Fusion in a bottle

[joltan 0]

Looks like they are finally up to something:

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html4ev....on.html

Quote[/b] ]The device is a clear glass canister about the height of two coffee mugs stacked on top of one another. Inside the canister is a liquid called deuterated acetone. The acetone contains a form of hydrogen called deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, which contains one proton and one neutron in its nucleus. Normal hydrogen contains only one proton in its nucleus.

The researchers expose the clear canister of liquid to pulses of neutrons every five milliseconds, or thousandths of a second, causing tiny cavities to form. At the same time, the liquid is bombarded with a specific frequency of ultrasound, which causes the cavities to form into bubbles that are about 60 nanometers – or billionths of a meter – in diameter. The bubbles then expand to a much larger size, about 6,000 microns, or millionths of a meter – large enough to be seen with the unaided eye.

"The process is analogous to stretching a slingshot from Earth to the nearest star, our sun, thereby building up a huge amount of energy when released," Taleyarkhan said.

Within nanoseconds these large bubbles contract with tremendous force, returning to roughly their original size, and release flashes of light in a well-known phenomenon known as sonoluminescence. Because the bubbles grow to such a relatively large size before they implode, their contraction causes extreme temperatures and pressures comparable to those found in the interiors of stars. Researchers estimate that temperatures inside the imploding bubbles reach 10 million degrees Celsius and pressures comparable to 1,000 million earth atmospheres at sea level.

At that point, deuterium atoms fuse together, the same way hydrogen atoms fuse in stars, releasing neutrons and energy in the process. The process also releases a type of radiation called gamma rays and a radioactive material called tritium, all of which have been recorded and measured by the team. In future versions of the experiment, the tritium produced might then be used as a fuel to drive energy-producing reactions in which it fuses with deuterium.

[walker 0]

Hi all

We need more sources and peer review.

This is after all the holy grail of energy production.

On another note we have to be fearfull of any weapons ability of any such possible device as its cost and simplicity makes such weapons a terrible reality.

If this is true start selling your oil futures they are worthless.

Kind Regards Walker

[walker 0]

Hi all

Site seems OK even mentioned the article on their front page

http://www.purdue.edu

Now we need main stream news and science magazine confirmation.

Kind Regards Walker

[walker 0]

Hi all

A bit of the case against

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992584

And this from the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2151215.stm

But note the criticism is all over 2 years old.

The article which Taleyarkhan has written is for March 2, 2004 and the paper will appear this month in the journal Physical Review E, published by the American Physical Society. Quality stuff.

Kind Regards Walker

[denoir 0]

It seems to me that they're repeating the same mistake as the previous generation did: going to the media without passing the peer review phase. Regardless if they are right or wrong, it's bad scientific practice.

I could almost bet money though on that they are wrong. These things pop up all the time and never deliver. But, we'll see, as walker pointed out, the Physical Review series of journals are well-regarded sources.

[joltan 0]

According to the article where I found the link to the publication above they refined their two year old experiment (that was the topic of the articles you posted), repeated it with more precise measurements and are now quite sure that they actually witnessed a fusion. It seems that this is a bit more than just a publicity stunt.