I saw this video some time ago, but didn't understand enough about the physics to know how legit it was. Dr. Bussard claims to have made a breakthrough in a fusion device that essentially achieves a far better result than the $12Bn ITER project in France is expected to reach. Video is here:
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To">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1996321846673788606"
To head off the layman skepticism Dr. Bussard was the assistant director of the AEC in the 70's. In that position he co-founded the tokamak research. The ITER project in France is a tokamak. Bussard is essentially one of the founders of fusion research, he knows his stuff. For those that understand more about fusion here are some links to new discussion that's really got my attention:
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and">http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=5367&start=1"
and
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There">http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/iec/inertial_electrostatic_confineme.htm"
There is actually a whole lot of optimism from the physicists most familiar with his work. That is incredibly good news for all of us. If his results are correct, global warming will soon be a non-issue. We'll have a clean and virtually unlimited source of power, all the associated 'miracles' you see in movies, only this is real. I'm really excited to see what comes of it in the next 5 years. I don't suppose there is anyone familiar with fusion/plasma research reading?