fusion again

Research is unpredictable business.  Don't count on getting a particular technology on a particular time schedule... or ever, really.  But then sometimes it suprises you and something shows up sooner than expected.

I've said before that I consider fusion energy to be the only thing that can keep traditional western society functioning in the midst of various "crashes" of resources/finances that I think are already underway.  I mentioned earlier that fusion technology was estimated to be much farther away than previously reported.  Well, now the estimates have changed again.  It might just be a decade away.

An MIT article talks about a fascinating method being tested right now in Canada.  The picture is nothing special, but here's the text that goes with it:

General Fusion's reactor is a metal sphere with 220 pneumatic pistons designed to ram its surface simultaneously. The ramming creates an acoustic wave that travels through a lead-lithium liquid and eventually accelerates toward the center into a shock wave. The shock wave compresses a plasma target, called a spheromak, to trigger a fusion burst. The thermal energy is extracted with a heat exchanger and used to create steam for electricity generation. To produce power, the process would be repeated every second.
- http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23102/

How cool is that?