Real Life
I have been very busy lately, and it will get even busier starting tomorrow.
I want to look a bit closer at Andrew W. Mellon, Treasury Secretary under Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, but NTodd highlights some of the thinking that would give modern Republicans a fit.
There is no need to even think about Attaturk latest discovery: Rmoney’s belief in Cold Fusion?!?!! Come on, I can almost understand the Confidence Fairy and double-hung airliner windows, but COLD FUSION???!!! I have a bad feeling that this is the linchpin of his energy policy…
11 comments
I wonder what color Mitt wants it in?
Actually, it hasn’t been called ‘Cold Fusion’ in scientific circles for some time. It’s known as LENR (Low Energy Nuclear Reaction). There is still some significant research being done, in spite of a report to the US DOE in 1989 stating that the scientific consensus was that the claims of scientific adherents to the principal were invalid (DOE/S-0073 DE90 005611). One of the largest current researchers into LENR is the US Navy (primarily at China Lake Research facility). What research is publicly available is here:
LENR-CANR – U.S. Navy Cold Fusion Research
Still, it remains to be seen if LENR can achieve it’s primary goal of sustained and significantly larger energy output than input at relatively low temperatures.
Forbes ran an article on the state of LENR in April this year after the death of one of Cold Fusions 80’s champions, Dr. Martin Fleischmann.
The State of the Cold Fusion Market
This has been something of an interest for me since the 90’s. 🙂 There have been some small successes, but nothing so far that could be commercialized. *shrug* Who knows how long it might take, if it can be achieved, or how much it will cost.
Still, I very much doubt if Mitt actually understands any of it. 😆
Don’t be too busy m8, and wear yourself out! 😉 😀
I’m finally going for an X-Ray of my knee tomorrow to find out if I have a fracture or not. I am not sure whether or not to hope my GP is correct in his suspicion that it’s just a bruised or torn ligament, or whether I hope it’s a green-stick fracture! Both scenarios have their pro’s and con’s! Oh well… I guess I will soon find out! *shrug* 🙂
The problem for Mitt is that for him actually to see cold fusion, he’d have to open the window of his corporate jet…
Hang in there, Bryan. Be well, Kryten.
Oh! I forgot to mention that NASA, CERN, Mitsubishi-Toyota, and other large organizations are throwing some money and resources into LENR. There have been some claims of success… but until I can see repeatable successful test results of experiments published by reputable scientists, I’ll remain on the fence. 😉
Some info here:
The Fusion Revolution
CERN Has A LENR Colloquium
A PDF for the (claimed) CERN results can be found here( on eCat News), as well as some discussion:
Mitsubishi-Toyota LENR Transmutation
Does it come in purple? 😉
(You read Dilbert I assume?) 😆
Thanks Steve, and you and your family be well also my friend. It would be good to be able to sleep without strong pain killers (Endone).
The original claim was less energy in than out, in addition to the low temperature. What they have is a process that is similar to a photovoltaic ‘farm’ powered by sunlamps attached to the grid.
Given that the useable energy produced by nuclear reaction is heat, I’m trying to envision the useable energy from ‘cold fusion’ if it works. The point of the exercise is power for our computers, once you step beyond the value of pure research to figure out how things work.
Good luck on the knee. Whatever they do, it will probably disqualify you from the Tour de France or the Olympics, but a good night’s sleep is a ‘jewel beyond price’.
The idea behind LENR (essentially) is a process they call ‘transmutation’ where they convert (or breakdown) one element into another, releasing gamma rays and high intensity burst of light to produce heat inside the reactor. The company that claims to be leading the pack right now (and they have several patents) is Defkalion Green Technologies. In ‘The Fusion Revolution’ link above, there is this news item:
So, they claim they can create a reaction with a 1:20 ratio. I haven’t had time to read the reports, so I don’t know if it was useable or sustainable. *shrug*
Still… if they have actually achieved a COP of 1:20, that’s a big deal. As the report states, the previous best was claimed to be 1:6. 🙂
Yeah… believe me, the Tour de France or Olympics are not on my To-Do list. Sleeping very much is (it’s 7:20 AM, and I haven’t had any sleep yet. Just a couple nap’s for about an hour each). *shrug*
That describes a nuclear reaction, but it isn’t fusion, as in two atoms of hydrogen become an atom of helium and a release of energy, which is the process on the sun. It is interesting, but a lot of questions need to be answered regarding scalability and stability.
Sleep is necessary for healing, so I wish you sleep, the real kind without chemical assistance.
Ah, well… for that *old skool* fusion 😉 you have to look at Sandia’s massive atom smasher, the Z reactor (or Z Machine as it’s now known). It is truly an awesome beast! They have achieved a power output of about 290 trillion watt’s (290 TW)! Sadly, it only lasted about a billionth of a second, and generated a heat of 1.6 million deg C (a new record), and they hope to achieve around 2.2 million deg C (the science says that 2 to 3 million deg C is required to achieve sustainable fusion.) They have achieved close to 2 million deg C in much smaller test systems with much smaller energy output. 🙂 If they can achieve a sustained output of over 200 trillion W, that would be enough to power the World 70 times over! 😀
Another dramatic climb toward fusion conditions for Sandia Z accelerator
I love this photo of the Z in action. 😀 The white lines that look like a giant spider web, or fractured glass, are actually arc’s of electricity on top of the water pool between all the metal structures. These massive arc’s represent a less than 1% corona loss of energy generated by the reactor! In the late 80’s when I was playing with *high* energy systems to power plasma cutters, we generated an arc (spark gap) of about 2″ using 800V @ 800A DC switched at 1 KHz! My mind boggles at the energy represented in this photo!
