Talk:Cold fusion/Archive7
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[edit] "Touted" based on what Abd did as establishing "common"?
Hipocrite edited, to add "touted."
- The most commonly-touted system where cold fusion is supposed to occur is an electrolytic cell with a palladium cathode that is electrolyzing deuterium oxide (a.k.a. heavy water), [...]
In his edit summary, he writes, "(ABD himself sold PD/D systems, which is touting.)"
This is preposterous. First of all, this is the lede of the article. I'd assume that something should be notable. We are especially talking about what is "common" here. "Touting" means to
- to solicit, peddle, or persuade importunately
- to make much of : promote, talk up
Because Hipocrite is using sale as evidence of "touting," he clearly means the first definition. There are a number of problems with this:
- Yes, I sold one kit designed to replicate a published experiment, an electrochemical cell. It was not sold as a "cold fusion system," It was very clearly an experimental kit. I also sell relevant materials. I have actually made, so far, in over two years, two sales: the kit in question, which is shown in the upcoming movie, The Believers, and a $30 sheet of solid-state nuclear track detector material, for use in what, I don't know. My barely operational storefront is at [1]. I sell "real stuff for real research." I.e, real palladium chloride, real heavy water, real gold, platinum, and silver wire, and real SSNTD material. The kit in question was not designed to produce any measurable energy. It sold for pure science, testing what actually happens, and isn't touting anything other than the process of science. Even though the SPAWAR results were published under peer review in a major journal (and are highly notable), they have not been confirmed. The experiment itself is fairly simple (though there are still lots of ways to mess it up), and a kit could cost as little as $100. And so what? This was an opportunity for a high school student -- who approached me on the recommendation of a scientist -- to attempt a significant replication. A long shot, actually (why it was a long shot, I won't explain here, but the jury is still out, the SSNTDs are being analyzed). He was very happy to try, and his father was very happy to pay for it, a few hundred dollars, because he bought extra stuff.
- No "system" was sold, but a partial kit, absolutely not a complete system, and certainly not "systems."
- So far this isn't notable. It certainly doesn't indicate what is "common," one way or another. I'm one person. What I do does not establish what is "common."
- Nobody is selling palladium deuteride systems for energy production, and it is rare for anyone knowledgeable or notable to assert they are usable for that purpose. The approach is way too expensive, and way too unreliable, so far.
- What may actually be being sold -- or represented as being available for sale -- are nickel-hydrogen systems, about which far less is known, and claims are being made that are not, so far, verifiable. So if we want to talk about "touted," in today's world, we must talk about nickel-hydrogen.
- Hipocrite, truth be told, is just here to poke. --Abd (talk) 20:44, 8 November 2012 (UTC)