|
December 22, 2007
Bussard Fusion Update
The New Mexican has some interesting news about the progress on Bussard Fusion Reactor. Last August, as Bussard was losing his battle with cancer, the funds were restored with the support of Alan Roberts, EMC2's longtime Navy contract monitor. The company now has $1.8 million to pursue his work. If it is successful verifying the 2005 results, it would seek funding for a full-scale model, big enough to make net power, Nebel said. Bussard has estimated that such a demonstration model would cost about $200 million to build.That is one of the reasons I support this research. Civilization depends on it. Nearly a year after shutting down the lab, Bussard presented his work -- for the first time in more than a decade -- to the International Astronautical Congress. He later discussed his results with Google, the online search engine company in a talk titled, "Should Google Go Nuclear?" that is widely available on the Internet. Before his death, he also set up a nonprofit organization to solicit donations to restart the work. Information is at www.EMC2Fusion.org.Park and Nebel [pdf] are the researchers who discovered the POPS effect which was corroborated in part by computer simulations done at MIT by McGuire[pdf] and Dietrich[pdf]. I estimate we will see the results of these experiments some time between March and May of the coming year. I have my fingers crossed. The New Mexican article has a great review of Dr. Bussard's life. You should go and read the whole thing. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon on 12.22.07 at 03:26 PM
Comments
To Devon: "At the moment we Pumping speed is a function of your fore pump and and what ever else you have in line (usually less than what a fore pump can do, but better at lower pressure). It is also a function of pipe size. The bigger the pipe, the more you can move (but the more you *have* to move because of the size of the pipe!!). It is pretty straight forward to compute what you need for fusion - you just need to figure out the number of collisions you can live with from back ground molecules/atoms. Figure out what air is made of and use that ratio of molecules in your estimates. How many molecules per unit volume can you live with? There are really two problems there: 1) what can you live with in terms of sucking stuff out and 2) what does it take to get that much stuff sucked out. You can do both mathematically, and with simple formulas. Well, kinda simple :-) Patience, persistence, truth, Drmike · December 28, 2007 10:54 PM Prediction: Euro Car makers will not meet the targets and domestic mfgrs will get waivers and non-Euro car makers will get the boot. M. Simon · December 29, 2007 12:08 AM Post a comment
You may use basic HTML for formatting.
|
|
January 2008
WORLD-WIDE CALENDAR
Search the Site
E-mail
Classics To Go
Archives
January 2008
December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 May 2002 AB 1634 MBAPBSALLAMERICANGOP See more archives here Old (Blogspot) archives
Recent Entries
Is Huckabee simply the anti-Romney?
Callipyginous Ephebiphobia on the campaign trail? Policy Of Blockade HAPPY NEW YEAR! slanted or planted? Stifling diversity in the name of diversity? Insensitivity in the name of sensitivity? Fred's Message To Iowans A Marine Needs Help Recreating a past we only imagine
Links
Site Credits
|
|
Here's some good news from Japan.
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUST30578720071220?sp=true
UPDATE 1-Japan auto demand seen falling 1.2% in 2008-group
TOKYO, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Japanese demand for new cars, trucks and buses will likely fall 1.2 percent in 2008, an industry group said on Thursday, vowing to make a recovery of the debilitated domestic market its top priority next year.
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) expects the market to total 5,319,400 vehicles in 2008, down for a fourth straight year and against an estimated 5,383,700 this year, when sales fell 6.2 percent.
Of that, it forecast passenger car sales to inch down 0.3 percent to 4,410,000 vehicles next year, with 660cc passenger minivehicles likely dropping 0.9 percent to 1,440,000 cars.
Car sales in Japan have been dragged down by a population shift towards big cities well served by public transportation, as well as lengthier ownership.
"We expect the domestic economy to continue its gradual expansion next year, but that won't flow into stronger personal spending for cars," Fujio Cho, chairman of the industry group and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research), told a year-end news conference.
"We will make the domestic market's expansion our number-one priority, and we aim to beat our forecasts for next year with attractive products," he said.
On the global auto market, Cho said that while the emerging regions of Brazil, Russia, India and China presented big opportunities, competition was heating up, adding that rising energy and commodity prices required continued vigilance.
Japanese carmakers had fared well in the past few years in the United States, but a combination of high gasoline prices and falling housing prices was also sparking tougher competition in the world's biggest auto market, he said.
"The competition is not just the (U.S.) Big Three. European and Korean brands are stepping up their game," Cho said. He predicted the U.S. market to stay flat around 16 million vehicles next year.
Asked about the European Commission's proposal on Wednesday to force down emissions of carbon dioxide by cars and impose steep fines on manufacturers that fail to comply, Cho said: "The levels are tough, but with the decision in place we'll just have to do our best."
JAMA expects domestic truck demand to fall 5.3 percent next year to 895,000 vehicles after a 12.5 percent slide estimated for 2007. (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim)
"I'm pro human rights, but I'm also pro human responsibilities too!"