If CF is energy well beyond chemical, and the conclusion regarding the "two regimes" at the end of the piece is correct, then it seems possible if not likely that the means will be eventually discovered to reproduce powerful reactions at will in either regime. The implications of success in the first regime are wonderful. The second, not so much.
Back in 1919 there was debate about whether it would be possible to use nuclear reactions in a bomb. Apparently most physicists at the time thought it would never be possible. But Tesla wrote that eventually it wouldn't matter - automated devices capable of flying at tremendous speed over vast distances would eventually be built with targeting accuracy that would make the argument moot. Back in the early 90's a newspaper article caught my attention: guidance systems for re-entry vehicles were (at that point) becoming so accurate that conventional warheads could begin to replace nuclear for some missions. Well, genies don't like going back into their bottles, and the 25 years it took to get from Tesla's article to Trinity (or was it Port Chicago?) isn't all that long as a civilization marks time. So there's nothing we can do about it, right? Except maybe stock up on that fantastic shielding material they used to make school desks out of in the 60's... R.
