dkirtley

7 ms·

1.
by dkirtley 8y ago
Sam Cohen’s Rotating Magnetic Field experiments have shown higher temperature and reasonably long-lived FRCs. His vision is steady operating, 3He systems, atleast at first targeting propulsion. As you dial up the Helium percentages, the neu
2.
by dkirtley 9y ago
1% of all deserts is only correct if you are talking about only today's electricity use. Even moderate growth and actually solving energy, not just the electricity subset drives these percentages much higher. To get US centric again, N
3.
by dkirtley 9y ago
6% is about the best we can do with a closed cycle. Extra-terrestrial sources could push those numbers even lower by running up to a pure D-He3 reaction.
4.
Betting on fusion(fortune.com)
37 points by dkirtley 11y ago|11 comments
5.
Fusion Research: Time to Set a New Path – Robert Hirsch(issues.org)
3 points by dkirtley 11y ago|0 comments
6.
by dkirtley 11y ago
Thanks FiatLuxDave, I think you are exactly right. Prototype/design cycle time is a huge issue with fusion, fission, and many other energy technologies. No matter how good your idea may be, you have to be able to build, test, iterate,
7.
by dkirtley 12y ago
Interesting: ... "scientific research can provide some measure of confidence that short-term, acute exposures up to about 1-2 T [1000-2000 milliT] should be safe... However, it is not possible to determine whether there are any long-te
8.
by dkirtley 12y ago
This actually a huge issue for space travel, all of the random electronics and possibly magnetic radiation shielding may be serious. http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/westover_rad...
9.
by dkirtley 12y ago
3 Tesla Magnetic field MRI's are now common and I have heard rumors of up to 7T machines in the works: http://www.healthdiagnostics.com/svc_hi_field.php
10.
Chevy Bolt to Compete with Tesla?(wsj.com)
1 points by dkirtley 12y ago|0 comments
11.
by dkirtley 12y ago
Helion here. There are pretty big differences. They did get the high Beta and compact/modular parts right. The primary differences are that Helion operates entirely pulsed with simple non-superconducting magnets. That allows us to go t
12.
by dkirtley 12y ago
This looks very similar to the old Russian Gas Dynamic Trap: https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/366958.pdf RF and neutral beam heated steady reactor with very high mirror ratio and superconductors.
13.
by dkirtley 12y ago
The best way to make Helium 3 is with Deuterium fusion. Its a very interesting bootstrap question -- how do you build new reactors, if you have to have working reactors to generate fuel?
14.
by dkirtley 12y ago
Not yet, right now we are focused on pushing the technical milestones as fast as possible. This is a great question, what do people here think about a crowdfunding campaign for something like fusion, is it worth it?
15.
by dkirtley 12y ago
Great reply. The wiki also has a long discussion about Helium 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3 Fusion produces neutrons either in the first or secondary reactions, but there are ways to minimize the amount of t
16.
by dkirtley 12y ago
Yes! Prof. John Slough is the Chief Scientist at Helion and the inventor of the Fusion Engine. UW has been leading the field of 'alternates' fusion for decades. Our 'About Us' page has a short blurb: http://ww
17.
by dkirtley 12y ago
There was another good one in science. http://news.sciencemag.org/physics/2014/07/fusions-restless-...
18.
by dkirtley 12y ago
We are hiring for Redmond, WA, but only people that are excited and forward! Our Contact page http://www.helionenergy.com/ has the link.
19.
by dkirtley 12y ago
Both GF and us (Helion) are attempting to dramatically shrink the size and cost of fusion reactors. We are doing that by compressing a fusion plasma repeatedly to generate energy, rather than trying to heat and confine it for long periods.
20.
by dkirtley 12y ago
We are hoping three years, three decades is just too late to matter. Part of what was not mentioned are the years that we have put into this already. Fusion is definitely a tough problem, but one that is worth it to solve.