The Hurler On The Ditch

Fusion power

An interesting post from The New York Times

A few small companies and maverick university laboratories, including this one at U.C.L.A. run by Seth Putterman, a professor of physics, are pursuing quixotic solutions for future energy, trying to tap the power of the Sun — hot nuclear fusion — in devices that fit on a tabletop.

Dr. Putterman’s approach is to use sound waves, called sonofusion or bubble fusion, to expand and collapse tiny bubbles, generating ultrahot temperatures. At temperatures hot enough, atoms can literally fuse and release even more energy than when they split in nuclear fission, now used in nuclear power plants and weapons. Furthermore, fusion is clean in that it does not produce long-lived nuclear waste.

Dr. Putterman has not achieved fusion in his experiments. He and other scientists form a small but devoted cadre interested in turning small-scale desktop fusion into usable systems. Although success is far away, the principles seem sound.

A lecture by Dr Putterman on his work is on Google Video.

Update: Now that I have seen the full video I am reminded of the man who attended a public lecture by Einstein who was trying to bring the topic to a form understandable by ordinary people. Afterwards Einstein asked how he found the talk and the man said that he understood the words but he had trouble with the sentences.

Hat Tip 3 Quarks Daily

posted by Hurler @ 5:42 pm