Sarah McKillup's elog

6.4.2045 I have taken a job in the Experimental Engineering Department aboard Thaumas I. I wish to leave a chronicle of my efforts, so I have created this elog. I will be working on devices designed to give off no electromagnetic emissions. This will mean a departure from electronic technology, and a return to mechanical design and engineering paradigms. To this end, I have commenced studying clockwork mechanics for the first time in many years.

6.6.2045 I have successfully engineered a micro-flywheel prototype from a hyperdense ferromagnetic ceramic composite. The wheel can be suspended in a vacuum chamber with an osmium inner wall lining. I believe that a layer of iron applied externally to the osmium inner wall in an appropriate fashion will prevent any magnetic fields from leaking out of the housing of the vacuum chamber.

6.7.2045 The micro-flywheel prototype is a success, though there is room for further miniaturization. I have successfully achieved a spinup speed of 0.45c. If I can achieve a spinup speed of 0.8c or greater, then subsequent frictional energy with helium gas should be sufficient to create a fusible plasma. Tiny amounts of helium introduced into the flywheel's vacuum chamber should absorb enough kinetic energy to achieve this. Lead shielding around the vacuum encasement, and ferromagnetic containment and funneling of the energy produced should power all of a vessel's systems. If the design can be micronized significantly, it can be put to use in portable devices.