And the fact that they had little hard data to go on, suggests that experimeters here should take note and document their work carefully, every time.
I was mulling over the whole issue of a "breakeven" run and a question pops up. What makes the fusor actually run away? I can see getting more energy out, than input, but if you turn off the ion supplies, what makes the reaction continue? Why doesn't the the deuterium supply just fade out and the reaction with it? Or is this what actually happened and the delayed puncture was just the result of limited heat conduction away from the intense reaction.
An actual runaway reaction suggests a fair amount of excess fusion material somehow stockpiled in the plasma.
Dave Cooper
Created on Monday, May 21, 2001 1:28 AM EDT by David Cooper