Not Cold Fusion but: "Oak Ridge scientist exhausted, elated with response to research"

Knoxville News-Sentinel ^ | Mar 7, 2002 | Frank Munger, News-Sentinel senior writer

[aruanan]

The celebrated work had not undergone peer review and when scientists around the globe failed to reproduce their results, the affair turned into one giant embarrassment for the Utah professors and science in general.

Except that since then scientists around the world have reproduced their results (and have found many other ways of producing similar results). The very last phrase goes a long way to explaining the reason for the almost hysterical censorship that has characterized things ever since.

[Diogenesis]

Well put.

[e_engineer]

The bubbles are from cavitation, caused by acoustic agitation of the acetone. When they collapse, all of the energy gets focused into a tiny spot at the center of the bubble. In this tiny spot, the pressure momentarily peaks. The temperature peaks with the pressure, since pressure and temperature are proportional. The combination of pressure and temperature are high enough (momentarily)for a few atoms to fuse(according to this paper).

Pariffin is an excellent neutron absorber, it's cheap, easy to get, and you can carve it into dinosaur shapes to play with after the fusion experiment is finished.

[Erasmus]

If they're getting bubbles "the size of a pencil top eraser" by irradiating with neutrons, why doesn't the agitation splash the acetone all over the place. Also why the wimpy shielding if they expect it to produce more neutrons (let alone the original neutrons)... paraffin blocks?!? It ought to be behind some thick lead.

I see that others have done a good job in their replies. Let me just add the following:

The cavitation sites are produced by acoustic standing waves of high frequency. (I haven't heard how high, but it could be up the the megahertz range.) They are very short lived, and they grow and decay symmetrically, therefore there is no net translation, or flow, of the fluid and no 'sloshing.' I'm not sure why neutron irradiation promotes the fusion process, but the cavitation bubble wouldn't be affected by them except perhaps at the very last few picoseconds when the purported fusion would take place.

[The Raven]

>>There is a fascinating book on the subject

Cold fusion for Dummies?

[Zon]

We shouldn't allow this type of research to be shared. It should be owned by the United States alone.

My my, what other private property do you think should be taken over by you and the United States? How about Oak Ridge and Rusi Taleyarkhan control their property. It's so disheartening to realize how easily people assume a collectivist-state authority as opposed to individual authority.

[Free the USA]

Check the Bump List folders for articles related to the above topic(s) or for other topics of interest.

[freeeee]

We shouldn't allow this type of research to be shared.

Agreed.

It should be owned by the United States the inventor alone.

Having the US nationalize ownership is an act of theft. If anyone wants to use this technology, they must pay the inventor for it. Anything else is socialism.

[Naspino]

I disagree when the technology could be used for war-fare.

[antaresequity]

So...If "We" figure this fusion stuff out, the next question that begs is:

Do we share this with the world, or capitalize on our inginuity and exploit it for every dime its worth?

I am a sick greedy capitalist so I vote to use it to put the likes of OPEC out of business, sanction its use to achieve our geo-political ends, and become stinkin filthy rich...what are your thoughts? I aplogize for being so subtle.

[RightWhale]

Attempt to "scale up" the experiment to evaluate the bubble technique's potential as an energy source

He might scale up a little, but commercial power generation seems unlikely. Still, a smaller power supply might be possible, one that would work aboard a satellite or space probe with many advantages, some political.

[AFreeBird]

ping

[freeeee]

I disagree when the technology could be used for war-fare.

Well then, why not nationalize Colt, Beretta, Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, etc...? According to you, we should take their patents because they contain technology used for warfare.

Let's think about this. These people and businesses invest themselves, their time, their energy, their know-how. They spend money and effort to increase their capabilities. They spend money on R&D to discover new technologies.

Why do they do this? Is it just for fun? No. They expect to be paid for their work. In free countries, government doesn't just seize what it likes. It pays for it.

Do they work out of patriotism? Sure. But what is it about America do they find worth defending? Should they research weapons systems to fight off communist countries and their socialized economies, only to be subject to the same socialism they worked to defeat?

And lastly, think of the practical effects. You can't force people to invent things, to be creative, to innovate. Should businesses know ahead of time that inventions with military applications will be appropriated without compensation, they'll simply stop inventing them for lack of economic incentive.

For years, government has known this. They know nothing is more innovative and efficient as competitive capitalism. That's why they have left development of weapons systems largely to independent contractors. This wisdom has given the US technological advantage in todays battlefield and made us the superpower we are.

So government must pay this man for his invention. That is if it wants any more inventions in the future, and to retain the moral high ground against the enemies it uses these weapons against. If there is any legitimate claims of national security to be made, it should only be that he can't sell this technology to our enemies.

[The Raven]

>>So...If "We" figure this fusion stuff out, the next question that begs is:

Would be nice...but they're a long way from producing power

[Naspino]

So government must pay this man for his invention

I didn't say they shouldn't. They should not allow any of our enemies to read a journal and jump 5 years ahead in research though. The only benefit to publicly outlining the research is to get social "points".