Plasma achieved!

[Cesare_Mencarini]

It's been a while since I last posted on the forum—I’ve been caught up with exam season and working towards my A-Level certifications. Despite my busy schedule, I’ve managed to dedicate most of my free time to the fusor project. However, I regret to inform you all that I still haven't achieved fusion yet.

The setup is nearly complete, with only the power supply missing. I previously mentioned a Japanese power supply that seemed promising, but unfortunately, it turned out to be less viable than I had hoped. Not only was it custom-made with cables costing over £700, but it also struggled to reach the 1mA mark. Nevertheless, I did manage to mount a Japanese-to-UK voltage converter, and it powered on successfully.

When I have more time, I’ll be focusing on either sourcing a new power supply or creating a custom cable for the existing one.

As for the Neutron / Plasma Club, I haven't applied yet, even though I achieved plasma a while back.

On a different note, I’m surprised that Paul found that article before I did. Thanks for sharing it with me!

[Richard Hull]

All the best on securing a viable poser supply needed to do fusion. This is always a hard item to either build or purchase.

Richard Hull

[Paul_Schatzkin]

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I was amused to hear this morning that the story Cesare's science fair project made it to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - The NPR News Quiz as one of the final questions in the 'Lightning Round" at the end of the show.

Here's the audio from that one segment:
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WWDTM_Fusion.mp3

(361.79 KiB) Downloaded 55 times

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And a link to the entire show's podcast:
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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w ... 0667558504
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I did not know that other parents had object to Cesare's presentation on the grounds that a 'nuclear reactor' is too complicated for a student to assemble. Little do they know...

--PS

[Cesare_Mencarini]

Thank you for sharing this, Paul! I was expecting some news coverage, but I never imagined I’d make it onto a News Quiz. That’s definitely a nice surprise!

[Paul_Schatzkin]

Thank you for sharing this, Paul! I was expecting some news coverage, but I never imagined I’d make it onto a News Quiz. That’s definitely a nice surprise!

Well the least they coulda done would be to mention your actual name.

It's hard to get famous - or notorious - if nobody knows you name!

--PS

[Cesare_Mencarini]

Well the least they coulda done would be to mention your actual name.

It's hard to get famous - or notorious - if nobody knows you name!

--PS

That’s true, but I suppose it’s the thought that counts. I’ve already received a lot of support, and at 17, I have plenty of time to make a name for myself. Thanks again for the resources!

[Dennis P Brown]

Good work but no need to copy and repost people's comments* - thanks. Good luck on getting 'famous' in future work, too.

* Mr. Fusion owns and operates this site and as such, his use is certainly allowed

[Paul_Schatzkin]

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I just uploaded this segment from last night's Late Night with Stephen Colbert where he has some fun with Cesare's fusor:

https://youtu.be/C2ff5d3c-T8

After saying that "plasma was achieved in less than four weeks" (take that, ITER!), he goes on to ask, "should this be happening?"

To which I have offered an emphatic YES.

Again, it would be nice if the coverage was not so anonymous, but on the other hand, maybe there is something to be said for staying under the radar.

[Richard Hull]

I really enjoyed the small piece, Paul. It shows how the common man mistrusts and doesn't really understand much in physics.

Fusion needs plasma...Even the great unwashed know that. They also know fusion is nuclear energy and that only the governments of nations should be messing with anything nuclear and many do not even trust that!

A kid or youth working with plasma seems out of place. They don't know that the local "Joe's bar and grill" neon sign works off plasma.

What can you do? You can't really educate them as it would confuse them and that makes their head hurt.

Richard Hull

[Dennis P Brown]

When you mention that when it comes to nuclear many people have trust issues. Kinda don't blame them. So much confused information and the fact that governments tend to spin anything into "don't worry" far too often, even when it happens to be bad. Still, a lot of harm can be done when the public does get wrong information from the people with an agenda that runs counter to all of our best interests. So, trying to get facts out there is all we can do. Your posting and this forum certainly is part of that effort.

So even through some people think the Earth is flat, some do a lot of research trying to support that idea; too bad most are only in it for the money but some certainly do try and that is not a bad thing. People do need to prove stuff for themselves - just have to learn to accept it when the data say's their idea doesn't hold up. That is the real challenge for anyone in science.

[Cesare_Mencarini]

I haven't been very active in the past couple of weeks and just got on today. I saw the most recent post from Paul and must admit that that is not me . That guy made his using AI and asked it (I'm guessing GPT but not sure) how to build one. I don't know the specifics but I'm pretty sure that is the basic story. Thanks for sharing the clip though.

[JoeBallantyne]

It was Hudhayfa. And actually he got a lot of help from Aidan Lee-Calamera who built a demo fusor and showed it off at an expo in the bay area earlier this summer. I suspect Hudhayfa saw Aidan's fusor and decided to build one too.

I suspect there was a lot more useful information transmitted from actual human intelligence, than AI. But involving AI generates more buzz.

See viewtopic.php?p=103314#p103314

Joe.