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.

The item in question was at Christopher & Banks - and it was only one item. Everything else was made in China. I wouldn't jump to any conclusion that it was better quality though. I actually thought it was kind of flimsy which is why I looked at where it was made. I think quality is probably determined by the company that contracts with the supplier - they provide the specfications and determine what cost they're willing to pay for production. I bought another sweater yesterday that was made in China and the quality was much better in my opinion. It was a higher end brand though. I think we get cheap quality because consumers want cheap prices. I'd been looking for a very high quality winter coat for years - wanted quality similar to a coat I bought about 30 years ago. I looked and looked and thought I'd never find one. Finally I looked in a kind of expensive store that was having an end of season sale and found exactly what I was looking for. Normal list price was far more than I could ever bring myself to pay for a coat. At end of season closeout I still paid about twice as much as the last crummy coat I bought but a great value for the luxurious fabric and high quality construction.

Interesting how the shopping styles change. Lots of malls around here are having trouble and some have closed but the Mall of America is going strong. It all started in Edina, MN when Southdale Shopping Center opened the first enclosed regional shopping center in the nation. There were certain advantages to the mall concept such as having a number of places to choose your shoes or the like. There'd be various specialty shops, etc. Instead of having someone from housewares come make a key for you, you could talk to a locksmith. When much younger and more willing and able to walk more it was fine, but today I'm not built for malling. There were some smaller malls that did quite well too for a number of years. But then people's shopping habits started to change. The convenience era began. Fast food and fast shopping. One stop and get your turnip seeds, house paint and aspirin in one cart. Walmart, Kmart, Target and more began popping up and Powers, JC Penney, Sears-Roebuck (remember Roebuck?) Montgomery Ward and more began to suffer. Economic ups and downs and malls suffered. People started to prefer specialty stores. Then the traditional mall anchors such as Wards and Sears began to hurt more. Many didn't survive. Add to the problem stores like Kohl's and others I can't recall offhand, have chosen to pull out of the malls and go with freestanding buildings. Some of the malls brought on their own problems. They tried to go cheap. Didn't maintain the building and people didn't like grungy looking places. Leaking roofs didn't help and parking lots that resembled minefields would shoo away people too. Rent is expensive for small tenants and the economic bust of the last near-decade has had its impact too. Many of the malls around here are being bought and replaced with townhouses. One local one, Apache Plaza was developed into a mini village with streets of small shops, plus a Walmart and Cub foods.

My comp quit working and I finally got a new one. When we lived in Bismarck one of my DD friends won a trip for 4 to the MOA. The kids were about 9 years old. It had to be taken before school started and I was the only parent that could take them. I had only driven in Minneapolis one time before and I was following my husband then. One of the kids had an Aunt and Uncle who lived down there and he helped guide me a little bit. There were 2 girls and 2 boys who went. The package included 2 night stay in a Double Tree Inn, tickets to Camp Snoopy, tickets for the Aquarium and food at the Rain Tree Forest Cafe. I can't remember if there was anything else. I know this isn't very nice but I let the kids do anything they wanted at the hotel. The first thing one kid did when we got there was spill a bag of chips on the floor. We kind of made a disaster out of the room. The kids had a lot of fun. When we went to Camp Snoopy it was on the last day and I knew I had to drive the 400+ miles back to Bismarck and I was tired. I layed down on one of the benches and went to sleep. One of the security guards came over and asked me if I was OK. The kids got a laugh out of that. All in all we had a good time.