Focus Fusion -- Is it a hoax or is it for real?

Hmm ... is it really real?

I managed to get into Seattle over the T-Day weekend (America's Thanksgiving for those around the world) and a friend of a friend -- and a genuinely nice fellow named Cam, tried to introduce me to something called "Focus Fusion." Needless to say, my minuscule mind wasn't able to grasp what he was chattering about, so I dived to the web first chance I got -- which was today, thanks to my new job and a really bad snowstorm here in Western Washington.

The best reference (most readable) on the subject was a blog. of all things, and includes a schematic about three pages down. Hopefully, I will understand how sliding the two "pipes" (brass and copper) through one another create enormous amounts of "nuclear" energy. That may be in a distant future lifetime.

Basically, a plasma (consisting of very dense hydrogen-boron gas) is "electrified" by the diodes (the copper/brass pipes) and while heating (during a very short duration -- maybe a millionth of a second or so) creates energy as a part of what seems to be a rather strange ionization. During this ionization the nuclei of boron-11 (don't ask!) and hydrogen (only protons, of course) collide and fusion occurs as a nuclear reaction. The long and short of all of this and additional reactions in the course of the same millionth of a second or so results in new energy that can be tapped for things like heating infant incubators, curing cancer and making popcorn.

All at once.

For really good "pro" arguments for focus fusion, the LPP website is a good place to start inasmuch as it contains the usually answers to "frequently asked questions" which basically blames the slow movement towards the development of focus fusion on stupidity, selfishness and Big Government/money. Maybe it's real, maybe not. For sure, the arguments are compelling to the non-physicist like myself, and I will dig deeper.