Dear Abbe,

A question regarding channeling fusion. Having unlimited power from controlled nuclear fusion would be of great benefit. One approach to this is called inertial confinement. A pellet could be hit by suitable beams to compress it enough to get the atoms to fuse. Most research has been focused on using laser beams rather than particle beams (scurrilously, it is supposed that this was because the military wanted powerful lasers to use as weapons, whereas particle beams would be of no use for this purpose). Now it would appear that a very good approach to this problem would be to fire protons at boron. The reaction p + ¹¹B generates power without producing neutrons. This makes it both safer and more efficient than other methods. However, if protons are fired at a lump of boron, they are scattered at random, and few of them interact with the boron nuclei before losing all of their energy. Nonetheless, we microscopists know that if particles are incident on a single crystal at the right orientation, the particles will travel concentrated down the rows of atoms. Why, I ask you, has research not been done to develop efficient generation of very parallel proton beams to bring this vision to reality?

Dear Enys,

Sigh. I get asked this question so often, it gave me a sense of déjà vu. Like that time I ate that really old borscht. I will answer this quandary and hope to never be asked again. First, have you ever tried shooting anything at a lump of boron? Nein? Ich dachte nicht. It can be exceedingly tedious. Why do something so boring? Besides, to shoot “particles … incident on a single crystal” requires finding a really big crystal! Most of them have been acquired by New Age enthusiasts around Sedona and have become scarcer than Dita Von Teese's wardrobe. Aiming the protons right—so the “particles … travel concentrated down the rows of atoms”? They'll pass right on through, won't they? Where's your power now, hm? It can be difficult to bring vision to reality when it is so astigmatic.

Feeling bored? Having trouble with your power sources? Shoot it to Herr Abbe at [email protected]. He'll be scurrilous at best.