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When I'm at the workshop and need a bit of a break I usually make myself a cup of coffee, sit down and browse through one of the pile of old Popular Science or Popular Mechanics magazines from the 1940s and 1950s that I have here.

As I've mentioned before in this column, these magazines are an amazing window into the past and document almost every aspect of science and technology during the post-war era when the USA was a powerhouse of innovation and progress.

The other day I spied the earliest example of "Scientists predict nuclear fusion will be practical in less than 10 years" stories that still appear from time to time today.

In this case, it was from a 1958 magazine and talked about harnessing the power of the hydrogen bomb to deliver limitless power by fusing light elements into heavier ones.

Fifty five years later, we're still waiting - but getting closer, apparently.

The bright boys at MIT in the USA believe they've made a fairly significant amount of progress in devising a mechanism to confine the blindingly hot ball of plasma that is essential to a sustained fusion reaction.

The most common strategy to date has been to use a device called a tokamak which attempts to wrap a plasma ball in a magnetic field that is manipulated in such a way as to ensure no contact is made with the walls of the container.

To date this has to be classified as a fail -- with no over-unity sustained fusion being recorded -- despite decades of work.

Instead of trying to nail the plasma jelly to a tree with a big fat magnetic nail, the new strategy involves the use of an antenna to create oscillations around the perimeter of the plasma in such a way that the entire mass is stabilised.

Scientists believe that hitting the right frequency will result in a far more stable plasma mass which is less likely to escape its magnetic confinement and is thus more likely to kick off a sustained fusion reaction.

In essence, a small antenna is used to fire RF energy at the plasma but in order to work, the antenna must be capable of operating in the harsh environment found within the tokomak itself.

Apparently, initial tests show great promise.

Who knows... if this pans out, a practical fusion generator could be just a decade away (OMG... it's deja vu all over again).

Of course the economic and political implications of a practical fusion reactor are too complex and dangerous to even contemplate. There are some who say that the existing energy industries based on fossil fuels are simply too big and too politically well-connected to fail.

What would certain Arab states do if their primary export streams were rendered far less valuable by such a system? Might they be taken-over by militant extremists who would see fusion power as good reason to go to war with the West?

Fortunately, ten years is a long time. So far, the decade mentioned back in 1958 has taken more than 55 years and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for fusion power just yet.

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