Posted on 04/01/2007 2:39:48 PM PDT by blam
Source: American Chemical Society
Date: March 30, 2007
'Cold Fusion' Rebirth? Symposium Explores Low Energy Nuclear Reactions
Science Daily — In 1989, 'cold fusion' was hailed as a scientific breakthrough with the potential to solve the world's energy problems by providing a virtually unlimited energy source. But subsequent experiments largely failed to replicate the initial findings and the controversial concept was dismissed by most people in the scientific community.
"Although 'cold fusion' is considered controversial, the scientific process demands of us to keep an open mind and examine the new results once every few years," says Gopal Coimbatore, Ph.D., of Texas Tech University, program chair of the American Chemical Society's Division of Environmental Chemistry.
Now, some researchers say they have new evidence that the phenomena -- now called 'low energy nuclear reactions' -- has evolved and is supported by rigorous, repeatable experimental data. All papers in this symposium are embargoed for 8:30 a.m., March 29. The symposium will be held at McCormick Place South, Room S106B, Level 1.
Selected highlights are shown below:
Cold fusion overview, update by New Energy Times editor -- Steven B. Krivit, editor of New Energy Times and author of "The Rebirth of Cold Fusion," will present an overview of the field of low energy nuclear reactions -- aka cold fusion. He will cover news and developments in the field as well as provide the historical and scientific context for the subject. Krivit also will present a brief review of the reaction products and effects that are claimed in the field, and highlight research results for the strongest excess heat claims.
Study by Fleischmann, Miles offers new evidence of excess heat from cold fusion --The original cold fusion experiment in 1989 by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons was dismissed by some scientists as 'bad' science due to alleged errors in calorimetric systems, or heat measurement, that could have misled the scientists into thinking that the excess heat produced was nuclear in origin.
Using more precise calorimetric techniques, a new study by Fleischmann and colleague Melvin Miles reports evidence that the excess heat generated is nuclear and not the result of calorimetric errors. "Our work shows that cold fusion effects are real, but we cannot assess if this excess heat can become useful. Much more research work is needed to answer such questions," says co-author Miles, a chemist at the University of LaVerne in Calif.
Illinois chemist documents nuclear reaction products in LENR experiments
Chemist George Miley is one of a handful of researchers who claims to have documented evidence of transmutations, or the production of new elements, resulting from low energy nuclear reactions (LENR). Transmutations are commonplace in high-energy physics and are considered clear evidence that some kind of nuclear event has occurred during the reaction. Miley, a professor at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, will discuss his latest research as well as a new theory that may help facilitate the success of low energy nuclear reactions in the future.
Evidence of nuclear emission particles detected in new LENR study
In the field of low energy nuclear reactions (LENR), scientists are challenged by one key question in particular: Are the chemical environments of LENR experiments truly resulting in nuclear reactions? Analytical chemist Pam Mosier-Boss, Ph.D., and her colleagues at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego, Calif., believe that they have evidence that such nuclear reactions are occurring. In a series of experiments, a standard radiation detector used in nuclear physics research was used to record evidence of high energy atomic particles, providing physical evidence to suggest that a nuclear event had occurred in the LENR experiments. Efforts are ongoing to verify these results.
Overall nearly a dozen scientists will present their findings during a daylong symposium, "New Energy Technology," on March 29, at the 233rd national meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Chemical Society
There is actually quite a bit of excellent research being
conducted in this cold fusion field.
Despite the good science, and the continuous results,
the biggest problem this field has is that enemies of the
United Sates control the patent office and there they
conspire to obstruct all Yankee and American ingenuity
regarding alternative energy, room temperature
superconductivity and other fields which clearly could
help, could have helped, Americans, the American economy,
and America's security.
If the Congress had any testicular fortitude they would
investigate, and after they recover from shock, then
transfer those people from the department of commerce to
Guantanamo under the DOD.
Hogwash. What a bunch of tinfoil hat nonsense. The patent office has no ability to stop any body from doing anything. It grants right to sue someone else for stealing your idea and making money from it and that's it. The threat of litigation is only deterrent and that YOU have to initiate that if you find infringement. The patent office doesn’t look out for you or anyone else. A patent is only as good as the patent lawyer you can afford (patent attorneys can't represent you in court but a patent lawyer can). For the small guy, it is better for someone to steal it (like GM or Sears) and then sue the hell out of them shortly before the patent runs out.
I didn’t see anything in the article on bubble technology, which I think has a far better chance than cold fusion. I would like to see more money go toward that than wasted on supporting these guys that got it wrong in the first place.
You obviously dont know what you are speaking about.
You must believe that the US patent office controls the entire world.
From what I've seen lately, they didn't "get it wrong". The work by Mosier-Boss at the Navy lab looks VERY convincing. The blurb "blam" posted only mentions a "standard radiation detector"--but the detector used is a "track-etch" dosimeter, and it is looking at high-energy alpha particles---not neutrons. The apparatus used is a "standard" Pons-Fleischman type electrochemical cell. It appears that the Navy folks have found the "magic bullet" to making the experiments consistently repeatable without a long "build-up" time to "load" the electrode with deuterium.
I’ve always thought there was something to it. But my sneaking suspicion is it takes $10,000 worth of equipment to get 3 watts of anomalous energy
I emailed this article to my son (PhD physics), here is his reply:
"The claims of low energy nuclear reactions are in principle the same as medevial alchemy."
Even so, my hunch has always been that 'something' unknown is going on.
Tell your son to actually look at the data first. It's really hard to fool a "track-etch" dosimeter (track etch dosimeters are small tags of polycarbonate, suspended immediately adjacent to the CF palladium electrode---the impact of a high-energy particle severs chemical bonds along a linear track in the plastic--later chemical "development" of the plastic tag with an etchant chemical makes these tracks visible under a microscope, as the "etched tracks" react preferentially to the developing reagents).
I can't predict what will result from this research but it's well to remember that scientific inspiration can come from odd sources and that Sir Isaac Newton was first an alchemist.Newton's Alchemy
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