Newsgroup sci.physics.fusion 27212

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The tenth issue of Infinite Energy, edited by Eugene Mallove, is out,
and this is my brief review of it.
Physical qualities: 8" x 11", 72 pages, color cover and b&w; interior.
This issue seems like a cleanup issue that mostly deals with items that
appeared in the previous issue.
For those who wonder what the editor was doing before CF hit the fan,
he was writing books, including "The Starflight Handbook," an ad for
which is on the first page.
The editorial by Mallove, on page 3, was better than usual, IMO, because
the editor's past tendency to get critical and call names at the various
little people who oppose CF -- the Steve Joneses of the world -- was
thankfully absent.
The letters section was good, among which was a reprint of a very
interesting post made by Lawrence Wharton to the vortex-l mailing list,
regarding possible evidence for biologic transmutations in geologic
history.
Then come some articles about CETI and ICCF6. And for those, like me, who
don't know what Japanese writing looks like, there are two pages of this
gibberish thanks to the mighty pen of Jed Rothwell.
Then comes several small articles regarding the AquaFuel device that was
introduced to readers in the previous issue. My own opinion is that the
article by Gerhard Knapp, complete with supporting calculations, hits the
nail on the head: the apparent excess energy is due to the latent
chemical energy in the carbon rod that is only partially combusted by the
initial production of carbon monoxide. Also, as others have already
pointed out on the vortex-l mailing list, AquaFuel is only a minor
variation of "water gas" which has been around for many decades.
Then comes an article by Harold Aspden, who likes to write about magic
electric motors, on which he now holds a patent. Aspden has a nice
writing style, and he puts in some interesting commentary, but personally
I wouldn't bet on his motor.
Then comes the "Experimenter's Corner" which features some simple
transmutation experiments.
Then comes the "Briefs" section, which has a number of little items,
including the reported demise of the previously much-ballyhooed
"Takahashi scooter" which now looks like a case of mistaken identity
(Chris Tinsley, in a previous issue, identified it as apparently
over-unity, based solely on his riding the magic scooter: I guess Chris
underestimated how much an ordinary battery and electric motor can push
his body around).
So once again, with things like AquaFuel and magic motors biting the dust
of truth and exposure, the only viable OU effect is CF, which remains,
rightfully so, the primary focus of Infinite Energy. On the other hand, I
no longer object to Mallove's tendency to let in these fringe items -- as
long as they are ultimately exposed -- because it makes the magazine more
interesting and more educational.
After the "Briefs" section are a few more articles on miscellaneous
subjects. And for me, the most interesting article is "Experimental
Discovery and Investigation of the Phenomenon of Nuclear Transmutation
of Isotopes in Growing Biological Cultures" by three Russians. This
article focuses on a single reaction mediated by the tested bacteria:
    Mn^55 + d^2 = Fe^57
The whole subject of biologic transmutations is something I would like
to see more coverage of in future issues, if possible.
That concludes my review.
For those who want a subscription (recommended for those who want to
keep up with the CF field) here is the relevant info:
      Infinite Energy is published six times a year
      a 1-yr subscription is $29.95 for US and Canada, $49.95 foreign
      Phone: 603-228-4516, or FAX: 603-224-5975 (Visa or Mastercard)
      Address: Infinite Energy Magazine
               P.O. Box 2816
               Concord, NH   03302
Kurt Johmann
--

Ignore.  This is a test.

bds@ipp-garching.mpg.de (Bruce Scott TOK ) writes:
> Tritium is quite different from other radioactive materials.  Even worse
> than dust, it is a gas.  Moreover, it is a gas that the body greedily
> gulps, and it has a short half life so that once you get it you likely
> get all of it.  Nasty stuff.
"Quite different"?  "You likely get all of it"? Radon and Krypton are
also gases.  For the same amount of tritium inhaled, tritiated water
(HTO) is much more dangerous than tritium gas, which is mostly exhaled
again with the next breath.  Incorporated tritium has a biological
halflife of only 6 days, i.e., of the tritium that isn't exhaled
immediately, half is lost within a week.  Faster if you drink lots of
beer.  There is also a small fraction which gets bound to organic
molecules, and that can stay around for months, but still far less
than the radioactive halflife.
I'm not saying that tritium isn't "nasty stuff" or that it's
characteristics are not significantly different from those of other
radiological hazards.  To judge the safety of D-T fusion, simple
inventories and physical properties are not, in the end, enough
without detailed safety analyses.  From what I've seen, I'm not (very)
worried about the safety of fusion.  If we can make it cheap enough,
we can make it safe enough.
By the way, JET long ago reached "equivalent breakeven" and will
presumable demonstrate actual breakeven when they start their serious
tritium phase.  JT-60U will never run with tritium because it was not
designed to.  Q=1.05 means fusion power (which is more than the
electrical power which could potentially be produced) just a tad more
than heating power delivered to the plasma from outside (which is less
than the electrical power delivered to the heating equipment).  Since
only 20% of the fusion power, the fraction carried by the alphas,
stays in the plasma, most of the heating is still external.  A power
plant cannot afford to operate with a Q below 15 or 20 when realistic
conversion efficiencies and recirculating power fractions are
considered.  But that only requires a triple product (n*T*tau) about a
factor of five above that needed to achieve Q=1.
-- 
To study, to finish, to publish. -- Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Arthur Carlson
Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics
Garching, Germany
carlson@ipp-garching.mpg.de
http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~awc/home.html
As usual, if I am caught or killed, the Institute
will disavow any knowledge of my actions.