IN SANDIA'S "Z" MACHINE millions of amps of current are
passed through a tiny spool of tungsten wires, producing a flood of
x rays. Essentially the most powerful terrestrial producer of x rays,
the Z device recently achieved the following milestones during a
test shot: temperatures of 1.8 million K, a power output of 290
terawatts, and an energy release of 2.0 megajoules. The researchers
believe nuclear fusion could be attained inside the device (by
bombarding a fuel pellet with x rays) if the conditions were pushed
further, to temperatures of 3.5 million K and power levels of 1000
terawatts. Sandia officials have encapsulated these ideas in a
proposal for a larger machine, to be called X-1. (Sandia press
release, April 9.)
---Marcelomark@plug-in.com.br