UPDATE: I'm not finding much in the way of debunkery of this story online. Car and Tech blogs seem to be pretty sanguine about lasering thorium to power cars and one site that focuses on rare metals seems to think the lasing thing makes sense with Thorium.

HOWEVER...
I found little about the Doctor Charles Stevens mentioned in the many articles I perused below. However, I went to the Laser Power Systems site, which is pretty spartan unless one registers...I mean spartan as in there is NOTHING there. Well, I registered hoping to find patent, tech or business info.
Boy Howdy.
After registering, if one clicks  on "patents"one is taken to a page called the
Galactic Governments Patent Office
...which seems to be a separate website that is railing against new patent legislation....but has no patents. And there isn't much there. On the "News Feed"....I saw "Brickmuppet Registers" as the most recent news. The other site is LaserTurbinePower.com. Registering there takes one to a screen that is labeled Registered Users Area, but that's it...no links...nothing just a page that one has to register to access....with no info or business plan or catgirls or anything

I did track down this powerpoint online...which is an Laser Power Systems pitch from 2009  that contains a host of spelling errors and a working diagram that rivals the U.S. Department of Innovation's Logo for functionality.

One other thing (scarcely worth mentioning I'm sure).
Another Dr. Charles Stevens (who has the same contact phone number) is the founder of Helyxzion, LLC. This is claimed to be a genomics company and my undergraduate biology tells me that his biddness plan is...dubious. I also note that both of these Dr. Charles Stevenses (who share he same phone number) have been working in their respective fields since the mid-80's. I guess that apartment is just full of mad science...Wait...maybe its not an apartment...I'm now envisioning something along the lines of Conjectural Technologies.

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1 I think they probably meant 250 kilowatts, not 250 megawatts. 250 megawatts is enough to power a decent sized town.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Mon Sep 26 19:03:41 2011 (+rSRq)

2 Good catch!

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Sep 26 19:36:34 2011 (EJaOX)

3 Unfortunately, the physics behind this is dubious at best.  You can't trigger radioactive decay with heat; unless you hit the nucleus directly with something (a neutron, at a stretch a very-high-energy gamma ray), it will sit there until it decides otherwise.  Thorium's natural decay process releases alpha particles, which are easy to shield, but a block of pure thorium is just going to sit there unless you heat it up enough to melt, in which case it will just puddle there.

In brighter news, you have a kaiju drop waiting for you on Billy.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tue Sep 27 02:33:44 2011 (PiXy!)

4 It sounded  dubious to me at first.

I first heard something about this roughly a year ago and it sounded awfully like the hafnium silliness. I didn't blog about it then because it seemed quite unlikely. Now though, this has at the very least got a lot of smart people interested.

As I understand it this involves getting the Thorium to lase, and what they are saying is that thorium lases strongly in the infrared. The heat it gives off is sufficient to generate enough steam to turn a generator that creates enough power to do work AND power the accelerator for the lasing of the thorium. This degrades the thorium over time.

The LPS power plant, for all its whiz-bang properties, isn’t a complete departure from traditional power generation: the thorium is lased and the resulting heat flashes a fluid and creates pressurized steam inside a closed-loop system. The steam then drives a turbine that turns an electric generator.

The same General Electric article also mentions that at least some radioactives like uranium have this property but that thorium lases without cryogenics.

This isn't a regular nuclear reaction though it seems that the lasing property is somehow tied to Thorium's radioactivity.

Most importantly they seem to have reproduced it and gotten the thorium part to work....the current hurdle is reported to be the closed cycle turbo-electric plant.

GM was actively pursuing this until 2009 (that may mean it was dropped when the Govt. bought them out).

 It may not pan out either for technical or political reasons. Hell it could be cold fusion 2. We'll see.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Tue Sep 27 08:20:43 2011 (EJaOX)

5 Hafnium isomers are real, just not very useful.  The problem is in trying to stimulate the collapse of the excited isomer to the ground state - no-one's found an effective way to do that yet.  They managed it with a tantalum isomer, but that required more energy than they got back.  (I did some research on this for a sci-fi story I want to write.  The idea remains tantalisingly plausible, but wildly impractical.)

