Table Top Fusion Courtesy of Tiny Bubbles

Erik Baard writes: "The peer-reviewed journal Science is carrying a cover story about the possibility of table top fusion. Not cold fusion, mind you, but the apparatus might look that way to some. Oak Ridge and other labs say they have gotten the fingerprints of fusion (neutron production) from collapsing bubbles in liquid, a process that heats a local area to temperatures as hot as the surface of the sun, and releases photons. The disputes are already here -- notably from Dr. Robert Park of the American Physical Society and from critical reviewers who say they haven't repeated the neutron production. But the authors say the critics didn't calibrate their equipment correctly. Articles regarding the discovery can be found on Eureka Alert " CD: Looks legit, but Pons and Fleishman (and the University of Utah for that matter) talked a good game. I suppose I'll belive in tabletop fusion when a generator comes atached to my next laptop. The author of this post also has a longer article up at the Village Voice

Comments

Fusion: Efficient and dangerous

[Anonymous Coward]

Personally, I would love an alternate, more efficient technology to power the world.

But I don't want to see this happen in my lifetime.

If the creation of nuclear technology became this simple, it not only gives terrorists an easier method to attain nuclear energy, but a way to actually create it themselves.

While it's true that a nuclear explosive based on this current method wouldn't spread as much harmful radiation as a uranium based explosive, it's potential damage far outweighs that of a dirty bomb.