Another step closer to fusion power?

[robert l. bentham]

excerpt:

The experiment at Sandia National Laboratories

in New Mexico tested how well a tiny cylinder could withstand the crushing magnetic force from the lab's "Z machine"

— a pulsed-power accelerator that zapped the cylinder with 25 million amperes of electric current. The "liner" cylinder collapsed on itself, as would be expected, but remained intact enough to theoretically squeeze together deuterium or tritium fuel, triggering nuclear fusion.
"Our experiments were designed to test a sweet spot predicted by the simulations where a sufficiently robust liner could implode with a sufficiently high velocity," said Ryan McBride, a researcher at the laboratories in Albuquerque.
Such careful balance is needed to crush the beryllium cylinder in the right way to achieve sustainable fusion someday. A thicker cylinder would make the crushing implosion less efficient, and a thinner cylinder could rip apart under the stress.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/09/23/another-step-closer-to-fusion-power/?intcmp=obnetwork#ixzz27Uw5eRGy

 

[cecilia]

cool

btw, Tesla Motors - Charging Stations - dotting the country in the next couple of years


(the video has way too much hoop-la, but wahtever)

and your 1st link is brokie

 

[robert l. bentham]

i think that 30 min recharge time is going to be an issue for some, but im sure in the future they'll be able to cut that time down...

 

[cecilia]

yeah, but it's FREE

The smart thing is to have a diner next door so people can just take a nice break while they let the car suck up the sun juice.

capitalism!

anyway, the point is that it's possible to travel where you want to go.

even when I was in LA in the 90's there were electric stations in mall parking lots.

I would see them in several places near me. If I had an electric car I could easily plug in.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

i think that 30 min recharge time is going to be an issue for some, but im sure in the future they'll be able to cut that time down...

Battery change. Drive up, pop out the dead one, put in a charged one.
Would be an idea that would take some getting used to, would require massive cross model standardization to be feasible and needs to be secured against theft. But it would be quick and it would put the "service" back in service station.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

i think that 30 min recharge time is going to be an issue for some, but im sure in the future they'll be able to cut that time down...

Also not an issue if you have charging in parking lots. Full charge while watching a movie, working the day or grocery shopping.

 

[robert l. bentham]

yeah, but it's FREE

The smart thing is to have a diner next door so people can just take a nice break while they let the car suck up the sun juice.

capitalism!

anyway, the point is that it's possible to travel where you want to go.

even when I was in LA in the 90's there were electric stations in mall parking lots.

I would see them in several places near me. If I had an electric car I could easily plug in.

believe me, im all for this technology.. im one of those dummies who think we should be subsidizing it... never have looked to see if there is any heavier duty electric vehicles, which would be the real game changer.... in my opinion... if you could get rid of a farmers annual diesel fuel bill you'd be a hero...

 

[cecilia]

well, these guys are doing it now.....that's what I like to see.

no point in waiting for the greedy douchebags oil barons. we don't need them

 

[robert l. bentham]

Battery change. Drive up, pop out the dead one, put in a charged one.
Would be an idea that would take some getting used to, would require massive cross model standardization to be feasible and needs to be secured against theft. But it would be quick and it would put the "service" back in service station.

and some of them have multiple batteries (mom may not want to do that)... but that's a pretty good idea...i have these dewalt brand impact drivers... they do a quick charge that gives you pretty good performance that takes 15 min. the newer ones have batteries half the size of mine, more power, and at about a third of the weight. we just gotta keep moving in this direction, keep investing in the technology and encourage its use.

 

[Glaucus]

Part of the problem of batteries is that the technology is so immature. We're spoiled with gasoline engines because we're now benefiting of decades worth of engineering and experimentation. If they used battery power from back in the 1920s battery cars today would be equally mature and all these problems solved. Right now standardizations would likely slow us down more than anything as we need lots of ideas and to push envelopes. That too slows adoption but the technology has a lot of maturing to do but has little time.

 

[robert l. bentham]

and thats actually part of what i don't like about subsidization as it stands. it needs to be fairly geared toward the known and the might be possible... research is gonna be the key to the salvation of our nation... we have, among us, some of the most brilliant minds and potential... we just need to go back to being the country that unleashed it from within... we could have another moon moment... we just have to work towards it...

 

[cecilia]

I remember when people used to say, "we went to the Moon, why can't we.." do this or that....fill in your own project.

we need to be saying that now