The thorium stuff, though, looks like several unconnected things that have been incorrectly juxtaposed.  You just can't get energy out of thorium that way.  If you can make it lase (quite possible, lots of things can be made to lase) that doesn't produce energy, just focuses it.  In fact, the process will lose energy (and convert it into heat).  The only way to get energy out of thorium is through natural decay, which is far too slow, stimulated fission, which they're specifically not doing, or by setting it on fire.  It does burn nicely, but it's not really an improvement over regular fuels.

I hate to rain on the nuclear-car parade, but the whole thing looks like a scam, hoax, or old-fashioned crackpot.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tue Sep 27 09:04:43 2011 (PiXy!)

6 It might also be that one of the writers just got confused, and the others sourced the mistakes from the first one.  It could all be an honest mistake.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tue Sep 27 09:10:20 2011 (PiXy!)

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UPDATE: As this is a political post, it has now descended below he fold.

Note that the .gif is actually somewhat related.

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My graduation plans were an intricate Jenga game of prerequisites. Graduating next summer would have required several things to break my way, most notably having the required courses available, and of course, money is always an issue. Of course the whole pile of blocks could have been knocked over by an illness, loss of employment......

....or Jury Duty.

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1 Sounds like a grand jury summons.

Take a look at the paperwork they gave you. A -lot- of jury summons include an exemption or at least an offer of postponement for students. See what hoop they need you to jump through for that, then do it; that takes care of it for a while, at which point they'll usually have forgotten about it.

Then just go to Japan if you like. One of the requirements of compulsory juror service is residence in the area, right? If you're moving out of the country, well, you won't be a resident and can't be compelled to do jury duty (in that jurisdiction, anyway, and it's not like you're moving TO any other US jurisdiction, at least until you get back!)

Do you have the paperwork they sent you? It should mention student exemptions.

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Thu Sep 22 23:55:35 2011 (pWQz4)

2 Yes, check for exemptions.  I'm not sure exactly how it works in the US, but they can't possibly expect you to put your life on hold for two years.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Fri Sep 23 04:24:28 2011 (PiXy!)

3 Echoed.  I know in Texas (considering I'm looking at MY OWN jury summons right now) active students are automatically exempt.  You just check the box and mail the form back.
Of course, this is Texas, where "justice" is a very loosely defined concept.
As far as non-Texans know.
Which is how we like it.

Posted by: Ben at Fri Sep 23 19:41:33 2011 (RalIr)

4 You really can be summoned for service on a grand jury - there aren't many of them so most people won't ever see it, but the reason there aren't so many of them is that they get a lot of service out of the guys that they do pick.

It's not the same courtroom stuff as a regular jury. You're generally just checking prosecutors' work, making sure that they've got enough of a case put together before they actually charge someone. Specifically, you can be absent from it occasionally without inconveniencing everyone; so long as 16 people out of the two dozen or so are there, they can still do business. So if you've got a vacation or a week at work you just can't miss, you can deal. And there's no such thing as being "called up for a trial" - totally different kind of jury service, so you're not going to be waiting around to see if there's a trial.

But check for the student exemption first. I know it's not consistent state to state, for all that it's a federal grand jury; the districts run their stuff differently. And even if there's not an exemption, you can ask for a deferral until you've completed your studies.

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Sat Sep 24 22:57:09 2011 (GJQTS)

5 The first time I was summoned to jury duty, I was scheduled to show up at the courthouse at the exact same time I was to board a plane for Seattle.  I called them and explained my situation; they were happy to reschedule me.

Of course, they sent me another summons to report three months later... for the second week of December.  This time, they were a less happy to reschedule me.  I explained that I was working retail in the biggest mall in the area and we were somewhat busy at that time.  No dice, they still weren't willing to do it.  Fortunately, I had just sold a computer to one of the sitting judges a couple of weeks earlier.  I mentioned his name and asked them to talk to him for proof of my bona fides.  An hour later, they called back and said that they'd reschedule me for some time in January.

I think they put a black mark in my logbook, though, because I've been summoned for jury duty five times since then.  I'm assuming that I'll get another one in a few months.

Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun Sep 25 01:17:52 2011 (o45Mg)

6 I've been told at school that It is not likely to get a waiver for students. Still, I'm going to try. I wouldn't mind jury duty if it weren't for the very tight school schedule.

