Meh, not such a big breakthrough, the article stated clearly that more energy was spent to get the reaction. Just a new source of Neutrons I'm afraid. And not Cold Fusion either...

In fusion, light atoms are joined in a high-temperature process that frees large amounts of energy. Fusion produces virtually no air pollution and does not pose the safety and long-term radioactive waste concerns associated with modern nuclear power plants, where heavy uranium atoms are split to create energy in a process known as nuclear fission.

In the UCLA experiment, scientists placed a tiny crystal that can generate a strong electric field into a vacuum chamber filled with deuterium gas, a form of hydrogen capable of fusion. Then the researchers activated the crystal by heating it.

The resulting reaction gave off an isotope of helium along with subatomic particles known as neutrons, a characteristic of fusion. The experiment did not, however, produce more energy than the amount put in -- an achievement that would be a huge breakthrough.

Miss the bolded parts?

[edit on 27-4-2005 by sardion2000]

Well it's stilla new tech -- like I said, maybe they'll break even with the energy balance some day. Note the relative simplicity of the setup.

And as a neutron source, that's also pretty cool. There is nothing else like it. Thinking of which this could make a new type of fuse for a nuke

And yes, it was Cold Fusion -- one should compare to the superheated plasma "normally" used to induce fusion.

[edit on 27-4-2005 by Aelita]

Meh, not such a big breakthrough, the article stated clearly that more energy was spent to get the reaction

Until Leo Szillard figured out how to use slow neutrons to initiate a self-sustaingi chain reaction using U235, even Einstein couldn't figure out how to make fission work without putting more energy into the process than you got out of it. Give it time.

Originally posted by tantalus_unbound
Meh, not such a big breakthrough, the article stated clearly that more energy was spent to get the reaction

Until Leo Szillard figured out how to use slow neutrons to initiate a self-sustaingi chain reaction using U235, even Einstein couldn't figure out how to make fission work without putting more energy into the process than you got out of it. Give it time.

Exactly, give it time. It's a good parallel with fission, by the way.

I think the novelty of the technique does make it a breakthrough.

Its about time!!

Now if they can jam a Fusion engine under the hood of my F-250....than Ill celebrate.


Max

Well although we're years away from practical fusion this is still a good start. We have to start somewhere, at least we've had a sustained reaction. So hooray for a good start on fusion. Now we just need to polish this up a bit. Plus with some more research we could easily be looking at practical fusion, possibly even cold fusion.

isn't this cold fusion though? cold fusion is when a fusion reaction has been achieved at room tempreture. The only thing is this is really non-effient cold fusion.

Originally posted by LA_Maximus
Its about time!!

Now if they can jam a Fusion engine under the hood of my F-250....than Ill celebrate.


Max

actually, max, it's not so jetsons at this point in time. it's more like a battery that constantly outputs more energy than you put into it. it may be a trickle charge. you could, say, use it to charge hyrogen cells, perhaps, or chemical storage batteries. you're F250 would be electric. hybrid cars are already here, so the transition has already begun. you know, electric cars out-accelerate gas engines(because when you juice an electric motor, it whips up to full rpm nearly instantaneaously), and they're whisper quiet.

other frictionless tech uses the concept of surplus energy to slowly spin up a very well oiled(ie, the spindle doesn't touch the bearing, it is suspended by magnets(which do lose magnetism over time)) generator. the problem with these electric generators is to keep them from going TOO fast, as they keep speeding up and up.

however, only experimentation will determine how much power can be generated from a fusion cell.

this is an 'energy crisis'(the charlie's angel in me bursts out laughing). solutions don't come based on consumer demand, friends. they come born of necessity.

That article didn't say a blasted thing about cold fusion, except to say this experiment was not, repeat not, cold fusion. Besides that, your editorial comments at the end of the piece are out of place in a news article.

cyberdude says:

"at least we've had a sustained reaction."

Where does it say the reaction was sustained?

it's interesting that such a small device can produce a decent neutron stream-enough that they're talking about using it as a scanner.

And it's tiny. What happens if you scale it up?

Ten times bigger, twenty? Powered by a capacitive bank or perhaps a deisel generator...

I wonder if lethal dosages could be created. A reuseable neutron device.

Yet another military tech from your peace-loving friends in Californian universities. (tongue in cheek people, settle down)