Cold fusion
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Although it retained a strong following of true believers for over a decade, most now consider Pons-Fleischmann electrochemical cold fusion to be [[pseudoscience]]. The name "cold fusion" has still stuck around, however, and is most often used to refer to "locally hot" fusion. In this case fusion reactions take place at normal high temperatures, but on a very small scale that does not affect the ambient temperature of the device as much. | Although it retained a strong following of true believers for over a decade, most now consider Pons-Fleischmann electrochemical cold fusion to be [[pseudoscience]]. The name "cold fusion" has still stuck around, however, and is most often used to refer to "locally hot" fusion. In this case fusion reactions take place at normal high temperatures, but on a very small scale that does not affect the ambient temperature of the device as much. | ||
| − | At the present time, with our current understanding of physics and electrochemistry, cold fusion as Pons and Fleischmann described it is considered impossible by most physicists. This is because the vast amount of energy required to kick start a fusion reaction is very high, and doing it with a mere electrochemical cell is an astounding result - one that would have to have [[Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence|extraordinary evidence]] to back it up. A few physicists, such as Schwinger and Hagelstein, feel that it does not violate any known laws of physics, and they have published theories that they believe can explain it. Harold Aspden has proposed a return to [[aether]]-based physics to explain several properties of gravitation, magnetism and recent discoveries of electrostatic spin that would also have relevance to explaining cold fusion.<ref>[http://www.aspden.org/biography.html Harold Aspden - The struggle for acceptance]</ref> | + | At the present time, with our current understanding of physics and electrochemistry, cold fusion as Pons and Fleischmann described it is considered impossible by most physicists. This is because the vast amount of energy required to kick start a fusion reaction is very high, and doing it with a mere electrochemical cell is an astounding result - one that would have to have [[Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence|extraordinary evidence]] to back it up. A few physicists, such as Schwinger and Hagelstein, feel that it does not violate any known laws of physics, and they have published theories that they believe can explain it. Harold Aspden has proposed a return to [[Ether (classical element)|aether]]-based physics to explain several properties of gravitation, magnetism and recent discoveries of electrostatic spin that would also have relevance to explaining cold fusion.<ref>[http://www.aspden.org/biography.html Harold Aspden - The struggle for acceptance]</ref> |
However, cold fusion experiments are still being carried out at the US Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center<ref>Of course, the US Army also tried to kill [[goat]]s by staring at them...</ref> in San Diego, [[California]] and 30 other laboratories. Several have been published in the peer-reviewed journals ''Naturwissenschaften'', the ''Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry'', ''Fusion Technology'' and the ''Journal of Fusion Energy''.<ref>[http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/mg19426021.000-cold-fusion--hot-news-again.html New Scientist - Cold Fusion; Hot News Again]</ref> | However, cold fusion experiments are still being carried out at the US Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center<ref>Of course, the US Army also tried to kill [[goat]]s by staring at them...</ref> in San Diego, [[California]] and 30 other laboratories. Several have been published in the peer-reviewed journals ''Naturwissenschaften'', the ''Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry'', ''Fusion Technology'' and the ''Journal of Fusion Energy''.<ref>[http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/mg19426021.000-cold-fusion--hot-news-again.html New Scientist - Cold Fusion; Hot News Again]</ref> | ||
Revision as of 15:14, 2 March 2010
- This article primarily focuses on Fleischmann-Pons method for room-temperature fusion. For information on legitimate research into relatively or locally "cold" fusion, see the Wikipedia article on nuclear fusion
Cold fusion, also called Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) is the "philosopher's stone" of modern science - it referred to the ability to generate fusion at "cold" temperatures. "Fusion" in this case refers to the fusion of hydrogen atoms (usually deuterium (2H) or tritium (3H), since the amount of energy required to fuse regular hydrogen is largely unattainable in Earthbound apparatus) to produce helium with the accompanying release of energy.
Contents |
History of the kerfuffle
Cold fusion was claimed to have been achieved in 1989 by University of Utah chemists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann,[1] The experiment was first published in the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, but on the same day it was published, it was also reported to the media, which confused woomeisters who thought that they could do it at home.
Despite this, Pons' and Fleischmann's work was quickly discredited by mainstream scientists, due to a lack of clear instructions as to exactly how to replicate the experiment, as well as a lack of reports of expected neutron flux from the fusion reaction. Deuterium fusion often produces helium-3 as well as substantial amounts of neutrons, an effect that can be demonstrated using a Farnsworth fusor (a fusion device developed by one of the several inventors of television); the canonical experiment involves irradiating a piece of aluminum foil with the fusor and then testing the foil for radioactivity with a Geiger counter. Since neutrons can do this to pretty much any element, including carbon (creating a radiation source within the subject's body), the joke that went around physics labs at the time was along the lines of "Did you hear about Pons and Fleischmann's lab tech? He's perfectly healthy."
Although it retained a strong following of true believers for over a decade, most now consider Pons-Fleischmann electrochemical cold fusion to be pseudoscience. The name "cold fusion" has still stuck around, however, and is most often used to refer to "locally hot" fusion. In this case fusion reactions take place at normal high temperatures, but on a very small scale that does not affect the ambient temperature of the device as much.
At the present time, with our current understanding of physics and electrochemistry, cold fusion as Pons and Fleischmann described it is considered impossible by most physicists. This is because the vast amount of energy required to kick start a fusion reaction is very high, and doing it with a mere electrochemical cell is an astounding result - one that would have to have extraordinary evidence to back it up. A few physicists, such as Schwinger and Hagelstein, feel that it does not violate any known laws of physics, and they have published theories that they believe can explain it. Harold Aspden has proposed a return to aether-based physics to explain several properties of gravitation, magnetism and recent discoveries of electrostatic spin that would also have relevance to explaining cold fusion.[2]
However, cold fusion experiments are still being carried out at the US Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center[3] in San Diego, California and 30 other laboratories. Several have been published in the peer-reviewed journals Naturwissenschaften, the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Fusion Technology and the Journal of Fusion Energy.[4]
Muon-catalyzed cold fusion
Muons are leptons of the electron family, negatively-charged but 207 times more massive than electrons. When they collide with atoms they replace the electrons and orbit 207 times closer to the nucleus. If this occurs in a molecule of deuterium, the two nuclei will be drawn close enough together to experience quantum tunneling, resulting in fusion to helium. However, muons have a half-life of about 2 microseconds so a continuous stream of muons must be produced. This reaction is most efficient at about 900 degrees C, which is considered "cold" by the standards of nuclear fusion. Muon-catalyzed cold fusion is actually a legitimate area of research, but it has been tainted by the general indignity of the "cold fusion" label.
See also
External Links
- Barnhart, B., Technology Forecast: Worldwide Research on Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions Increasing and Gaining Acceptance 13 November 2009, Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA-08-0911-003
Footnotes
- ↑ Robert Park's Voodoo Science (Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0195135156) has a decent history of the cold fusion train wreck from Park's point of view as the head of the Washington office of the American Physical Society.
- ↑ Harold Aspden - The struggle for acceptance
- ↑ Of course, the US Army also tried to kill goats by staring at them...
- ↑ New Scientist - Cold Fusion; Hot News Again