Word: fusions
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Dates: during 1980-1980
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...remote solution to many of atomic energy's problems may be nuclear fusion. The fission reactors now in use create energy by splitting atoms apart, but in fusion, atoms are smashed together. This method is potentially cheaper and safer. Experts, however, say that the technology is at least 25 years...
...press briefing heralding the Energy Department study, Glaser replied to all these objections. He pointed out that solar satellites, unlike power plants that would use nuclear fusion, need no major technological breakthroughs; the space program has already shown that the required scientific know-how exists. What of the staggering costs? Glaser argued that after the turn of the century, when such satellites could be in operation, their electricity probably would be no costlier, and perhaps a lot cheaper, than power from oil, coal and nuclear plants. As for the danger from microwaves, Glaser conceded that this needs further study...
They have one compelling argument in heir favor. This year the lawmakers passed a bill calling for $20 billion in spending for fusion research over the next two decades. Why not hedge that bet with a few million dollars at least to investigate another idea that may be every bit as promising...
...Dadaists sought new modes of expression that would make art relevant to life. Taking this idea literally, they introduced everyday objects and materials into art. Duchamp created "readymade" sculptures using old urinals, bicycles and other assorted junk. Kurt Schwitters invented the term "merz" for his art, defined as a "fusion of all conceivable materials for artistic purposes." Collage and photomontage became chief modes of expression...
...missiles launched by railguns would not leave fiery, polluting exhausts detectable by satellite. In a forthcoming issue, Physics Today reports that some scientists think that railguns, firing a stream of high-velocity particles at a target of deuterium and tritium, may offer the best way yet of achieving controlled fusion, a key energy hope for the future. Perhaps the most far-reaching application involves the space colonization ideas of Princeton Physicist Gerard O'Neill. He and some colleagues at M.I.T. are already building models of kindred electromagnetic launchers that they believe could be assembled on the moon and used...