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Handheld fusion reactor on the way?
If Pentagon whiz kid researchers at DARPA have anything to do with it, handheld fusion reactors could be more than just the stuff of science fiction. Controlling a fusion reaction, the same energy source that powers the sun, is a longtime dream of ambitious scientists. Fusion holds the key to nearly limitless energy.
Someone at DARPA must think a handheld fusion device is possible, because DARPA indicates that its Chip-Scale High Energy Atomic Beams could lead to "handheld power sources." Only problem is, the project doesn't appear in the 2010 budget, but that doesn't necessarily mean the researchers have given up on the idea.
There's little info about this mind-blowing project, but it certainly changes our assumptions about nuclear fusion. We were thinking you'd need a gigantic facility, lots of high-powered lasers, and zillions of dollars to control a fusion reaction. To hold this sort of thing in your hand? The fact that scientists are even talking about this possibility, and pursuing it with multimillion-dollar budgets, is astonishing.
Via Danger Room
By IsoTek at 3:47 PM ON 07/06/09
Hey Obama a helpful hint.....Stimulate THIS!
By CJW at 3:49 PM ON 07/06/09
It will be made out of Legos and antimatter.
By Cheadlebug at 3:53 PM ON 07/06/09
@CJW....LOL Space Legos perhaps?
@IsoTek...Amen!
By aikimark at 4:03 PM ON 07/06/09
Second Foundation technology research here in the 21st century. Cooooool.
By Old Man Dotes at 4:04 PM ON 07/06/09
Disappearing from the DARPA budget might mean several things; it may be "on hold;" it may be abandoned; or it may have "gone black," so it no longer appears on the enemy's radar. If a project goes black, then it shows a lot of promise and will probably be incorporated in to near-future military technology.
By crushthemall at 4:11 PM ON 07/06/09
I can't be the only one who's thinking "Mr. Fusion" from Back to the Future, am I?
By ipodrulz at 4:20 PM ON 07/06/09
Pfttt. Tony Stark was all over this stuff * last last summer.
*Yeah, not the same thing... but the idea of a handheld energy source.
By Giggity at 5:45 PM ON 07/06/09
What? No comments about this being reverse-engineered from the alien technology at Area 51??
Bah!!
By saris at 10:06 PM ON 07/06/09
oil companies probably bought them out and tabled the idea
By admiral100 at 7:15 PM ON 07/07/09
I've got your handheld portable fusion device right here (heh).
By SageOnTheHudson at 3:59 AM ON 07/09/09
I can just see six-packs of Mountain Dew-terium on supermarket shelves.
By alibaba at 4:30 AM ON 07/09/09
Hey man..I need one in my car and one at home..how much did they ask for it???
Ahmadinejad is killing our student scientists in Iran who could assist on this project in Sharif Univercity Tehran..but they have an appointment with the riot police today in Tehran....
By SilkSpyker at 6:31 AM ON 07/09/09
What a great idea, I'm sure Obama will be able to keep his laptop on 24/7 with this, did I say Obama ? What happens when you hit it with a big hammer ?
By eon at 6:35 AM ON 07/09/09
I can think of a fairly obvious reason for this to "go black".
"This is Mr. Fusion Hand Grenade. This is his associate, Mr. Pin. Once you pull Mr. Pin out, Mr. Fusion Hand Grenade is no longer your friend."
Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, anyone?
cheers
eon
By yellowsky at 8:40 AM ON 07/09/09
WHAT????
By EssemDei at 9:59 AM ON 07/09/09
Remember the promise of Cold Fusion?
By 68firebird at 12:33 PM ON 07/09/09
Yes finally, a fusion powered battery. The only problem is when its depleted, it creates a black hole that consumes everything!
By DrBellamy at 1:14 PM ON 07/09/09
So ridiculously "out there" it's funny. Forgetting the fact of necessary containment, imagine someone filling their truck with it and somehow setting them all off at once. Reposted because of typo.
By jamesbroiwnlord at 2:13 PM ON 07/09/09
That is why its called science fiction, P.T.Barnuam said it well; There's a sucker born every day. Or pappy's old line toss out the hook with the bait and see what bites....
By pawpawjack at 12:09 AM ON 07/10/09
This sounds like the energy source that I heard about on Coast to Coast a few years ago.The inventor said he had been offered tons of money for it and refused,he wanted to give it to mankind and that he would be getting back to coast to coast in a few years and if not then something happened to him. I have not heard him on coast to coast so did something happen???
By hasani at 10:30 AM ON 07/10/09
Sounds like a good idea but wouldn't this make building homemade nuclear bombs possible?
By Air Boss Sandman at 10:31 AM ON 07/12/09
Okay, ABS here, is there anyone here who remembers the Time magazine article some 15-18 years ago about cold fusion being achieved, or at least more attainable as a chemical reaction? It was in mainstream media quite sometime ago. Legitimate science, and acually reported back when Time magazine wasn't Obama's mouthpiece? Can someone please confirm for the duel reasons of A: I am not losing my gray matter, and B: I am not the only old guy on this site!
By Air Boss Sandman at 10:36 AM ON 07/12/09
Whew, not nuts, just googled it under "chemical cold fusion", and it has a recent resurgence this year, damn that helped alot!
By SPIRIT GRINDER at 8:20 PM ON 07/12/09
By GermanCrazyGoat at 3:01 PM ON 07/22/09
Isnt fusion like mixing and combining atoms and extracting enrgy from that as a process?
By Ed at 3:50 AM ON 07/29/09
Look at the work of Dr. Robert Bussard. He was already advanced on the fusion problem, with some help by the Navy until they "pulled" his funding from him, probably with the pull from the AEC. They did not like competition, especially when it came to a cheaper way of obtaining fusion better than their huge Tokamak reactors.
By Betty at 7:04 AM ON 09/12/09
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Betty
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I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't kno...More »