If its a grand jury, I ought to be able to work around it,  do my civic duty and not suffer academically. However, the summons mentions both federal grand and petit juries. If it's the latter I'm screwed. OTOH...I'm not at all petite.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun Sep 25 11:16:16 2011 (EJaOX)

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...must be hurting the pr0n industry even worse than was thought.

A San Fernando Valley adult entertainment studio began construction this month on what it calls a "post-apocalyptic” underground bunker...

Read the whole thing.....Although this is from CBS, I'm not entirely sure this is legit. On the one hand, the Pr0n industry was awash in cash until the crash a few years ago, and I would imagine it is full of flakes. If said flakes did not spend all their money on blow then several of them with an interest in preparedness ought to be able to pull this off. OTOH, the captions on the "blueprints" might warrant some skepticism.

_{(Or indicate that they are truly visionary. )}

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One of the Brickmuppets Crack Team of Science Babes takes a moment from her...research...to relay this news from exotic Canukistan.

^{It's...technical...}

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CDR Salamander says what needs to be said.

I've long thought that Bachmann is vastly and disturbingly closer to the medias image of Palin than Palin herself is. I'd actually been meaning to write about why she bothered me...but I didn't and now there is no need as she seems to have self-immolated the other night.

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Where memetic history is made in our comments....
...even as we achieve ignominy in our posts.

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 The third Hidemari Sketch series picks up the 'story' in the next semester and sees 2 more girls join the 4 previous characters. It continues with more of the same. The new season's animation's rather better, but increasing the core cast from 4 to 6 thins the available bandwidth for character development a bit.  Still, its well paced. Those who liked the previous incarnations are likely to enjoy this one.

^{They seem a bit more chibi-fied on this cover.}

One thing I did find slightly dismaying:
The characters are all living in an apartment complex near the school and one of them is an established (and award winning) writer who has enrolled in the school to learn to draw so she can illustrate her light novels. So...I'd gotten it into my head that this was a college and that Sae was much older than the rest. That was certainly the vibe I got from the first two discs.
This show makes it much clearer that the art school is actually a high school. It just specializes in art.

This means that ...ummm...Sae is a high school student....which for some reason makes me feel both dirty and old.

 

^{"Why would that make...?...!!...Oh God...I just threw up a little in my mouth."}

Despite that jarring realization It's still an enjoyable little franchise. A third of the way in this third installment is holding up very well.

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1 Eh, if the show had a bit more of Lucy and Linus in it, or even Charlie Brown, I might have loved it.  Peanuts could be kind of harsh - cynical, existential, and pessimistic.  The Hidemari seasons, on the other hand, make K-On! look like Funky Winkerbean in comparison.

Posted by: Mitch H. at Mon Sep 12 14:47:37 2011 (jwKxK)

2 The Hidemari seasons, on the other hand, make K-On! look like Funky Winkerbean in comparison.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Muppet, you forgot the most important part of the HidaSketch franchise: Yuno's Duckie.

Posted by: Wonderduck at Mon Sep 12 21:07:44 2011 (o45Mg)

3 Hidemari is made of aww and winsome.

And according to Google, I am the only person ever to have made that joke.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Mon Sep 12 23:05:50 2011 (PiXy!)

4 "Hoshimittsu" means "3-star", "hoshimatsu" means... "a star fir", I guess. :-)

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Tue Sep 13 13:20:27 2011 (9KseV)

5

"Hoshimittsu" means "3-star", "hoshimatsu" means... "a star fir", I guess. :-)

Well...derp.


Actually, seeing as how a Google search for Hoshimatsu turns up this blog entry only...I'm guessing it be gibberish.

Thanks!

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Tue Sep 13 18:39:39 2011 (EJaOX)

6 Just claim that you had it mixed up with the alternate name for the Tanabata festival, Hoshimatsuri. We won't tell.

-j

Posted by: J Greely at Tue Sep 13 20:46:16 2011 (fpXGN)

7 OMG Ken, you are a brony?

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed Sep 14 17:24:53 2011 (9KseV)

8

OMG Ken, you are a brony?

 Actually, I was a Cub Scout. The  Brownies are a girl thing. ( Not to be confused with The Girl Thing )

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Thu Sep 15 08:01:38 2011 (EJaOX)

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10 years on Bin Laden is dead. AlQuaeda is scattered. Young girls in Afganistan go to school where they once would have gone to the soccer stadium for execution.

