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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Sandwich on September 17, 2003, 04:13:32 am

Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Sandwich on September 17, 2003, 04:13:32 am: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,510054502,00.html

:eek2: :shaking: :eek: :nervous:
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Fineus on September 17, 2003, 04:26:21 am: That boy is a genius... no joke...:shaking:
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Nico on September 17, 2003, 04:59:27 am: so you can get heavy water for 20 bucks? interesting :D
too bad that kind of fusion can't produce energy :(
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Turnsky on September 17, 2003, 05:04:48 am: holy ****...:eek2:

that's a step forward at least..
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Nico on September 17, 2003, 05:12:21 am: no, things like that have existed for ages already.
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: vyper on September 17, 2003, 05:30:27 am: Quote
based on the plans of Utah's own Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of television.

I THINK NOT!

John Logie Baird (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbaird.htm) 0wn5 TV!

And yes, this is cool that this student managed this.
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: TheCelestialOne on September 17, 2003, 05:32:09 am: Quote
Originally posted by Venom
no, things like that have existed for ages already.

But not made out materials from a yunk yard :D Awesome!
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Admiral LSD on September 17, 2003, 06:36:08 am: Quote
Originally posted by vyper

I THINK NOT!

John Logie Baird (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbaird.htm) 0wn5 TV!

And yes, this is cool that this student managed this.

Farnsworth is an American, Baird is not therefore, Farnsworth invented Television.

Don't you just love Americans? :rolleyes:
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: J.F.K. on September 17, 2003, 06:43:16 am: Quote
Originally posted by Venom
so you can get heavy water for 20 bucks? interesting :D
too bad that kind of fusion can't produce energy :(

Agreed... :D and :(. That guy must have some ridiculous IQ and truckloads of motivation, though. :nod:
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Styxx on September 17, 2003, 07:44:37 am: Actually, he had the plans to build the thing and the motivation to find the parts, but it's cool nonetheless. Shame it's kind of useless. :p

I was wondering what won the first place on that international contest where he got second place, though.
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Flipside on September 17, 2003, 12:09:29 pm: Well, I've written a complaint to the site about this Farnsworth thing. Basically stating that comparing this student to him is similar to comparing him with a charlatan, as Farnsworth did NOT invent TV. I hate it when American Establishments try to do this :(

Flipside :D
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Galemp on September 17, 2003, 12:16:57 pm: Remember the old ENIAC vs. Colossus debate? :rolleyes:
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Black Wolf on September 17, 2003, 12:19:42 pm: *Has visions of a 4 room valve based computter attacking a 6 km Juggernaught.*

*Is over Freespacified*
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: neo_hermes on September 17, 2003, 12:22:50 pm: :shaking: :lol: :shaking:
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Woolie Wool on September 17, 2003, 01:53:29 pm: Quote
Originally posted by GalacticEmperor
Remember the old ENIAC vs. Colossus debate? :rolleyes:

No. Please clarify.
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: J3Vr6 on September 17, 2003, 01:55:56 pm: More than one person can invent something, it's happened all across history. Just because another person invented television doesn't mean that other guy couldn't have.

It's common. Joe Schmo in Idaho finds a new invention to make widgets. Meanwhile in China, Hung Lo finds out if he mixes Chemical X w/ Sugar that he'd get widgets. Neither have met before, never heard of each other, nor have heard of anything like this before. They're not even of the same age or background. Who invented the widget-maker? They both did, seperately.
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Flipside on September 17, 2003, 02:12:08 pm: Yes, but in this case Logie Baird was making transmissions 3 years beforehand. I include a very reasonable response I got to my letter.....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I should indeed have put in something like "Philo Farnsworth, who had a role in the invention of television" or "Philo Farnsworth, whom many Utahns believe invented television." Thank you for pointing that out.

There has been considerable debate over Farnsworth's role in the invention of television. Obviously John Baird demonstrated his device before Farnsworth did, but many still contend Farnsworth was the inventor. Much of the debate centers around what constitutes "invention," something that has never been resolved to everyone's satisfaction (note the considerable difficulty courts and legislatures have had in resolving the question when it comes to patent matters). Some say it's when someone comes up with the intial concept, others when the complete idea is present, others when that idea is reduced to practice.

We have done several articles regarding Farnsworth's role in the invention of television which flesh the situation out much more than I did. I chose to gloss over the whole thing, which, as you quite fairly point out, was the wrong thing to do.

Thanks again for writing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nice to talk to someone willing to take it on the chin when neccesary :)

Flipside :D
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Galemp on September 17, 2003, 02:18:55 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Woolie Wool
No. Please clarify.

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was long considered to be the world's first computer, developed in the United States in 1945. It was used to calculate complex trajectories for ballistic weapons. It was revealed in the 1970s, however, that British agents had built the Colossus at the secret Bletchley Park compound in 1943 to break Nazi codes. Since it was top secret for many years the ENIAC mistakenly became known as the first computer.

