Posted on 06/20/2015 4:44:59 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Taylor Wilson has a Geiger counter watch on his wrist, a sleek, sporty-looking thing that sounds an alert in response to radiation. As we enter his parents garage and approach his precious jumble of electrical equipment, it emits an ominous beep. Wilson is in full flow, explaining the old-fashioned control panel in the corner, and ignores it. This is one of the original atom smashers, he says with pride. It would accelerate particles up to, um, 2.5m volts so kind of up there, for early nuclear physics work. He pats the knobs.
It was in this garage that, at the age of 14, Wilson built a working nuclear fusion reactor, bringing the temperature of its plasma core to 580mC 40 times as hot as the core of the sun. This skinny kid from Arkansas, the son of a Coca-Cola bottler and a yoga instructor, experimented for years, painstakingly acquiring materials, instruments and expertise until he was able to join the elite club of scientists who have created a miniature sun on Earth.
Not long after, Wilson won $50,000 at a science fair, for a device that can detect nuclear materials in cargo containers a counter-terrorism innovation he later showed to a wowed Barack Obama at a White House-sponsored science fair.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Well... some of it could be found in encyclopedias, which weren’t required reading. But some of it was presented in those fascinating “Bell Laboratories” films.
The point is a ridiculous IQ isn’t needed to understand most of this stuff. Just being familiar with it enough to follow how it operates.
I think I’ll do some reading, because honestly, even after watching shows explaining it, I just barely began to follow. I understand that a trigger kind of like a gunshot was needed to start the reaction for the 2 A bombs in Japan. Then I think two types of materials mingle and cause the reaction.
Like I said, I have some reading to do later.
But can he kill ants with it? Give me the sun and a magnifying glass and I’ll show you some serious radiation.
Post #15. Correct.
http://www.fusor.net/we-have-a-new-youngest/
We Have a New “Youngest” — Previously, Taylor Wilson was the youngest fusioneer, achieving fusion in his own home-built reactor at age 14. Now we have 13 year old Jamie Edwards.
Better late to the party than never. Today we are spoiled, we can Google what used to send us to the encyclopedias.
Considering the lack of modern computational resources (though there were strenuous efforts to mechanize calculations for the sake of military purposes) what took place in the early and mid decades of the 20th century was amazing.
This Machine Might* Save the World
Popular Science | January 2009 | Josh Dean
Posted on 01/03/2009 7:24:49 AM PST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2158075/posts
Thanks. I’m going to do some research on the subject as it has always eluded me, even after watching some shows that explained it.
Two sub-critical masses were used and a conventional explosive forced them together creating a single critical mass of fissionable material.
something in his garage 4 times hotter than the suns core!
Whats the big deal?
Did that in High School all the time.
I got my high-school girlfriend hotter than that!
That was from his elementary school science fair project: “Creating a Black Hole.”
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