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“I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

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Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#101

Post by facepalm »

eggy wrote: post #76

I made a lengthy comment below about my son, but now after watching the YouTube video, I am sad I do not have the resources to let him have such equipment. My son pulls off some cool experiments all on his own (I stay out of it apart from the phone call consultation, or YouTube video call) with salvage and other workarounds, with the money he earns and my contributions. These brothers have a freakin' mini-Tony-Stark…

Don't fret - constraints can be a boon, too, making your son more creative. It is not really important to build a fusion reactor, you can just as well build other cool things that cost less.

Or you can learn business and marketing skills, which you will need anyway if you want to do something great.

For example, your son could set up some sort of Kickstarter collecting money for his fusion reactor. Or get in touch with universities asking for help. And so on.

I mean I agree that resources make a difference - for example I have heard many science project winners actually had help and got to use their parents labs. But don't let it dissuade you, don't give up.

Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#102

Post by facepalm »

eggy wrote: post #74

Amazing work by this young man! My children will love this. My son and daughter are both doing well, but my son loves to experiment outside of school. I have been encouraging my son to experiment and learn, and he has taken it to a higher level than I had imagined. I have bought him a telescope, and a 3D printer over the years. He works for his own equipment and supplies too. More each year. Some of his experiments o…

What would happen if he skipped on the homework?

Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#103

Post by glfharris »

yeahwhatever10 wrote: post #14

Stuff like this always reminds me of this kid (adult now): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Wilson

It's the same group, and probably very similar devices. the fusor.net website is a community for building these things and has loads of plans and tips.

Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#104

Post by glfharris »

jaytaylor wrote: post #53

This is pretty neat, and I managed easily located plans for a DIY fusion reactor at home [0]. I'm curious if OP's build differs from these plans, and if so, how/why. Digging into the wikipedia article I found this interesting/surprising: Recent Developments [1]: "Most recently, the fusor has gained popularity among amateurs, who choose them as home projects due to their relatively low space, money, and power requirem…

fusor.net is the hub for these things, it's really quite an impressive resource. He says in the AMA he's registered there.

Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#105

Post by 3pt14159 »

nlh wrote: post #43
sthatipamala wrote: post #11

This kid is awesome but this particular comment really made me sad: "Spending 3+ hours a day on a project during junior and senior year did not help my grades. My counselor told me that I wouldn't get into the top colleges because of this reason. I believed her and didn't apply to my dream colleges."

And at least from my experience, that is wrong wrong wrong. I was a solidly B student in high school, but I had some extracurriculars (not quite building fusion reactors) that I devoted an absurd amount of time to and excelled at. And I got into MIT.

MIT always had that reputation though.

Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#106

Post by mgkimsal »

Godel_unicode wrote: post #71
zardeh wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1,700,000 SAT takers -> 17,000 people in the top 1%. Selecting the top 10% of those gets you 1700 students, which is quite close to the size of Harvard's acceptance statistic (of 2000)

Your implicit assumption is that anyone with a top 1% SAT score would also have good ECs and 4.0+. This is untrue.

That was sort of my point, and I didn't finish it, although the OP just said "bunches", which could be any number.

The person you're replying to indicates that 10% is 1700, and that 10% may be more representative of the high-EC and 4.0 level.

I'm not sure a few thousand folks from around the country qualifies as 'bunches'. Thinking back to my high school days, we had only a handful of people who were both academically advanced and active in many EC - sports, music, theater, etc. Partially there's just not enough time in most people's days to get 'good' at multiple things, even if there's aptitude. Secondly, not everyone can actually afford to get involves in a lot of ECs (despite aptitude/talent).

I can't think of anyone I know from my school (class of over 600, IIRC) who was all 4.0 GPA who also did multiple EC work. We had people in both camps. And I had a pretty lousy GPA, but did much better on ACT than some of the high GPA kids.

Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#107

Post by brianwawok »

Godel_unicode wrote: post #71
zardeh wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1,700,000 SAT takers -> 17,000 people in the top 1%. Selecting the top 10% of those gets you 1700 students, which is quite close to the size of Harvard's acceptance statistic (of 2000)

Your implicit assumption is that anyone with a top 1% SAT score would also have good ECs and 4.0+. This is untrue.

I bet more than half do. Tend to be the over achiever life.

Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#108

Post by nolok »

sthatipamala wrote: post #11

This kid is awesome but this particular comment really made me sad: "Spending 3+ hours a day on a project during junior and senior year did not help my grades. My counselor told me that I wouldn't get into the top colleges because of this reason. I believed her and didn't apply to my dream colleges."

Well, you need the second part of that comment to get the complete picture though:

> After submitting my college applications, I began making more connections. When I apply to other colleges as a junior, I will be getting likely 5+ recommendations from various chairs and professors at MIT, UC Berkeley, and UC Santa Cruz.

Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#109

Post by drjesusphd »

zamalek wrote: post #82
gnoway wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is overstating the risk a little bit. Looking at the video linked elsewhere, this was run in a bedroom on the second or even third floor of a single-family residence. He mentions not being able to detect x-rays more than 35ft from the device. I think a neighbor would have to be trying to get in range to be affected. Here's the video again, queued up to the view out the bedroom window: https://youtu.be/92…

One of the the few times where the inverse square law is helpful.

It's helpful all the time, since it allows stable orbits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand%27s_theorem

Re: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

#110

Post by teamfrizz »

sthatipamala wrote: post #11

This kid is awesome but this particular comment really made me sad: "Spending 3+ hours a day on a project during junior and senior year did not help my grades. My counselor told me that I wouldn't get into the top colleges because of this reason. I believed her and didn't apply to my dream colleges."

If someone reading this went to MIT and can contact admissions, they should link them to this story. Surely there are a few MIT alums on HN? Get this kid into his dream school!

Or maybe he mentions another school in the AMA?

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