...and yet.

Here at home our greatest fear seems to be offending the murderers. PC Quislings ensured that no one from the clergy or first responders is going to be allowed at the place the buildings fell, for it is a secular place....except for the mosque that is to be erected.

Our oikophobic, orientalist ruling class condemns anything that might "offend". They then congratulate themselves on their sophistication and tolerance, and in their implacable ignorance expect reciprocity. What these smug provincial sophisticates cannot comprehend is that our enemies are not sophisticated, or tolerant...or even literate for the most part.

 These savages are not the Muslim dentists or professors we know who came here to escape the terror under which they once lived. Our enemies are that terror.   For 1432 years they've adhered to a creed that explicitly says to look for any signs of weakness and then attack. They do not appreciate nuances beyond signs of strength and weakness, and the signs they see are overwhelmingly of the latter. They see a people that back down and censor themselves to avoid a potential riot. They see a people that allows them to build a victory marker at the site of their greatest victory.

10 years on we pause to remember the 2,996 people who died that day.
We should also reflect on how best to remember them.
I would suggest that taking pains not to offend those who celebrate their passing is not it.

UPDATE: To wit...

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This post drifts into the partisan arena below the fold. It may contain images that some will find disturbing, or unpleasant.

^{Everyone ought to read more Yotsuba&!}

As compensation for this, here is the very antithesis of partisanship... Yotsuba&! producing less worrisome images.

For those who dare, hit "more" to get on with the politics...

UPDATE: The post below the fold has been updated.

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Reuters reports on an EU study that indicates that nearly 40% of Europeans suffer from mental illness. The definition of mental illness in the study seems on one hand to be rather broad, as it includes insomnia and anxiety. On the other hand I don't think the government study is likely to recognize THIS for the madness it is...

At the instigation of a mentally unbalanced bee-keeper, the similarly unbalanced European Court (EuGH), the highest court in the EUSSR, is considering whether honeybees are allowed to approach genetically modified plants and take their pollen. If they are not, then, first, the resultant honey must be removed from supermarket shelves and burned in a carbon-neutral fashion. Second, bees will be forbidden to approach inappropriate blossoms.

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...was great.

Seriously, it was a really good exchange. I was surprised.

Despite the focus on Perry and Romney several of the others were quite strong. Perry was not stellar but he gave a credible and solid performance and Romney seemed to hold his own.

Cain did well in previous debates and he has grown as a candidate. This was his best performance ever, with answers that were not only well delivered but remarkable in their specificity.

Thank goodness for Newt...he is not executive material but he is a damned good idea man and these debates are much better for his presence. He actually did hit it out of the park a couple of times. He needs to at least be an adviser in the next administration.

Huntsman came off better than he has before, in that he got to talk, and though he likely did himself no favors with the base its obvious he is a thoughtful guy.

All in all it was one of the better discussions of our problems I've seen.

OTOH the hosts did not cover themselves in glory as they tried (quite unsuccessfully) to start petty fights and in one remarkably patronizing moment, they brought in a Hispanic reporter to ask questions about immigration...and then dismissed him. 

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Brian Wang at Next Big Future has an interesting post on some of the legal reasons behind the Superman Costume changes that are part of the upcoming DC Reboot.

^{Art by Rags Morales}

It looks to be at least in part a legal gambit to deny the Siegel and Schuster estates ownership of the properties.

Most interesting to me is this bit from Brian Wang:

The interpretations also seem to be that the Siegel and Shuster families will be able to start developing movies and other projects with the portions of copyright that they control starting in 2013.

Their version of Superman would seem to be legally restricted from developing the powers of flight. They would be forced to stay at the power levels of Action #1 and the first two weeks of strips. Although both parties would be free to create new works based on these separate versions. I think it would be perfectly possible the 1938 Superman to be made very interesting and vibrant franchise.

This could actually be interesting.

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She's running! She's running! She ran.
She did pretty good too.

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So this girl asked me...
Where did things go wrong?
And thus a history of banal failure is posted below the fold.

For those uninterested in such matters, here is Kyo-Ani's take on the Sailor Scouts.

^{Actually it's by someone who goes by the handles of Tom and Attopez}

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UPDATE: Yay! 

....Now keep turning and go to Texas

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