Cold fusion experiment reproduced? Now what?
January 25, 2011 § 4 Comments
Image by aussiegall via Flickr
Hypothetically, near-room-temperature reactions in which two smaller nuclei join together to form a single larger nucleus while releasing large amounts of energy are possible. This hypothesis has been (maybe still is) highly controversial.
Reproducibility is one of the main principles of the scientific method, and it refers to the ability of a test or experiment to be accurately reproduced by someone else working independently. Attempts to replicate the Pons and Fleischmann experiment produced conflicting results. Until “now” that is. Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated cold fusion. And patented.
Aperitive
In 1989 B. Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, chemists at the University of Utah, announced that an experiment conducted at room temperature using platinum and palladium electrodes immersed in heavy water had produced excess heat and other byproducts that they ascribed to a fusion reaction.
Cold fusion was confirmed by U.S. Navy researchers in 2009.
And last Saturday scientists at the University of Bologna, Italy, led by Andrea Rossi and Sergio Focardi announced that they developed a viable cold fusion process.
The demonstration device is capable of producing 12,400 W of heat power with an input of just 400W. A private invitation only press conference was held and the device was demonstrated to the 50 or so witnesses including scientists from the University of Bologna.
In addition, the scientists say they are already beyond the prototype stage and plan to start shipping units within 3 months with mass production by the end of 2011. Despite much higher ratios of output these first commercial devices would produce around 8 units of output for every 1 unit of input in order to safely and reliably operate.
Rossi also stated that they are working on a 1 megawatt facility comprised of 125 reactor modules.
The cost of the energy produced would be cheaper than 1 cent per kWh which is several orders of magnitude cheaper than any conventional fossil fuel energy sources.
Unexplained anomalies
Cold fusion proponents believe that the fusion mechanism is different from that of hot fusion in that some type of unusual nuclear reaction in the metal lattice involving deuterium and possibly other atoms is part of the process. Low energy nuclear reactions and chemically assisted nuclear reactions have been successfully studied for years.
Many models to explain the observed phenomena have been made, but none accounts for the full range of experimental observations. And this opens up the possibility for spin doctors to distract the public’s attention and to discredit the technology. But why would they?
Gold Rules!
Energy functions in the economy in the same way gold, the printing of money, or a bank giving credit does. An independent source of cheap energy in the hands of each and every person in the world, ruins any plans for world domination, for good. Cheap energy for all changes the value of money. And it makes for an excellent “conquer the world” plan, if you are The One selling it to All.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the technology is real and not just some bizarre story. And if real, that it will not be bought and shelved, the scientists involved will not have to experience any (more) attempts at character assassination, and that enough people involved will stand tall against waves of financial incentives and disincentives to distract the technology from reaching the market and still be cheap.
Survival of the fittest
Every morning I wake up in a predatory universe where humans are the worst imaginable predators. Me, for starters. 🙂
That’s what we have governments for, for common defense and facilitating a common environment conducive to life. Governments, like humans, treat each other the way they are being treated, and historically, politics has been dominated by men.
An ongoing governmental Darwinian battle for position and supremacy in a globalised world. And apparently the “fittest” means the strongest government willing to fight the dirtiest: Spin doctoring, outright lying, spying, cheating, stealing, assassinating, waging (proxy) war, (shifting) alliances, NAP’s, treaties, providing foreign aid (for interest and gain of political clout), and placing military forces in other countries, all included. Pretty much just like in many of the MMORPG games.
Cold fusion would be great for a nation’s military! Especially if it is ours! Think of the “defensive” advantage!
With cold fusion becoming available, the world might suffer an unlimited arms race by all governments in an end game to gain absolute advantage and supremacy. Self-preservation is at stake. Or so these governmental entities might believe.
In 1914 WWI began. For self-preservation of course. With new weapons, civilians increasingly became victims of expanded warfare. As a reaction a new sense of international morality emerged. Sometimes the future isn’t like the past. And sometimes it is. This world is overpopulated with humans anyway, isn’t it? Just make sure your family members do not serve as fodder for the war-work-machine).
A truly civilised age
They called themselves the Munrungs. It meant The People, or The True Human Beings. It’s what most people call themselves, to begin with. And then one day the tribe meets some other People or, if it’s not been a good day, The Enemy. If only they’d think up a name like Some More True Human Beings, it’d save a lot of trouble later on. ~ Terry Pratchett
Cold fusion would likely change the dynamics of population distribution, and we could live civilised life off the power grid.
The Internet offers us, you and I, the opportunity to connect and communicate with each other more easily than at anytime in the past. The world has become smaller. Much smaller.
I don’t know what’s really going on with the Rossi and Focardi story, but if and when an affordable commercial apparatus appears you can read more about it here, and probably everywhere else too.
Related Articles
- “Cold Fusion From Italy Updated” and related posts (newenergyandfuel.com)
- Cold Fusion From Italy Nearly Commercial Ready (newenergyandfuel.com)
Serendipity 
[…] The reactor generates more energy than it consumes? No fusion reactor has achieved break even so far. Maybe Hot Fusion is the way to go. Whatever happened to cold fusion? […]
I’m a not scientist and I don’t play one on TV. I hate the Federal Reserve, the IMF the BIS, and you can throw in the Club of Rome,The Bilderbergs and the CIS. In other words central banking in general and its power to create money thru the method of reserve fractional banking, charge us for it, and thereby keep us all in bondage.
If, (and I realize this a VERY BIG IF), this is not some cruel hoax, and what they claim proves to be true. We may be looking at something that is nothing short of biblical in its magnitude.
At the risk of repeating myself, IF there is any truth to their discovery, then we must all start praying now for the safety of these two paisans because the groups I’ve mentioned will stop at nothing to co-opt, discredit or even dispatch them.
Power does not relinquish power peacefully. Unfortunately It has to be ripped from their bloody hands.
Good luck to Mr. Rossi and Mr. Focardi the world is watching and waiting with high hopes and If their devise works as advertised then their likenesses should be added to Mount Rushmore.
Thanks for the outspoken clarity Richard. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and not waste too much energy anyway.
As for the powers that are, there is always a Limit to Growth, and sadly, that may cost a lot of lives.
We may think of more values and dimensions whatever we like, but resources are still the limiting factor.
http://anonymissexpress.wordpress.com/activities/design-new-malls/ 🙂