As the Americans made big preperations for the '50th Anniversery of the Computer' for 1995, the British were understandibly upset. So, for Colossus' 50th anniversery in 1993, the entire machine was reconstructed from eight wartime photographs, some declassified specifications, and the assistance of some of the engineers who worked on the original Colossus. You can see it at Bletchley Park.

The Americans, meanwhile, quietly went away. :D

More information on the Colossus:
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/lorenz/rebuild.htm

Quote
Originally posted by Black Wolf
*Has visions of a 4 room valve based computter attacking a 6 km Juggernaught.*

Don't kid yourself, pilot. We're the ones being attacked here.
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: kasperl on September 17, 2003, 03:14:11 pm: cool

*prints it out for physics/chemistry/natural sciences teachers to look at.*
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Shrike on September 17, 2003, 05:41:33 pm: "Hey baby, ever seen a real live fusion reactor? Lot of power under the hood, if you know what I mean."
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Flipside on September 17, 2003, 05:50:39 pm: :lol:

[RVB]You could pull 2 or maybe even 3 chicks with this![/RVB]
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Kamikaze on September 17, 2003, 05:55:33 pm: Plenty of these sort of things occur, there was that HS senior that built a cyclotron.... and the boy scout that built/tried-to-build a breeder...
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Martinus on September 17, 2003, 06:06:52 pm: [color=66ff00]Reminds me of how livid the Brits where when the plot for U571 revealed that the yanks where stealing the german encryption machine. In reality the brits did it, created quite the storm in a teacup.

Also is anyone familiar with the background on the first supersonic fighter? Now there's a piece of history that american avionics experts would rather the rest of the world forget. :blah:
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Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Sandwich on September 18, 2003, 12:43:23 am: Quote
Originally posted by Kamikaze
Plenty of these sort of things occur, there was that HS senior that built a cyclotron.... and the boy scout that built/tried-to-build a breeder...

That's all the same guy, dude. :D Look here: http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/16/1712236&mode=thread&tid=126&tid=134

Replies 2 and 3.
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Kamikaze on September 18, 2003, 02:53:34 am: errr, I guess I didn't read too carefully :p

hmmm *should build a cold fusion reactor for HS senior* ;)
Title: First supersonic fighter?
Post by: Corsair114 on September 18, 2003, 05:55:35 am: I'm gonna work off the presumption you mean first mass-production super-sonic fighter.

Wasn't it the MiG-19? Seems it entered flew/entered service several months ahead of the (semi-legendary) F-100 Super Sabre. The U.S. played that one down fairly well, y'know, 'cause the Soviet Union was a step ahead of us at that point(Anyone familiar with the Ram-L? It put NATO on alert when it was first spotted going through trials. Anyone who knows what it is gets a cookie).

If not, could you please clarify Maeglmor?
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Martinus on September 18, 2003, 11:25:45 am: [color=66ff00]It was one of the pioneer attempts to build an aircraft that could break the sound barrier. Basically the americans had the fighter built but had serious problems with maneuverability at speeds above the sound barrier; the plane was practically uncontrollable. The brits hadn't cracked it yet either but had devised a rather simple yet brilliant way to overcome the maneuverability problem: They had made a pivioting tailplane. Until this time all aerilons had been simply flaps on the tail. The yanks knew that the british had cracked the problem somehow and basically offered an exchange of information, they'd give the british what they needed to know in exchange for the info required to fix the maneuverability problem.

The brits (being allies at the time of course) gave the americans the info in good faith. The americans then made all information on the supersonic project classified and the british got nothing. Very nice people.
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Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: diamondgeezer on September 18, 2003, 11:30:48 am: Hmm... according to 'The Right Stuff', the engineers on the X-1 program came up with the pivoting tailplane... IIRC...

At least one side of the Atlantic is telling porkie pies...
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Martinus on September 18, 2003, 11:41:32 am: [color=66ff00]Look for info on the 'miles m52', I found some stuff on a BBC website but it was pretty low detail.
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Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Corsair114 on September 18, 2003, 09:58:46 pm: Hrm, yeah, that makes sense. Not the first time in history the U. S. has butted its nose into the foreign aircraft industry and f*cked a perfectly good aircraft outta its shot at being a production vehicle(BAC's TSR.2, anyone? Or maybe the Avro Arrow?). Not like the government is good at picking up/out new fighters, either(*glares at the F/A-22 / F-35 / F/A-18E*).
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Nico on September 19, 2003, 02:24:32 am: Wasn't the me262 able to reach mach1 ( altho it would go toothpicks when getting through the sound wall :p ) ?
Title: Freshman Builds Fusion reactor
Post by: Corsair114 on September 19, 2003, 04:21:28 am: It wouldn't in level flight, that's for sure. In a dive it *might* be able to break the sound barrier, but I highly doubt it, and the pilot's would die. It was/is fast, that's for sure, and, barring the plane's finicky engines, would probably give most modern fighters a run for their money in a gunfight.