Talk:Taylor Wilson

Fusion reactor: context needed

I read a magazine article this morning which mentioned Taylor Wilson's construction of a fusion reactor at the age of 14. I assumed this was some kind of hoax, because:

a) we all remember the cold fusion fiasco b) nobody could make such a fundamental discovery at age 14; and c) if he really did it, it would have been headline news.

But on doing a bit of googling and wiki-ing I find that there is a fairly standard fusion device called a Farnsworth Fusor, which can be made at home by amateurs. So assuming that this is what Wilson did, it is not so remarkable. He just happens to be the youngest person to have done it. Of course, the Fusor does not produce viable amounts of energy from fusion, or we would surely have heard more of it.

I think the article should explain this background, otherwise people coming here may get an exaggerated idea of the novelty and importance of Wilson's fusion work. 109.157.227.33 (talk) 18:30, 19 January 2013 (UTC)

I think the problem here is that you, like a lot of folks, don't understand what it means when it's said that he built a fusion reactor. He did build one, but it was a design which has been built by others before him, and which doesn't generate power above the breakeven point. It uses more energy to operate than it releases from the fusion of nuclei. He didn't make a revolutionary new discovery. The notability of all this is that the device is rather demanding to build and only a small number of hobbyists have pulled it off. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.223.130.32 (talk) 23:54, 21 December 2015 (UTC)

Well, that's exactly what they said. jp×g 23:15, 15 July 2021 (UTC)

I'm not sure PhDs (who had previously worked on US gov fusion programs) and tech staff from nuclear and experimental physics lab at the University of Nevada–Reno; exactly count as colloquial "hobbyists" in this context. LZ5369 (talk) 21:49, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Hey. I was working on a history of IEC in the article: Inertial electrostatic confinement. This is a branch of fusion research, the article should provide some context. — Preceding unsigned comment added by WikiHelper2134 (talk • contribs) 22:21, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Actually this is intriguing. A few years ago I read that a device that ran on a 9V battery was capable of emitting X-ray bursts using the effect of lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) with a tungsten point electrode in a vacuum when heated and cooled sharply. I actually tried to build one using crystals from broken PIR sensors but couldn't get my vacuum pump to work. This is broadly similar to the emission of X-rays from unrolling Sellotape (tm) in a vacuum. Did have some success with a pulse emitter from a broken gas oven and 5642 tube as documented on 4HV.org My latest ideas include building a miniature fusion generator capable of medical isotope production using "special" graphite to replace the normally lossy inner grid, asd there are energy windows that can pass alpha particles at key energy levels corresponding to the ones found in 241Am, you can also find notes on hackaday documenting my experiment. It actually shows other effects but later found that it was well known: the key difference is that "special" graphite is more ordered and a PhD thesis someone published actually uses thin layers of graphene for a related purpose. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 185.3.100.21 (talk) 08:48, 18 January 2019 (UTC) I would be intrigued in discussing this idea with Mr Wilson but lack contact details, anyone? (email to: pyractor@-----.com) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 185.3.100.21 (talk) 08:38, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Personal Life Error

As a former classmate, I can say with certainty that Taylor Wilson doesn't attend the Davidson Academy or UNR (not to mention that his Thiel Fellowship necessitates that he can't). I plan to change it accordingly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.142.228.210 (talk) 05:26, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Cool your engines. Davidson Academy list him on their Student Quotes page.--Graham Proud (talk) 11:05, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Picture

Hello All, In the photo with Obama, is Taylor presenting his Fusor or radiation work? I think that vacuum chamber on the desk, is infact, the chamber used to build his fusor. Also, Richard Hull maintains a list of amateurs who have gotten neutrons and there were about 75 names. You have to be somewhat skeptical of this because they are generally self-reporting. However, they do upload the evidence to the web, in the form of video, pictures ect...

I'm not sure. But, the caption "Taylor Wilson presenting nuclear security work to Barack Obama, 2/7/2012" is exactly how Taylor wrote it in an email to me. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 00:45, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed

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Say what?

It is not obvious from the article why there is an article on this guy.

Clearly he was a bright kid, and if he continues to pursue his interest in nuclear physics he may someday accomplish something notable. But right now all he seems to have done is to win some science fairs. His most note-worthy accomplishment has been to incidentally have been the youngest person to build an elaborate device that is neither new, nor useful in any practical way, and it's a device that others before him have built.

All in all, this reads more like an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records, than an encyclopedia article.

Seconding this, seems rather silly for this kid to have his own page. He isn't really of much note 72.42.145.158 (talk) 09:33, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

Please read WP:42. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 10:22, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

Also, is he really a nuclear physicist? Don't you need a PhD to be one? The snare (talk) 23:13, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

This page reads more like a résumé than an objective article. A fusor might be as difficult to build as a tabletop combustion engine or mass spectrometer -- difficult, and impressive, but not a noteworthy scientific discovery. The majority of the references are primary source. I'm removing the last 3 sentences of the "fission reactor" section, which repeats molten salt reactor information; the link to the page suffices. Also will be changing "nuclear physicist" to "nuclear physics enthusiast," because no statement of valid qualifications are given. 136.63.151.242 (talk) 01:11, 14 September 2017 (UTC)

Quality standard, self-promotion

Apart of the issues with quality standards, there are technical issues with accuracy, presenting the use of plexiglas as some miracle invention of a cheap Cherenkov radiation detectors... It is not new. Several plastics had been used as detectors, promoting one self as some miracle kid for using things that had already been invented is fraud. 178.143.102.247 (talk) 00:06, 12 November 2022 (UTC)