What happens when a teenager actually builds a fusion reactor in his parents' basement?

[Occulus]

Apparently, you get golf claps and a pile of "win":

(Intended as a companion post to this one)

Michigan Teen Builds Nuclear Fusion Device

Steve Kovsky (Blog) - March 27, 2007 2:03 PM

A high school senior has achieved nuclear fusion in his parents’ basement.

When he's not running track and cross country at Stoney Creek High School, 17-year-old Thiago Olsen can be found tinkering with items such as high-voltage X-ray transformers, diffusion pumps, and neutron bubble dosimeters. Most of the devices were scrounged from eBay or built from scraps and pieces picked up at the local hardware store.

This teen's dream of fusing two hydrogen atoms by crashing them together to form a single helium nucleus has finally paid off. The proof lies in the images he has published showing a classic "star in a jar" pattern, indicating the presence of neutron bubbles suspended in plasma, the traditional by-product of nuclear fusion.

More information about other such projects can be found at www.fusor.net.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. So did he win the Science Fair in 2007? Where is he today?

[Occulus]

2. Not sure if he won or not...

It looks like he went to Vanderbilt University, where a Thiago Olson was President of the Vanderbilt Society of Physics Students from 2008-2009. I can't imagine the chances are very high for another Thiago Olsen floating around who is that interested in physics in the US, so I'd say that's likely to be him.

Vanderbilt doesn't list him as a current student, though; I'm going to guess he has since graduated. I'm not a Facebook member; perhaps someone who is could look around and maybe fill in a blank or two?

[Historic NY]

3. try this......

http://engineering.vanderbilt.edu/civilandenvironmentalengineering/news/news/10-12-02/6_awards_in_3_years_SMART.aspx

[Occulus]

4. Thanks for that.

:)

[jwirr]

6. Using all that brains to build war weapons instead of energy the

world needs desperately. How sad.

[Recursion]

10. Actually DoD is a huge researcher into green energy

Nice try, though.

[jwirr]

13. I wasn't trying anything. As to the DOD doing research on green

energy - yes for use in weapons.

[Recursion]

15. So?

Green energy is green energy, and gets into the civilian market. Consider Velcro. Or the Internet.

[HopeHoops]

5. "And where did you get the radioactive material?" - "10,000 glow-in-the-dark watches."

(clap, clap) - "Okay everybody - Fire Drill!!!"

Classic Bloom County cartoon - Oliver at the science fair.

[pokerfan]

7. classic

[UrbScotty]

8. I remember this. A couple college friends of mine knew him from high school!

Those friends of mine were previously high school track and cross country teammates of his.

[vercetti2021]

9. Awesome!

Hey the founder of Mr. Fusion from Back To The Future!

I mean that as a good complement btw.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. For why?

[jberryhill]

12. What kids will do to disguise a bong.... /nt

[FiveGoodMen]

14. THAT device achieved the necessary energy for fusion?

[pokerfan]

16. Lots of hobbyists have built fusors

The fusor was originally conceived by Philo Farnsworth, better known for his pioneering work in television. In the early 1930s he investigated a number of vacuum tube designs for use in television, and found one that led to an interesting effect. In this design, which he called the multipactor, electrons moving from one electrode to another were stopped in mid-flight with the proper application of a high-frequency magnetic field. The charge would then accumulate in the center of the tube, leading to high amplification. Unfortunately it also led to high erosion on the electrodes when the electrons eventually hit them, and today the multipactor effect is generally considered a problem to be avoided.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusor

The trick is making one that manages to generate net power on a consistent basis. I'm cautiously optimistic on the IEC approach, particularly the Polywell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polywell

[Occulus]

17. Yup! It didn't achieve unity, but it did sustain a fusion reaction.

Fusors are interesting devices and fantastic science projects.

On a related note, the Polywell design proposes to reach the point of unity and beyond. Whether it can or not is a matter of further research and testing of reactor designs (which is ongoing as of this writing).