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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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157577 No.157577 [Reply] [Original]

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-02/boy-who-played-fusion

>"Taylor Wilson is the youngest individual on Earth to have achieved nuclear fusion. And he's just getting started.."

this kid went full alpha. some countryfag from Arkansas. his dad works at a bottling plant, mom is a yoga teacher and at 13 he tried to build a reactor in his garage and got hooked up with a lab and gear because people were afraid he was going to succeed.

is this is why our nuke industry laughs at Iran, because we have have kids achieving fusion before the achieve puberty?

>> No.157585

all of my jellys.
also, 10$ says the kid gets cancer.

>> No.157587

Good to see that there's still smart kids who can create new energy sources.

>> No.157589

> how does this make you feel diy/hards?

That article? Journalist is a confirmed faggot.
Kid? Nice achievement.

>> No.157599
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157599

I heard that article on NPR yesterday, about an hour after watching the YouTube videos for 'the nuclear boyscout' that were posted here.
The best part is where the interviewer asks him what he does for fun. He says something along the lines of:
"Oh, I do what any normal kid my age does. Hang out with my friends and gf, walking around the desert, looking for radioactive ores or remnants of long lost nuclear weapons."
>any normal kid
>searching for radioactive ores
mfw

>> No.157606

Wow, he's like the real life Big Bang Theory!

>> No.157611

Given I'm not really versed in nuclear energy I just have a question. Why is he going for uranium based power? Thorium is much safer to handle and if it does go into meltdown it can just be supercooled without the need of as stringent of safety protocols (which we all know has worked out so well for uranium power plants thus far). I realize that both his initial ideas were not in power, they were for medical and then for, in theory, homeland security.

My point: If he is so damn smart shouldn't he be doing something more to benefit the greater good of the world right now instead of further perpetuating fears of illegal weapon transfer? We don't need people for more War, we need more people for a growing world where even our 3rd world countries are starting to heavily develop.

Yes I'm Jelly because I think he is pandering away his intelligence to the desires of the government. In the end I don't care what he does, but I mean if he is so smart he should really be going into other industries to help there.

>> No.157612

>>157599

>friend and gf
>and gf
>gf

I wonder what kind of gifts he gets her...

>> No.157613

>>157611
Because Thorium is for Hipsters. All the cool kids use Uranium.

>> No.157622

>I use a thorium isotope. You probably never heard of it.

>> No.157628

What an inspiration. I'm almost 40 and don't have a tenth of the knowledge this young man has, but as Intel CEO Paul Otellini said, "All I could think was, ‘I am so glad that kid is on our side.’ ”

by the way fuck the third world, fuck hungry people, fuck everyone who thinks this kid is misusing his talents.

People like him will be the ones who get us off the planet and really into the stars. Let him work. god i hate humanity and peasants and small thinking minds.

>> No.157645

>>157628
>into the stars
>implying we need any of that now or will in the next 500 years

Waste of resources

>> No.157649

Truly amazing. Didnt know they dont scan for radioactive cargo. A 16 year old checked in a box of radiactive material, and knew that they wouldnt even know what they where looking at, but god forbid you bring nailscissors on the plane.

>> No.157648

>>157622
lol

>> No.157662

>>157613
i lulzd

>> No.157665

I don't want to diminish his achievement but simple fusion isn't that hard to achieve, the hard part is making it give off more energy that was put in and mantaining a stable reaction for some time.

>> No.157670

>>157628
Maybe you shouldn't have been a faggot that wasted his life

>> No.157675

>>157628

I could care less about the third world, my point is he is wasting good talent working for the government. IF and I do mean IF the private sector does anything with space travel they will need someone like him more than the government. Even at that there are plenty of other areas that his genius can be used for. As I said before, I am Jelly, and I'm glad his initial thoughts were for medical use, but testing for radioactivity in cargo coming in? Give me a fucking break. When was the last time in America we have terrorism on a nuclear level? Please tell me, I'm curious.

I'll just lurk here for a while until you give me the exact dates and events.

>> No.157688

>nuclear fusion
You mean fission?

>> No.157693

>>157688

Dunno about that fission part, but article mentions fusor.

>> No.157704

>>157611
My father is an ex-reactor operator, now NRC, and my sister is a nuke contractor for radiation protection...

I've gotten fairly knowledgeable in basic nuclear physics by association.

My understanding of Uranium is that it produces a large quantity of neutrons, more than Thorium. Plutonium produces someodd 25% more neutrons than Uranium.

It's kinda like a diesel engine versus a gas engine. One is slow combustion. The other is fast combustion.

>> No.157724 [DELETED] 

This isn't so much a surprise as a relief that someone under 18 isn't robbing a gas station.

I've always loved learning and again, its exactly what >>157665 said. Its just like building a house or a computer; its not that hard WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS.

>> No.157728

This isn't so much a surprise as a relief that someone under 18 isn't robbing a gas station.

I've always loved learning and again, its exactly what >>157665 said. Its just like building a house or a computer; its not that hard WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS. Its also that most 13-year old kids no one would trust with a car much less radioactive nuclear material.

>> No.157733

You can find all of the information needed at your local library but its label as a weapon of mass destruction

>> No.157736

>>157688
no fusion, i too heard about this a whiles ago

>> No.157737

When the hell did we develop Fusion technology?

>> No.157763

Big fucking deal he build a farnsworth fusor using plans he no doubt found on line. Its pretty simple yo. And before you all collectively shit yourselves over ZOMG FUSION, FREE ENERGY- it uses way more energy than is produced by the fusion reaction.

>> No.157764

>>157737

We've had basic Fusion technology for ages. It's just not efficient, yet. Takes more energy to run then it produces.

It's Cold Fusion that is everyone's pipe dream.

>> No.157784

>>157737

This article is talking about lame useless level fusion that many people have actually achieved by building a farnsworth fuser. Take a pressure vessel; put a small spherical cage inside made from wire, vacuum out the air, inject some heavy water gas and apply high voltage to the cage. Electrons in the gas molecules are dragged in by the high potential electric field of the cage and they smash into each other inside the center of the cage.

There's a ton of videos on youtube of these things which are basically radioactive neon lights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iSDnANGAFs

This is by far my favourite, but it's not actually fusing, just a fancy neon light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38xVBd60yas

>> No.158443
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158443

I applaud this kid for setting his mind to a project and then seeing it through.

This kid is what the internet is supposed to be about. Letting anybody find the information they need to educate themselves to pursue any thing they want to attempt.

I'm not going to try to diminish this kid's intelligence or his achievement but I find his initiative and willingness to stick it through to be far more impressive than anything else.

And that is what we have here, not some super genius...just someone with initiative and drive. And that is what we have to applaud.

Fellow /diy/ citizens, we already know the taste of the fruit of initiative. We should all strive to be like this kid and eat the fruit completely.

Let this be a call to throw yourself completely into every project you ever have a whim to do. Look where it got him, where will it get you?

>> No.158444

>>157784
This. Fusion is a pretty cool table trick these days. As long as it still takes more energy to maintain the reaction than you get out, it's not anything that you can't find on Google.

That aside, glad to see some kids are going heavy into the sciences. It's always refreshing.

>> No.159411

Fusors are not the worlds hardest thing to build, but they are awesome. I nearly built one back when I was 16, but lost lab space right before I got parts.

I plan on finally attempting one this fall with my own time, money and space, and I say my chances of fusion are quite high.