http://www.sandia.gov/media/images/jpg/Z02.jpg
Other Pic’s (just substitute for the image in the above link):
“Technician Dolores Graham uses tweezers to build an array of wires, each 1/10 the diameter of a human hair, that form a target about the size of a spool of thread (between horizontal metal rings) for Sandia’s huge Z accelerator.”:
Z01.jpg
Power graph: Z03.jpg
(This Z reactor is what I suspect the ignoramus Moron Mitt meant by his statement). 😉
The LENR systems are not being designed for such grandiose aims (at least, not now). They are really aiming at replacing inefficient, environmentally dangerous, and expensive battery type power systems (NASA wants them to power the next-gen shuttle, Navy want’s them to replace the reactors on Sub’s and ships, Mitsubishi & Toyota want them to power electric car’s and other machinery, Telco’s want to power their ISP’s & POP’s to make then self-sufficient and independent of power grids,etc. 🙂 Horses for courses! 😀
The biggest problem they are having with the LENR systems, is that for some as yet unknown reason, the experiment’s that do work do not always reproduce! They suspect there is some sub-atomic *magic* happening that is not yet understood (perhaps to do with Quantum or String theory). Still, they are getting better at it! 😆
I suspect that useful LENR systems will be available some time before such fusion systems as Sandia’s Z are ready for prime time (assuming they don’t melt down the planet in the mean time!) 😈
Still… for me, it’s all very exciting.
Ahhh.. sleep… You know, I think I am beginning to appreciate and understand Hamlet more each day! 😉 😈
“To sleep, perchance to Dream; Ay, there’s the rub”
And no… I am not yet at the point where I am considering that larger part of the verse, to whit:
— The opening phrase of a soliloquy in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. From the 1623 First Folio text. (My personal favorite).
Did you know that ‘William Shakespeare’ was his pen name, his birth name (and name on his marriage license) is said to be ‘Guliemus filius Johannes Shaxpere’ (which translates to ‘William the son of John Shaxpere’) In those times, names did not have the same meaning as today. In fact, in consistory court record’s his name was spelled ‘Shagspear and ‘Shagspere’. A study of the Stratford Shakespeare’s six signatures reveal that he never signed his name “Shakespeare” on any of the six legal documents that have been found. But… I do digress! 😉 (Shakespeare is one of my many fascinations. As is the Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.) 😀
Some days, that sonnet does have a certain… appeal. *shrug* 😉 😆
Hmmm… Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think Mitt is confused on the subject of fusion and as probably confusing traditional fusion reactors such as the Sandia Z Machine (which are anything but *cold* since to work they must achieve temp’s in the range of 2-3 million deg C, and LENR systems which operate at much cooler temperatures. The difference is that Z type Fusion reactors are designed to generate massive amounts of energy (if/when they work) to power Cities/Nations, and the LENR systems are designed to replace smaller systems such as batteries (not AA,C,D type cells, though they could. I mean larger battery systems such as lead/acid types etc.), internal combustion engines, gas turbines, etc. The goal of LENR is to do away with the need for fossil fuels such as petroleum and gas based systems cheaply. So, it is interesting that Mitt would claim to want to support cold fusion, since either or both would decrease the reliance on fossil fuels and make his friends in the oil/gas companies very upset. 🙂
I really hope LENR succeeds, as that has the greatest current potential to kill off the stranglehold the oil barons have over us all. 😉 😈
The biggest problem with fusion reactors is that you have to build a major electrical generating plant to start them. Hopefully it wouldn’t be a fission reactor, but something less dangerous.
The US electrical grid has enough problems carrying megawatts of power, nothing currently available is ready for terawatts. If you build it, how do you distribute the power?
I was giving you a hard time. I know what LENR means, but they really should separate themselves from the ‘cold fusion cult’. It really confuses the weak of mind, like Rmoney and other MBAs. [Aside: I’m of the opinion that in addition to cash, you are required to give up 40 points of IQ to get an MBA.]
Legal documents were always prepared either in Latin, or ‘law French’ reflecting the control of the Church over education, and the Normans over law. Spelling in English was very ‘individualistic’ until the 19th century when there was a concerted effort to standardize it.
A study of the works of Rev Dodgeson is very useful to understanding the American political system, and especially the Republican Party.
I never connected with Hamlet. I reacted to him as an upper-class twit who brought most of his problems on himself. Of course it didn’t help that I didn’t buy the murder of his father. Poison poured in his ear – give me a break. Old Bill needed to do some more research on murder. OK. so ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ is not exactly my strong suit. I admit I liked the gravediggers. Bill was top-notch when it came to insults and low comedy.
Sleep deprivation does strange things to your thought processes, as do the allergies that are currently kicking my butt.
Good health is wasted on the young, they don’t really appreciate it.
We were writing at the same time. I need time to respond to your stuff, and that doesn’t happen until late night locally.
Rmoney is a user, the worse kind, the one kind that makes no attempt to use help or a manual, but calls support for someone to tell them how to do everything. He needs someone in the elevator with him to push buttons.
He doesn’t have the vaguest idea what most of what he says really means. He started at the top and has no idea what it actually takes to get there on your own.