Friday, January 06, 2023

The Other Fusion

Mention ‘fusion’ and most people will first think you are talking about a new restaurant.  Only a few techy types who read scientific journals will pick up on a cutting-edge technology for power generation.  Fusion is a type of nuclear reaction, but unlike the nuclear power already in use wherein atoms are broken apart, through fusion reaction energy is created by smashing together two atoms at high speed.  Triggering such atom collisions requires tremendous heat.  Thus far, scientists have had difficulty finding a heat process that generates more energy from the fusion reaction than it takes to spark it.  The challenge is called ‘energy gain.’

It is not like mankind does not already have a perfect fusion example to use as a model.  Fusion reactions can be found naturally in the core of stars.  Indeed, at the core of our own Sun hydrogen atoms combine to make heavier elements like helium with the resulting power bathes Earth and its neighboring planets in light and heat.  Duplicating that in a controlled process is proving a tough nut to crack.

Friday, December 30, 2022

Toast for the New Year!

 





May your troubles be less and your blessings be more, 
and nothing but happiness come through your door



The Associates at Crystal Equity Research






Friday, December 23, 2022

Greetings of the Season!

 





May the light of the holiday season shine in your life all the year through!


The Associates at Crystal Equity Research

Friday, October 07, 2022

Plugged In!

Many people might identify the 2009 Tesla Roadster sports car as the first electric car.  Not even close.  To be absolutely correct, the first electric car hit the road in 1830.  Yes, nearly 200 years ago, a Scotsman put a motorized carriage on the road.  Its batteries were not chargeable so no one complained that it could not be a successful mode of transport.  In the modern age General Motors (GM:  NYSE) was first to the market in 1996 with its EV1. 

GM made its EV1 available only through a lease program and eventually killed off the EV1 model by recalling every car at the end of its lease.  Although many in the 1990s used the lack of charging capacity as an argument against electric cars, it was never an issue for the EV1.  In the early days of the modern electric cars, combustion-oriented leadership at GM simply lacked enthusiasm for EVs and engaged in behind-the-scene politics with California’s Electric Transportation Coalition (CARB).