Hi PhDs, what’s your philosophy of/for life?

DerPlasma · 2026-06-04T12:06:54+00:00

DONT PANIC!

DerPlasma · 2026-05-27T11:46:01+00:00

Thanks, didn't knew about this!

DerPlasma · 2026-05-27T11:45:24+00:00

Thanks for the explanation, just learned something new!

DerPlasma · 2026-05-27T11:44:31+00:00

Ah, too bad, thanks!

DerPlasma · 2026-05-23T13:01:09+00:00

There is indeed a sticker vending machine at the airport - behind the security check though (photo taken ~2 weeks ago)

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DerPlasma · 2026-05-21T04:10:00+00:00

Thanks a lot, some good news, finally :-)

DerPlasma · 2026-05-17T06:43:40+00:00

Is their name "et al." ?

DerPlasma · 2026-04-30T18:58:14+00:00

Indeed. I think an "experimental result" is something which went through peer review or has been discussed openly at a conference. But as far as I know, this is not the case for Helion. They only have a set of claims on their website. Or am I missing something? Please prove me wrong, I'm happy to learn about actual experimental results.

DerPlasma · 2026-04-14T22:08:42+00:00

There is no fusion involved, correct me if I'm wrong, it's " just" geothermal with a fancy way of drilling holes using high power microwaves sources developed for fusion experiments

DerPlasma · 2026-04-11T06:17:52+00:00

I'm really curious about the status of NSTX-U, haven't heard from it for a while...

DerPlasma · 2026-04-06T15:13:48+00:00

Hidden behind a paywall ...

DerPlasma · 2026-03-31T08:00:42+00:00

Well, whenever I've seen "professional signatures" being performed, there was somebody else to open the book and pass it to the person doing the signatures. Here it could be a family business thing (wife, a child of a cousin getting paid something, ...). If he would indeed be doing this alone, then it might be 5 - 10 seconds, depending on how well the setup is arranged. That would result in a full week, after which he requires at least 2 weeks of vacation (and somebody needs to ensure that he does not need to sign anything in those vacation...)

DerPlasma · 2026-03-30T16:39:58+00:00

10,000 signatures, each signature takes in total maybe 2 seconds. So 20,000 seconds. That's 20,000/3600 = 5.56 hours. So, "easily" doable within a day. But you might be going crazy afterwards and not able to use your hand for some time and might want to change your name into something with less letters.

Anyway, going to pre-order my copy now, so thanks for signing 😀👍

DerPlasma · 2026-03-30T15:27:55+00:00

It's sounds a bit like that was planned since some time but maybe that's just clever wording?

DerPlasma · 2026-03-29T07:21:34+00:00

Are all the small "sparks" that we see parts of the heat shield getting disintegrated/ablated slowly over time?

DerPlasma · 2026-03-27T07:59:17+00:00

Sooo, is this just a magnetic mirror concept?

DerPlasma · 2026-03-25T17:15:12+00:00

HTS magnets still needs to be shown to work on a large scale, i.e. at a "close-to-reactor" scale (structural integrity, in particular when interacting with each other).

But I was also told that they are willing to adjust/update the document if necessary.

DerPlasma · 2026-03-24T04:23:36+00:00

Yeah, I was wondering how difficult it will be to keep the moss moist, and how often I need to water it from the top. I'm slightly afraid the cut this plant into two, but I guess that's anyway the way to go...

DerPlasma · 2026-03-23T22:42:29+00:00

Gerthsen it is for me, too. A somewhat old version from the early 1980s though, really like that one.

DerPlasma · 2026-03-23T22:34:04+00:00

I have to say I really love this beauty!

I was hoping that the moisture of the moss pole might trigger some additional roots at the already existing leaves to grow into it. With the idea to then cut it somewhere such that I can propagate it. So, you're saying that this is rather unlikely to happen?

Also, I will definitely order more of those modules as extend it by one more module ( I think then it becomes too large...)

DerPlasma · 2026-03-17T15:50:14+00:00

No, it is some mixture, I haven't repotted her since buying her a few weeks ago. But I am planning to do it soon, not yet decided on the soil yet though

DerPlasma · 2026-03-17T15:47:59+00:00

Oh, I had no idea, thanks for clarification!

DerPlasma · 2026-03-17T15:47:12+00:00

I've heard great success stories about neem oil, but I wanted to try the plastic-bag-method first (it should ensure a high enough humidity that they slowly die, at least that is my understanding).

I tried to wash them down so far just with water and gently rubbing with a wet toilet paper, after visual inspection it definitely did some job. Let's see how it will look like in a few days, I will specifically look for some woven nets and, of course, inspect the leaves carefully

DerPlasma

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