitigating climate change.
Bad news indeed, but you have to remember, the goals of the climate change cult are ultimately anti-human. The point is fewer humans, so cheap, abundant, clean energy isn't part of that plan.

Munchausen
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Location: Nikaloukta

Re: General Fusion in the news

Post by Munchausen »

usesbiggerwords wrote:
Mon May 12, 2025 3:51 pm
Bad news indeed, but you have to remember, the goals of the climate change cult are ultimately anti-human. The point is fewer humans, so cheap, abundant, clean energy isn't part of that plan.
The easiest way to achieve depopulation is prosperity through fusion energy. Fertility rates drops drastically in just one generation when industrialization commences.

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