# I may have discovered the next Steorn Orbo! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 26, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991 "2021-11-26T21:51:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/1 "2021-11-26T21:51:05Z")
> **[Fusion Startup Helion Raises $500 Million - EE Times](https://www.eetimes.com/fusion-startup-helion-raises-500-million/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=link&utm_medium=EETimesEELife-20211126&oly_enc_id=5689J1298356H5J#)** > > The venture funding will be used to launch Polaris, the startup's seventh-generation fusion prototype. Anyone else love the smell of snake oil in the morning? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/2 "2021-11-26T22:13:13Z")
Did I read correctly that they plan to generate fusion power by pulsing a plasma that does not fuse? Sounds like losses per unit sales made up for by volume. Also - why would turbines ever be involed in a plasma fusion scheme? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/3 "2021-11-26T22:19:11Z")
Potential Theranos investors had to put their money _somewhere_. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/4 "2021-11-26T23:14:29Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Did I read correctly that they plan to generate fusion power by pulsing a plasma that does not fuse? Sounds like losses per unit sales made up for by volume. No, they plan to generate fusion power by pulsing a plasma that doesn’t “ignite”. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t fuse, it just means it can’t sustain fusion on its own. You still get a fusion reaction that can release more energy than you used to trigger it. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/5 "2021-11-27T03:04:29Z")
Ignorance fought - thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/6 "2021-11-27T14:37:28Z")
And it would presumably involve turbines because, like almost any sort of power generation including fission, they’re extracting the energy as heat, and the usual way to make use of heat to generate electricity is to use it to boil water and run the steam through a turbine. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/7 "2021-11-27T16:01:08Z")
They say that they are generating electricity directly from magnetic field manipulation. The Turbine reference is something to do with magnetic fields, also. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/8 "2021-11-27T17:29:30Z")
It states they are eliminating the use of turbines. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/9 "2021-11-27T19:50:37Z")
Steon Orbo: character from _GoT_ or _LotR_? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/10 "2021-11-27T19:55:58Z")
Oh man, I used to be fascinated by Steorn since they nearly stole my username. Gonna have to go see what they’re up to now. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/11 "2021-11-27T20:25:53Z")
He’s that guy that is perpetually in motion… ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/12 "2021-11-27T21:46:10Z")
EUREKA! I read the salespitch article thingy linked in the op. The whole time I was wondering what it was the seventh generation of and if it was so successful at generating a useable and economically viable amount of power why we hadn’t heard of this before, I mean “fusion” and “power generation” together in a sentence is Big News (c) right? Now it makes sense, seventh generation of a perpetual motion machine generating power via the motion of currency from suck—um, I mean investor’s wallets to their wallets. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-have-discovered-the-next-steorn-orbo/954991/13 "2021-11-28T10:08:56Z")
The “tech start-up investment scheme” is a really fascinating grift for a career choice.