Build a Nuclear Fusion Reactor at Home 366
FridayBob writes "For those of you tired of waiting around for someone else to achieve the holy grail of physics, now's your chance to beat 'em all to it. All you need is some basic engineering skills, this site and the inspiration necessary to make your very own 'fusor' produce more energy than it consumes. Hopefully, you'll have more luck than its inventor, Philo T. Farnsworth, who first built it in the 1950's after inventing the television some 30 years earlier. If you run into problems you'll be able to count on a enthusiastic support group, as the contraption seems to have developed a cult following over the past few years. Okay, so I'm skeptical that this approach will ever really work, but at the very least it sounds like a really cool science project!"
Inventor of television? (Score:2, Insightful)
Ahh, I get it now, Philo T. Farnsworth is an American, right?
Safe? (Score:2, Insightful)
with the explosive hydrogen gas, deuterium. High voltage hazards abound as over 20,000 volts is needed to
accelerate the deuterons. Radiation in the form of X-rays and neutrons must be dealt with as well.
Where is the kids-don't-try-this-at-home-disclaimer?
Re:Fusion is NOT the Holy Grail (Score:3, Insightful)
Most generators (as far as I know) would convert this kinetic energy into thermal energy by using the velocity of the particles to heat some sort of water resorvoir, which would generate steam and drive a turbine like any old coal generator, except without the fire and coal and soot and yuck.
Re:Nah - Not Unless You Have Oil. (Score:3, Insightful)