Unfortunately, our planet cannot conceivably, possibly, even remotely support the reckless rampaging greed-strewn path to fat self-assured comfort taken by the West for the billions of humans in the East and South. Two wrongs do not make a right, and even if they did, the crucible will still break. China right now is the severe test-dish; I think the break-down of human enterprise will begin there and spread out around the world as fossil fuel declines and vicious wars over its control increase. Chenyu, the future could be bleak for all of us and it is probably bleakest where you are. The only thing we can do here to help is to try not to contribute to the madness. We can not buy - for example - the cheap products made in your country, the making of which is destroying your environment. We can use our own excrement to grow food. We can drive less, earn less money and generally contribute less to a mad economy.

Don, back in the sixties, hospital admissions were in the newspapers, as were accidents. Most papers have historical archives. Shouldn't take more than a visit or a phone call to locate the papers for that week. You'll have a name, and likely a home of records, anyway. It's a good place to start. This post struck me rather profoundly. I was the first on the scene of an horrific accident in which a young man managed to wrap his car, almost literally, around a phone pole. I won't go into details, but being a nurse, knew his injuries were of the most serious nature, and doubted he'd come out of it alive. I never knew anymore after the squad arrived and he was transported out of the area to a major trauma center. Two years later, a fellow walked up to my g'house as I was watering. He came to introduce himself, and to let me know it was a long haul, but he lived. I was always grateful that he looked me up. I'd have always wondered.

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.

I agree with the others that the Okna is the better engineered product, however comparing products in different materials is not apples to apples. Its like comparing a car and a motorcycle for transportation. Assess your goals for the project (IE: energy efficiency, appearance, cost, maintenance, etc) and then choose the material (wood, vinyl, or other) that best fits your goals and budget. At that point, I'd compare 2 or 3 product choices.