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14 Years Later, Cold Fusion Still Gets The Cold Shoulder

segment writes "It has been 14 years since two little-known electrochemists announced what sounded like the biggest physics breakthrough since Enrico Fermi produced a nuclear chain reaction on a squash court in Chicago. Using a tabletop setup, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, of the University of Utah, said they had induced deuterium nuclei to fuse inside metal electrodes, producing measurable quantities of heat. That was the opening bell for one of the craziest periods in science. Cold fusion, if real, promised to solve the world's energy problems forever. Scientists around the world dropped what they were doing to try to replicate the astounding claim." The linked AP story (carried on SFGate.com) is about the Tenth International Conference on Cold Fusion, which took place in the last week of August.

12 of 561 comments (clear)

  1. fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    fp, thankyou.

    dont do drugs. streetcrime is for girls, nobody ever got hired for reccomending sco.

  2. They probably have achieved cold fusion by stewart.hector · · Score: -1, Troll

    They probably already have achieved cold fusion or some other high energy - low cost "fuel".

    However, with oil, there is way too much money to be lost and too many jobs will go - right throughout the chain - oil refinaries up to petrol stations etc etc.

    --
    1. Re:They probably have achieved cold fusion by stewart.hector · · Score: 0, Troll

      Countries, or more probable Energy related companies - such as Oil Companies.

      It is well known companies, such as Shell, BP etc are researching renewable energies - for example, wind power, solar power. Whats to stop them from researching Cold Fusion or other advanced power sources?

      Whilst Oil is very profitable, they aren't going to remove their cash cow.

      Take for example, a Light Bulb that lasts 20 years... , once such things have been purchased, there isn't any insentive to buy more...

      Its all to do with money.

      As an example - Years ago, an inventor invented a non addictive ciggerette (spelling)... a large tobbacco company bought the product... and well, its not around any more.. forgotten.

      --
  3. Yea. I got cold fusion working in a Pepsi bottle. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    But, does naybody give a shit? Noooo.

    Well screw you all. I'll never pay electric bills again and will simple laugh at you for the rest of my life. Screw you, and sand niggers too.

  4. Ah, what do MIT professors know anyway... by patoco12 · · Score: 0, Troll

    We all know nothing but nonsense has been produced by that school!

  5. Today's choice from the random article file by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 0, Troll

    Gack. A monkey could handle the editorial duties here.

    Let's see:

    SCO
    Cold Fusion
    Software Patents
    Microsoft Security Problems
    Microsoft Conquers World
    Latest Version of Apache released
    Java suckage
    BSD is dying
    RIAA is stopping me from downloading
    Somebody shoots something into space
    Supression of video games
    Latest hardware iz kewl

    Guess what, much like in the MASH episode where Hawkeye is told for the 2345th time in a row that he has to choose between liver and fish,

    WE WANT SOMETHING ELSE!

  6. blowing my own horn by TheSHAD0W · · Score: 1, Troll

    One sleepless night I pondered the set-up everyone's been using to test cold fusion, with all its failings, and came up with a new experimental test to try and isolate the effect. After toying with the idea for a few weeks, I decided I'd never build it myself, and published it. I sent emails to a few places that do such research, and never heard back.

    http://www.shambala.net/misc/hoffmancell.gif

    If anyone wishes to play with this design, please do; I'd even be interested if you tried and didn't find anything.

  7. YOU FAIL IT SO BAD .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    That the best part of you ran down your father's leg.

    Thank you, drive thru!

  8. Re:Cold fusion it's impossible by practicalista · · Score: 0, Troll
    Cold fusion is impossible: it goes against the Second Law of Thermodynamics

    This is is of course presuming that what we understand now is correct and can never be altered.

    A cynic might consider your comment akin to those made by those who persued Copernicus when he suggested something that broke all previous ideas apart!

    We are of course, but children playing with pebbles on the beach when, the whole ocean lies before us.

    Learn some humility Sir, we do not know it all!

  9. Re:"Still gets the cold shoulder" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Boy you missed the point. After the initial mistake, no one will fund, referee or publish anything even close.

    Many physicists will tell you that there may be some previously unknown type of reaction here. Almost certainly not fusion, but something happens.

    Closing your mind for the last fourteen years wasn't a very good plan.

  10. Re:"Still gets the cold shoulder" by NortWind · · Score: 2, Troll
    The cold fusion-ists can't even agree amongst themselves what that "something" is! Heat? Neutrons? Helium? Alchemy? In the quantities they claim, all three are DIFFERENT and MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE of each other.

    If there were any fusion taking place, there would be excess heat, released neutrons (posibly), and helium produced, which could be called Alchemy (H + H = He). We know fusion is possible, because the Sun can do it, and we can do it will intertial or magnetic confinement and simple thermal energy applied to the hydrogen or duterium or tritium. If heat energy can do the job at pressures far below those found in an ordinary solid or liquid, you better know an awful lot before you make the claim that it is impossible to cause fusion in a solid with electrical energy at room temperature.

    You are quite right that cold fusion has not been proven, but neither has the possibility of cold fusion been disproven. That would be a much harder job to do.

  11. Re:Explain? caliphate of murder death terror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    dont tell this islamic terrorist fucker anything about science. he will use it like a bastard witch and use it to kill us all, to fuck the human race, and bring us back to 700AD where mohammed the baby raping prophet of death ruled.

    death to satans minions, the followers of islam.!