THE VIDEO SHELF · inertial electrostatic confinement fusion
Should Google Go Nuclear? Clean, cheap, nuclear power (no, really)
Robert Bussard's 2006 Google Tech Talk on inertial electrostatic confinement fusion, a compact approach he argued could be cheap and clean, using boron-hydrogen fuel without neutron radiation. It runs about 93 minutes and covers the physics, funding history and his proposed development path.
Why HN readers recommended it
Recommended as an intense, insightful look at Bussard's IEC fusion work, frequently cited in fusion threads for his claim that it could be developed for about $200M.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- GoogleTalksArchive
- Topic
- inertial electrostatic confinement fusion
- Format
- talk
- Level
- advanced
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 2
- HN mentions in dataset
- 7
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2012–2019
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
Bussard was a genius who couldn't get funding. Less than a year before he died of cancer, he asked Google for a paltry sum to continue his research, shortly after the government cut him off. I have wondered why Google didn't jump on this. Do …
ThaddeusQuay2 on Hacker News · 2012-09
In Dry-run experiments verify key aspect of Sandia nuclear fusion conceptDr. Bussard gave a very interesting talk on his design for "inertial electrostatic confinement" fusion reactor: [VIDEO]
carapace on Hacker News · 2014-11
In Inside the Dynomak: A Fusion Technology Cheaper Than CoalI keep wondering why this talk doesn't get more traction? [VIDEO] Published on Aug 22, 2012 Google Tech Talks November 9, 2006 ABSTRACT This is not your father's fusion reactor! Forget everything you know about conventional thinking on nuclear fusion: high-temperature plasmas, steam turbines, neutron …
carapace on Hacker News · 2015-08
In Secretive fusion company claims reactor breakthrough
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.