A disgustingly large and powerful pressurized microwave would likely be sufficient if "all" they need to do is spray various mixes of vaporized metals and water into plasma. I don't know that we've had too many justifications to build these otherwise
The tiny spheres of this alloy mixed into a mess of other stuff remind me of Primitive Technology's mostly successful attempts at smelting iron the hard way. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAL3JXZSzSm8AlZyD3nQdBA
> I don't know that we've had too many justifications to build these otherwise
I don't know about you, but "spray various mixes of vaporized metals and water into plasma" sounds cool. If I had tens of millions of dollars, I'd pay to see that.
Could probably get styropryo to do it for a good bit less. The stuff he's doing on his second channel recently is so damn cool https://youtu.be/0Y-9GbsS9Fg
My comment was a bit trite but I was actually hoping for a reasonable shot at doing something worthwhile.
My expectations for doing it properly would be:
- facilities. Sure, high power microwaves and pressure chambers and combining the two may not be THAAAT expensive. But doing it in a calibrated fashion to have a chance to produce predictable repeated results isn't without some details.
- staff. I'd want at least 3 qualified people on it. Preferably multiple teams competing for results exploring different paths of interest.
- timeframe. I'd expect such a thing to last at least 3 years at an absolute minimum but that might only be enough to get to the hardware to a "calibrated repeatable" stage. So probably 5 to 10 to have any hope of meaningful results.
- money. That "if I had tens of millions" is a personal view of my own monetary worth. I wouldn't want to see ALL that used up in this, but I'd put forward a good fraction of it.