Desktop fusion is back on the table

Nature Magazine ^ | 10 January 2005 | Mark Peplow

[AdmSmith]

In order to be more popular they nowadays print many strange things both in Nature and in New Scientist. The latter wrote "Take a leap into hyperspace" http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/mg18925331.200 with high crackpot index scores. It is sad that just a few days after the Physics year these things are published.

[skinkinthegrass]

Something about the people that painted the radium on there.

Yeah, Something about, how much Lucky/Fun/Profitable it was to work @ the plant, painting the watch dial for 5$ (L1920s/E1930s Great pay!) a day.

..."You tip the paint brush in your mouth."
Radium Paint....YIKES...the pic. were horrible/gross.

[VadeRetro]

No one questions that the collapsing bubbles can (somehow) generate the temperatures for fusion. I'm not sure why; I merely note that such is not the dispute. People are having trouble replicating the claimed results and some people were surprised at being left out of the review process.

But, as despite the title, this isn't really "cold fusion." It's hot fusion in little collapsing bubbles.

[phantomworker]

But, as despite the title, this isn't really "cold fusion.

Maybe I am missing the point here. A science article is going to be published in a supposedly reputable journal, it cannot be replicated, there is a selective peer review, it is hot fusion and not cold fusion as the title suggests, and this is not a problem? I guess my research experience and striving for integrity in publications does not apply in this field. (Not trying to be sarcastic. LOL!)

[Gumlegs]

Desktop fusion is back on the table

Shouldn't it be back on the desktop?

[VadeRetro]

Why is it not being "cold fusion" a problem? The article's title actually says "desktop fusion," not "cold fusion" anyway.

There is skepticism of Taleyarkhan's results, yes. People who have expressed same regarding earlier Taleyarkhan studies were disappointed at not being in the peer review process this time, yes.

[Physicist]

You can't compare the two. Sonofusion is not crackpottery, and Nature is not to be faulted for writing about it. (It may or may not be real; that's another question.) New Scientist has always promoted crackpottery.

[AdmSmith]

OK, you are right.

[IonImplantGuru]

They used to make wristwatches with radium dials. Glow in the dark all night. The watches weren't particularly dangerous, but they aren't available generally anymore. Something about the people that painted the radium on there.

The folks (young women, mostly) who painted the watch dials used fine foxhair brushes and, to 'sharpen' the brush tip, would lick it - similar to a seamstress licking the end of a thread before attempting to insert it through a needle's eye.

Over time that constant touching of the tongue with a radium-laden brush led to cancers of the tongue, mouth and jaw. This was the first indication that radiation exposure could cause cancer.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Some simple fusion concepts are here.

They probably ran out of money before they could get their hands on some tritium.

[RockinRight]

It's already been invented...I've seen it!

[RockinRight]

Damn! You beat me to it!

[skinkinthegrass]

The folks who painted the watch dials used fine foxhair brushes and, to 'sharpen' the brush tip, would lick it...This was the first indication that radiation exposure could cause cancer.Thats, what I remembered.

[Drammach]

Something about the people that painted the radium on there.

Yes, the girls/women that painted the dials had the bad habit of wetting the tip of thier paint brushes with their tongues to get that fine point to the bristles..
They ingested copious amounts of radium in the process..
Radium poisoning was the result.. The symptoms were very similar to advanced / accelerated aging.. ( or possibly blood poisoning.. They looked really bad.. tubercular..)

On another line about radium, I recall that after one of the plants had been torn down, and was being leveled, bulldozer operators refused to work the site.. ( This was North Carolina, South Carolina, not sure.. )
It seems that radium dust had mixed with the sandy soil of the site, sand that contained titanium..
The pressure of the bulldozers would create an electrical discharge, and the dozer operators would recieve severe shocks, sometimes experiencing small lightning bolts crackling in the air around them..
Occassionally, heavy impacts of the dozer blades would result in the soil exploding..

I have no idea where I read this story, I have searched for the source for years.. more than a decade.. without success..
But the story has stuck in my mind..
It may be an "urban legend", I don't know..

[blam]

When I was in the Navy, I heard stories about sailors making bracelets, belt buckles and etc out of the radium patches that were placed on/around the ship hatches/doors in WW2 so that they could be seen during black-out periods.

Some pretty scary stories about the end results to the affected sailors.