Boston Self Storage

A reality check on nuclear fusion at MIT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Nuclear fusion suffers from an image of being too good to be true. But researchers here say they are already doing nuclear fusion on a small scale and it's just a matter of time--decades, realistically--before it becomes practical.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology houses an active research lab for nuclear fusion, which many consider the answer to weaning the world from its costly dependence on fossil fuels. A tour of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center last week, organized by the TEDx Boston conference, offered a crash course on nuclear fusion, a field of research which continues largely outside daily discussions of energy.

Nuclear fusion--where two atoms fuse to form a new element--is the energy source for the blazing hot Sun and other stars. Here on Earth, people may associate nuclear fusion with what was called cold fusion , an electrochemical process introduced as a breakthrough in 1989 with much fanfare. It was later discredited but the basic approach of room-temperature fusion still retains a small group of followers, according to a 60 Minutes report two years ago .

At MIT and other centers, such as the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility , the route to fusion is most definitely through very high heat in giant reactors, not tabletop chemical reactions. And therein lies one of the biggest challenges with nuclear fusion: just performing fusion tests is extremely expensive and takes years.

Even what could be called mainstream fusion techniques still draw skepticism , but it's easy to see why people find it so compelling. The magnetic nuclear fusion studied at MIT uses an abundant energy source (a form of hydrogen found in seawater), power plants would pack a lot of energy in a much smaller footprint than solar or wind, and any radioactive material could be handled relatively easily. The waste from today's nuclear power plants , which split atoms (nuclear fission) to get usable energy, should have storage designed for tens of thousands of years while fusion would need 50-year repositories.

But the punchline for nuclear fusion is that it has one big down side: it doesn't work.

For Dennis Whyte, professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT, that's not quite right. Fusion actually occurs at MIT's lab but nobody has been able to do it on a continuous basis.

"I would state that we have the scientific and technical readiness to produce electricity on a very short time scale," Whyte said during a presentation. "It would not be economically efficient mostly because we couldn't demonstrate that it would be on all the time, which is essentially a technical argument. And it would cost much more than a (nuclear) fission power plant--it's hard to say exactly but at least a factor of ten larger.

Featured City: Boston Self-Storage

As the largest city in New England, Boston has something to offer everyone. For the history junkie, the architecture that lines Freedom Trail is a reminder of Boston’s colonial beginnings. For the forward-thinker, the bustling streets of downtown showcase Boston’s modern economic prowess. As an intellectual hub, the city boasts 52 colleges and universities. As a center for sports, it is home to the Red Sox and the Celtics. With such diverse attractions, it’s easy to see why people are drawn to the city. As the population continues to grow, we’re willing to bet a lot of Bostonians need self-storage . At SpareFoot, we hear a lot of questions about Boston self-storage from our customers, so we’ve decided to share some locally specific hints for moving and self-storage.

Boston is famous for its seafood, especially lobster. These dishes are paired with white wine and lighter red wines that have aged to perfection. Wine storage facilities provide the perfect climate-controlled conditions, but you can reproduce them in your home if you prefer to store your own wine.

As a general rule, white wine should be allowed to age 2-3 years, stored at a temperature between 46-57 degrees Fahrenheit. Lighter reds can age from 2-10 years, kept chilled below 55 degrees. Both should be stored at a humidity of about 70%. Invest in a wine rack, so you can stack your bottles horizontally, and keep your wine cellar dark and away from sunlight. Avoid storing your wine near food or other strong-smelling items.

Many people go to Boston for the college experience of a lifetime. Whether you’re moving from your freshman dorm to an off-campus apartment, or you’re D.C.-bound from Harvard for your career-launching political internship, student storage can feel like one more burden on your million-item agenda.

However, students have a few easy Boston self-storage options that will minimize the hassle. Since living in Boston means you likely don’t own a car, you should look for facilities that offer to pick up, store and deliver your items for you. Then you won’t have to haul your storage boxes on the Charlie. Some colleges, like BU, even have university-designated storage space in their residence halls. For more tips on student storage, check out last week’s blog post, Self-Storage 101 for College Students .

While Boston tends to be characterized as a young city, the surrounding suburbs are great places to raise a family. However, some of them are far from each other and from the city itself. If you’re moving from Needham to Sharon, for example, you’re definitely going to need some storage help. SpareFoot makes it easy, allowing you to search for a storage facility by zipcode.

The market for self-storage in Greater Boston, an analysis of facilities, management and potential

Newcomer's Handbook For Moving To And Living In Boston, Including Cambridge, Brookline, And Somerville

Vault Guide to the Top Real Estate Employers

Abstract of the certificates of corporations organized under the general laws of Massachusetts ...

Abstract of the Certificates of Corporations Organized under the General Laws of Massachusetts, together with the Annual Returns Required