fusor

More Evidence....

...that the future will be a from-the-ground-up affair:  the Makers Faire, sponsored by the publishers of "Make" magazine:  

As important as tinkering has been to the nation’s past, it could become a much bigger deal before long, said David Pescovitz, a research director at the Institute for the Future, a consultancy in Silicon Valley. A new report from the institute argues that the makers could force enormous changes in the ways that goods and services are designed and manufactured. The renewed urge to tinker, along with flexible manufacturing technologies, could shift production from big companies and stores to communities of makers and consumers, Mr. Pescovitz said.

New Links for Newbies

I've added a couple of new links over in the "Newbies" section in the column on the right.  I also had to "number" them to get them in the order I prefer. 

New item #02.1 is a direct link to 2008 update of Tom Ligon's seminal "The World's Simplest Fusion Reactor."  The new version includes a detailed account of Dr. Robert Bussard's  final efforts  with his "WB" (for "Wiffle Ball") reactors prior to his death in October of 2007.

I've also dropped in a link, #05.1 to Richard Hull's post to the forums recounting the "History of the Amateur Fusion Effort." This post is recommended reading for anybody who wants to know how we got here (wherever "here" is...).

Thank You For Playing

...and for finding  another way to waste billions on a ridiculous fusion scheme.

The headline for this article actually says these blokes are going to "recreate the sun:"

A NUCLEAR fusion laboratory designed to recreate the temperatures and pressures inside the sun could be built in Oxfordshire under plans being drawn up by British scientists The aim is to build the world’s most powerful lasers and use them to blast tiny pellets of hydrogen fuel to create energy.

Of course, that's EXACTLY how the sun works:  giant laser beams from somewhere at the edge of the solar system converge on a pellet of hydrogen at the center...

No, wait... that's NOT how the sun works at all. 

Next guess?