Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Team Confirms UCLA Tabletop Fusion

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the doc-oc-not-available-for-comment dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A team of New York physicists has confirmed that a tabletop contraption made at UCLA does in fact generate nuclear fusion at room temperatures, using pairs of crystals and a small tank of deuterium. But unlike less reliable reports back in the 1980s, there's no talk this time of producing endless supplies of power. Rather, the technology could lead to ultra-portable x-ray machines and even a wearable device that could provide safe, continuous cancer treatment."

3 of 354 comments (clear)

  1. Key Application Overlooked by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    From TFA:
    Rather, the most immediate application may come in the form of a battery-operated, portable neutron generator. Such a device could be used to detect explosives or to scan luggage at airports, and it could also be an important tool for a wide range of laboratory experiments.
    I'm surprised that the article didn't go into more depth on the explosives detection angle, as a neutron generator is an excellent method for detecting fissionable material, and I'm sure the folks over at Homeland Security would like a better way to guard against nuclear devices being smuggled into our country.

    For more info on neutron generators and their possible application in fissionable materials detection, please look here (PDF warning).
    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

  2. Get the paper here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The paper.

  3. Re:This sounds oddly familiar by rossifer · · Score: 5, Informative

    The difficulty with small scale fusion isn't making it happen. That's been done many, many times. The difficulty with small scale fusion (and all fusion) is making it produce power (more power extracted from the reaction than put into the reaction).

    That's where Pons and Fleishman got hosed. They claimed a 300% power surplus without experimental verification. This announcement is different from that for several reasons.

    1) These guys are specifically not claiming excess power.
    2) They're claiming to have lots of high-energy neutrons.
    3) This is actually the announcement of a second group of scientists repeating the experiment and successfully verifying the results of the first group.

    In short, this announcement is nothing like the cold fusion debacle of the late '80s.

    Regards,
    Ross