Wayne, here's the headline...Crystal power Palmtop Nuclear Fusion Device Invented By Michael Schirber LiveScience Staff Writer posted: 27 April 2005 01:00 pm ET The nuclear reaction that powers the Sun has been reproduced in a pocket-sized device, scientists announced today. Researchers have for years tried to harness nuclear fusion to power the world. But its cousin, nuclear fission -- the breaking apart of atoms -- is the only method so far commercially viable. The latest invention is not in the same league as efforts to build complex commercial reactors. The new device creates a relatively small number of reactions, and requires more energy to operate than it produces. The Real Deal (AP) - Previous claims of tabletop fusion have been met with skepticism and even derision by physicists. In one of the most notable cases, Dr. B. Stanley Pons of the University of Utah and Martin Fleischmann of Southampton University in England shocked the world in 1989 when they announced that they had achieved so-called cold fusion at room temperature. Their work was discredited after repeated attempts to reproduce it failed. Fusion experts noted that the new UCLA experiment is credible because, unlike the 1989 work, it did not violate basic principles of physics. "This doesn't have any controversy in it because they're using a tried and true method,'' said David Ruzic, professor of nuclear and plasma engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "There's no mystery in terms of the physics.'' -- Associated Press But the configuration is so small and simple that its creators think it may inspire unforeseen applications. "I certainly find it interesting that you can heat a cubic centimeter crystal in your hand, then plunge it in cold water and it will cause nuclear fusion," Seth Putterman from the University of California Los Angeles told LiveScience. Putterman's lay description greatly oversimplifies how the compact apparatus works. Specifically, Putterman and collaborators heat a pyroelectric crystal, lithium tantalite, from minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit to plus 45 in a matter of minutes. This generates an electrical charge -- 100,000 volts -- across the tiny crystal, which is housed in a chamber filled with deuterium gas, a heavy form of hydrogen. The high voltage is focused onto a needle-thin tip, which strips electrons from nearby deuterium nuclei and then accelerates them at a solid target containing deuterium. When two deuterium nuclei collide together at high speed, they fuse to form helium. The Sun also fuses atoms in thermonuclear reactions that create light and heat. The byproduct of the newly discovered lab reaction is a particle called the neutron. The scientists detect about 1,000 neutrons per second. Because neutrons are so penetrating, Putterman said that a hand-held neutron source might one-day be used to do geologic surveys or to look into cargo containers for nuclear devices. "Current neutron generators are extremely cumbersome," Putterman said. "They are about as big as a dentists X-ray machine, so you canÂt carry them into the field." Pyroelectric crystals could also provide a beam of ions for use as a microthruster in a miniature spacecraft. The research is described in the April 28 issue of the journal Nature.

This post has strayed from the original, and has mentioned the many ways people hunt deer. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned 'deer driving'. Up here, we don't hunt deer with dogs, we use people! Now that method is very dangerous to the one doing the 'driving', and guns and alcohol surely would be a mix for pending disaster during a deer drive. Observation from a high vantage point will show that deer can sense the presence of a person walking long before that person is aware of the deer. The deer, or herd of deer, will keep their distance ahead of the walker and interpose cover between the walker and themselves. So, a walker strolling down stream bed in a shallow valley will inadverttently 'herd' unseen deer in front of him. Wisconsin hunters take advantage of this phenonem. The main huting party will lay in wait while one member of the party, the "driver" will go to a place about one mile away and begin to noisly walk toward the ambush. Sometimes, 4 or 5 deer will move in advance of the driver toward the ambush. You can see the danger in this for the driver. He depends on everone in the ambush party knowing the path he is on and hopes they don't shoot directly toward him, but will wait until they can shoot more or less perpendicular to the driver's path. Each year in Wisconsin, we have hunting accidents. It's bad enough when you doze off, drop your gun from a tree stand, and shoot yourself out of the tree, or cross a fence with your finger within the trigger guard, or slip on a snow covered rock and squeeze off a shot into your hunting buddy or your foot, to add to the danger of a deer drive. Laying all that aside, maybe you should consider hunting in Wisconsin this year. Our DNR wishes to clear the deer heard in designated areas in an effort to control chronic wasting disease. They may employ some unpopular methods this year. The DNR wasn't satisfied with the herd thinning last year. Wisconsin has another deer problem this year. There has been a dramatic rise of injury and death from motorcycle riders colliding with a deer on our roadways.

I'm not even sure I'd be comfortable calling myself a small-r rosarian. I've been growing roses for only about 5 years; before that I chose plants that reminded me of roses but weren't as intimidating - begonias, dahlias, etc. Now I'm up to 55 roses; mostly floribundas with a handful of HTs, shrubs and minis thrown in. A couple climbers too but I don't have a lot of room for the really big ones. If I did I'd try Jude the Obscure in a heartbeat! I'm living in Toronto Canada, and my neighourhood is a nice little microclimate that qualifies as USDA zone 5b; at times I can even stretch that to 6. My yard is full of mixed perennial beds and has all types of light areas. I've got almost as many varieties of hostas as roses, and more iris, but only because they don't take up as much space. I also love lilies and peonies, particularly the intersectionals. In my "past life" I was a wildlife biologist and worked at several different zoos in Canada and the US throughout my education/career as a keeper, trainer, wildlife educator, and researcher. I loved that work more than I can say, but ultimately, when the time came, being at home for my kids came first. To my immense pleasure, I found that my appreciation for nature, science and taxonomy, my obsessive devotion to detail and my love of living things of all shapes translated very naturally into gardening. I'm not a member of any rose society yet, but now that you mention it... I'd better look into the local club scene! This is the big version of my current profile icon. It's not a rose shot but it reminds me of a very special time in my life. The shot is about 10 years old, and is me visiting with some young and friendly elephants. I will always feel highly privileged to have had such experiences. Karen

There was a very good turnout! Hope you will join us at future events.