Did you see the show where they debuted the plasma powered engine? On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 8:35 AM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote:
> > > Ha-ha! I was watching one of the great science shows on cable recently. I > think it was "The Universe" on The History Channel. They had an ep on deep > space probes and discussed ion powered ships. The program indicated they're > getting better all the time, and that in the next ten - twenty years, we may > be able to see a severalfold increase in the speed of probes using ion > power. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Martin Baxter" <martinbaxt...@gmail.com> > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Sunday, September 5, 2010 6:15:36 AM > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Subcritical accelerator driven thorium nuclear > reactor > > > > Aside from the battery, I'm not seeing anything wrong with that idea... > > On Sat, Sep 4, 2010 at 11:00 PM, Keith Johnson > <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote: > >> >> >> Somewhere in my old house in Fort Worth is a schematic of an ion drive I >> did in second grade, after watching an ep of "Star Trek" (had to be "Spock's >> Brain"), and reading about electrolytes in my encyclopedia set. I'd read >> about how cesium, when immersed in water, would produce ions in solution, >> and I'd read about theories for Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), the idea of >> using fusion power to drive plasma as a source of motion. Then there was >> that Trek ep where they said the aliens who took Spock's brain used ion >> power, which Kirk said was even beyond Federation tech. So, sure that I'd >> stumbled on a major secret, I took pen to paper. I drew a cutaway of the >> Jupiter Two from Lost in Space. Inside was a giant water tank. Sitting next >> to the tank, like a coal scuttle on a stem locomotive, was a big pile of >> cesium bricks--just sitting there. Next to them were some crazy robot arms >> with gloved "hands" (think of all the robot extremities as depicted in old >> cartoons). The robot hands--two of them--would take turns dumping cesium >> bricks into the water tank. Attached to the tank was a big A battery and >> wiring so that the ions in solution could be driven to one side of the tank >> by the negative pole of the battery. I then had what was for all the world a >> tailpipe sticking out the side of the ship, through which the electrons >> would shoot into space. >> Of course, my eight year old self was certain I'd just solved the problem >> of both ion drive and FTL travel. To this day I remember how excited I was >> at what I thought I'd created! >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Mr. Worf" <hellomahog...@gmail.com> >> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com >> Sent: Saturday, September 4, 2010 4:02:26 PM >> Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Subcritical accelerator driven thorium nuclear >> reactor >> >> >> >> The truly futuristic stuff is starting to appear. Once people completely >> move away from the big government thinking on energy I think the flood gates >> will open with new ideas. >> >> On Sat, Sep 4, 2010 at 9:20 AM, Martin Baxter <martinbaxt...@gmail.com>wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> Took them long enough. >>> >>> One of my college instructors had a similar thought back in the late 70s. >>> A shame he's passed on. >>> >>> >>> On Sat, Sep 4, 2010 at 8:04 AM, Mr. Worf <hellomahog...@gmail.com>wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Here are details of the subcritical accelerator driven thorium nuclear >>>> reactor designed by Nobel Laureate Carlo Rubbia. >>>> <http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/64651/17726256/0/http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/08/uk-telegraph-supports-new-thorium.html>This >>>> reactor was given a supportive article by the UK Telegraph. It has been >>>> extensively studied for over 15 years and is expected to have half the cost >>>> of existing light water reactors and burn up almost all of the nuclear >>>> fuel. >>>> The Norwegian group Aker Solutions has bought Dr Rubbia’s patent for the >>>> thorium fuel-cycle, and is working on his design for a proton accelerator >>>> at >>>> its UK operation. 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