FUSION; Any ideas on Inertial Electrodynamic Confinement by Dr. Bussard?

Question

http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=976

Think this guy is legit? Think GOOGLE should fund him? Think GOOGLE would be a good stock to buy, either way if it works or not?

Answer 1

I personally believe that his IEC (Inertial Electrostatic Confinement) method for achieving fusion is a failure. This project has been funded by the US gov't (DoD) since 1987 (initially the company was called EMC2, then later it became IEC, but basically he worked on his fusion idea using US tax payer's money for the last 20 years).

You can't say that he didn't get a chance to prove his idea. He did. So now the US gov't has decided that 20 years is more than enough, and it's time to end this charade.

In any case, if Dr Bussard wants the world to support his research, he has to convince some (not all) of the physics community that his theory and technology is sound. That means he needs to publish papers in well known and respected scientific journals and include his research data for all to see and verify.

The problem is Dr Bussard doesn't want to do that. Sharing the info also means that he can't reap the financial beneits. So we reach the current stalement. No one can really believe his claims, and he has to now seeks money in the private sector.