Harnessing the power of the Sun to create a virtually unlimited energy source on Earth has been a dream for decades. The principle obstacle to fusion has always been that the extremely high temperatures generated by a reaction cannot be contained by any materials known to man. In theory, high-temperature fusion can be contained by a strong magnetic field. In practice, the plasma generated by the fusion reactor and contained by the magnetic field is turbulent. Furthermore, the heat generated is not well confined. A breakthrough discovery which calms the turbulence and effectively contains the generated heat has been made.
Physicists have discovered that by giving the fusion reactor a little jab of Borax – an injection directly into the plasma – both the turbulence problem and heat containment issue are settled. This is great news, and timely as well. These are the exact issues I’ve been having with my home-built fusion reactor, which I affectionately call Stella (a nickname for Stellarator). Even better, I already have a box of Borax that I recently bought at Walmart to make ant bait with, so I won’t need to go out and buy more.
With this Borax injection breakthrough, I expect to soon have my stellarator-type fusion reactor up and running in my garage workshop (isn’t that where many startup companies first began?) Once that goal is accomplished, the next project is to miniaturize it to fit into the engine compartment of a 1963 VW microbus that I’m converting into an electric vehicle. (It’s painted with a flower power theme to make it look like we’ve just been to Woodstock). Having an onboard (inboard!) fusion reactor will give my hippy ride the kind of range that Elon Musk and Tesla can only dream of.
Oh, err… nuts. Referring back to the source article, I just realized that it’s boron, not Borax, that physicist made a fusion breakthrough with. I guess I could try to extract boron out of the Borax, as it is the main ingredient.
[POSTSCRIPT (or post-morten, if you prefer): Hopefully readers will have realized that while the first paragraph of this article is in earnest, succeeding paragrahs are all tongue-in-cheek. Please understand that the article was in no way intended to mock or belittle fusion experiments or fusion scientists, who I have great respect for and totally support their efforts towards clean and safe energy.
With all due seriousness, this article is a fusion (pun intended) between an interesting science story I read online, and my ever-mounting frustrations with the BoB that I (and all of us) have to deal with outside of TNB. I satisfied a desperate need to obliquely mock the absurdities of the misinformation/disinformation industrial complex with equivalent absurdities, while simultaneously creating something I could laugh about. Hopefully you found it ridiculous, entertaining, maybe even humorous. And if you should think it odd and weird that I made myself laugh with this hooey, don’t feel bad: I think it odd and weird as well. It’s an indication of the ongoing stress we’ve all been under. Thank you for your kind attention. Help yourself to a Borax sample on the way out.]
