I dug into the background, and found this article:
https://www.geekwire.com/2022/blue-origin-vets-unveil-startu...The punchline is
> The startup has raised a $5 million seed round, secured a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) International Patent, and recently emerged from stealth mode. A few weeks ago, Langtry and Riordan generated their first neutrons via fusion.
But there is also nugget of information that gives some hint on the technology:
> While researching the field, Langtry came across a graduate thesis from a Lockheed Martin researcher named Tom McGuire. It included open source code for simulations for an electrostatic fusion reactor. The idea became the seed for Avalanche Energy’s technology.
Notably Lockheed Martin themselves have also made noises about fusion power:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8486335
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20484100
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8458371 (there should be another thread for this article that I can't find?)
This is both good and bad thing; on one hand, the concept might not be completely bogus if LM has been researching it too. But on the other hand, if LM with their billions together with McGuire who seems like a pretty smart fellow haven't figured how to make it work, then this startup is having quite an uphill battle ahead of them.
The punchline is
> The startup has raised a $5 million seed round, secured a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) International Patent, and recently emerged from stealth mode. A few weeks ago, Langtry and Riordan generated their first neutrons via fusion.
But there is also nugget of information that gives some hint on the technology:
> While researching the field, Langtry came across a graduate thesis from a Lockheed Martin researcher named Tom McGuire. It included open source code for simulations for an electrostatic fusion reactor. The idea became the seed for Avalanche Energy’s technology.
Notably Lockheed Martin themselves have also made noises about fusion power:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8486335 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20484100 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8458371 (there should be another thread for this article that I can't find?)
This is both good and bad thing; on one hand, the concept might not be completely bogus if LM has been researching it too. But on the other hand, if LM with their billions together with McGuire who seems like a pretty smart fellow haven't figured how to make it work, then this startup is having quite an uphill battle ahead of them.