[CodeToad]

The patent is the story to me. Most “journalists” can’t write past a 3rd grade level and few have the comprehension of a 3rd grader to actually understand the importance of the story without injecting their political bias.

[Spaulding]

"Most “journalists” can’t write past a 3rd grade level ..."

Absolutely CodeToad (I was once a Code Toad!). I couldn't tell if this was an internally generated pitch for funds. Back in the day, when making the unfortunately political pitch for NSF funding for my group, the person writing the proposal used the convenient antinuclear shibboleth, so I bristle when I see it. I was surrounded by some of the more successful propagandists, now rewarded with titles in Washington. But the physics - I haven't read the paper but worked in the isotope research field - sounds reasonable.

[Spaulding]

One last comment: Noting that the patent was applied for 6 years ago, and the “embodiments” described sound like the description of a lab experiment, I’d guess that the techniques described are in use today, or partially in use. There were other applications implied, such as for medical isotope production, another big source of royalty income.

Someone described patents as license to sue. I recall that someone applied for, and was granted a patent for the fast Fourier transform. My guess is that this group in San Diego, was doing due diligence and applying for patents for a process they were already using, or might use, in case a competitor tried to sell the technology to the Navy, or whomever, in which case they can claim royalties.