New 'Stellarator' Design for Fusion Reactors

eldavojohn writes "The holy grail of fusion reactors has always seemed 'just a few years off' for many decades. But a recent design enhancement termed a 'Stellarator' may change all that. The point at which a fusion reactor crashes is when particles begin escaping due to disruptions in the plasma. A NYU team has discovered that coiling specific wires to form a magnetic field may contain the plasma. This may be a a viable way to create a plasma body with axial symmetry, and a far better chance of remaining stable. Like other forms of containment this does require energy itself, but could bring us closer to a stable fusion reactor. It may not be cold fusion or 'table top' fusion but it certainly is a step forward. The paper is up for peer review in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

If they used...

[jd]

...Axl symmetry, they could produce something that was violently unstable but produced vast amounts of marketable energy and money.

Huh...

[Greyfox]

SCO Loses and they figure out fusion* on the same day. Coincidence? I think NOT!

* Sure it doesn't say they figured it out in TFA but humanity will point to this day and say 'That is the day SCO lost and they figured out fusion.'

Oh, great!

[Sloppy]

I just bought a fusion reactor that uses the old design!

Re:input-output

[feepness]

Picture Chinese handcuffs

Great now I can't let go of that image.

Re:Why reinvent the wheel?

[Wonko the Sane]

3. Make the wall 1 ton/m^2 to protect the people outside

Houston, we have a unit problem

Re:If they used...

[heinousjay]

I hope you're serious, I take great solace in knowing the world is full of crazy people.

Re:Why reinvent the wheel?

[Jherek Carnelian]

This seems like the exact reason why basic physics should be mandatory in schools. Dear God. How exactly would a magnetic field contain neutral photons ? They will generate zero flux and will not interact with the field at all.

Clearly adding a flux capacitor to the magnetic field generator is necessary to add flux to the contained photons.

"Stellarator"

[flickwipe]

Refrigerator full of Stella?