4 ms·

1) They were creating a plasma from a sheet of boron and sending the protons at that. From the publication: "1 in 300–3,000 protons will be able to induce a p11

1) They were creating a plasma from a sheet of boron and sending the protons at that. From the publication: "1 in 300–3,000 protons will be able to induce a p11B fusion reaction". 2) There seems to be a fair but not infinite amount: http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/5/boron http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/5/boron. One site listed $500 per 100g. 3) It doesn't seem that such a calculation is readily available. However, now that the physics has been demonstrated, one can start to entertain such questions. Also, we are continually improving the efficiency of our laser sources, so as those improve the energy cost for this setup decreases. 4) Also from the publication: "Although our results are speciﬁc to the p11B case, a similar approach could be used to study the reaction of other light isotopes." Bonus: Actual publication link (I'm not sure if the link is paywalled): http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131008/ncomms3506/full/ncomms3506.html http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131008/ncomms3506/full/nco...

ars 13y ago
2) There is a lot of Boron 11, it makes up 80% of Boron. 3) Yes! You can use this for energy. In fact see my other post - I believe this is the future of fusion. The Boron doesn't need to be a plasma, so you don't need to confine it. You just leave it as a solid and hit it with protons. 4) You can also use Lithium (both isotopes) and Nitrogen (the rare 15 one).
- XorNot 13y ago
  What's more notable is that you can directly convert this to energy - the reaction yields charged particles, which will cut flux and induce current.
mapt 13y ago
Simple compounds of boron used in soapmaking and household cleaning sell for order ~$1 per kg. If you can't make isotopically pure Boron 11 for under $10 per kg in bulk out of such products in far greater quantities than could ever be used in fusion, I would be very surprised.

ars 13y ago

2) There is a lot of Boron 11, it makes up 80% of Boron. 3) Yes! You can use this for energy. In fact see my other post - I believe this is the future of fusion. The Boron doesn't need to be a plasma, so you don't need to confine it. You just leave it as a solid and hit it with protons. 4) You can also use Lithium (both isotopes) and Nitrogen (the rare 15 one).

XorNot 13y ago
What's more notable is that you can directly convert this to energy - the reaction yields charged particles, which will cut flux and induce current.

mapt 13y ago

Simple compounds of boron used in soapmaking and household cleaning sell for order ~$1 per kg. If you can't make isotopically pure Boron 11 for under $10 per kg in bulk out of such products in far greater quantities than could ever be used in fusion, I would be very surprised.