Word: hydrogenate
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After the giant laser is dedicated in a ceremony at Livermore this week, scientists will employ its intense beam of light in an attempt to weld the nuclei of hydrogen atoms, releasing bursts of energy at temperatures exceeding those at the center of the sun. Should they succeed in harnessing nuclear fusion, they could point the way toward a limitless supply of cheap, clean power. "Once we crack the problem of fusion," says John Emmett, associate director for lasers at Livermore, "we have an assured source of energy for as long as you want to think about it. It will...
...awesome might of fusion energy can be explained by Albert Einstein's famed equation, E = mc 2. When two nuclei from hydrogen atoms are shoved together to become a single, heavier helium nucleus, a tiny bit of their individual masses is converted into a tremendous amount of energy. In weapons, that energy is uncontrolled and destructive. To channel it into a usable form, scientists must be able to control the fusion reac- tion and confine it to a chamber, which requires surmounting some formidable physical constraints. The hydrogen nuclei must be crushed together with enough force to overcome their mutually...
Chemical lasers, utilizing the reaction of gases such as hydrogen and fluorine, are the most powerful lasers now in use. But a missile-killing laser beam might have to be 10 million times as powerful as the one that the Air Force is now using in antisatellite weapons tests. Also, because its long wavelength somewhat spreads out its focus, a chemical laser beam might have to be held on precisely the same spot on a missile's skin for as long as seven seconds; during that time the missile might rise 20 miles. Because a ground- based laser could...
...glance, the bombardier does appear to be unique in the animal kingdom. Its defense system is extraordinarily intricate, a cross between tear gas and a tommy gun. When the beetle senses danger, it internally mixes enzymes contained in one body chamber with concentrated solutions of some rather harmless compounds, hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinones, confined to a second chamber. This generates a noxious spray of caustic benzoquinones, which explodes from its body at a boiling 212 degreesF. What is more, the fluid is pumped through twin rear nozzles, which can be rotated, like a B-17's gun turret...
Going further, Eisner points out that none of the bombardier's chemicals are unique to the insect. Hydrogen peroxide is often a by-product of metabolism in the cell. Phenols, the chemical group to which hydroquinones belong, are employed by many plants and primitive animals to heal and disinfect wounds. "The beetle didn't invent anything," says Eisner. "It just found novel uses for existing elements...