Regarding the October 6 test of the Russi device: I do not expect this will be the perfect test. I do not expect it the be-all, end-all test that answers all questions and convinces everyone. I doubt that is possible for this kind of machine. Other kinds of machines can be demonstrated irrefutably, such as the airplane (August 1908) and the atomic bomb (July 1945).
You would be surprised how many other demonstrations throughout history did not convince all observers. For example many people who observed the first demonstrations of photography, the telegraph, the record player, the telephone, the maser, the laser and cloned sheep thought they must be seeing cheap parlor tricks such as ventriloquism, an "obvious fake," or sleight-of-hand magic. I recall a prominent biologist claimed there was "nothing convincing" about Dolly the sheep even though she looked completely different from the surrogate mother. The controversy will not end tomorrow. Not in this discussion group and certainly not in the mass media. Irrational skeptics will not be convinced. I mean people such as Rich Murray, Robert Park, and the editors of Wikipedia and the Scientific American. They will come up with more fairytales such as stored heat or sleight-of-hand magic tricks. These people will not be convinced by anything less than commercial success acknowledged by every major newspaper, magazine and government agency. Legitimate questions will also remain, even if the test goes exactly as planned. The full range of performance characteristics cannot be established in 12 hours or even 24 hours. Rossi claimed that a commercial grade heater was in operation in a factory for over a year. This tests cannot confirm that. They cannot confirm that he is capable of scaling up to 1 MW in a safe reactor. However, if he can produce 15 kW for 12 hours, I am sure that experts at industrial corporations can scale up to any size. It is "just a matter of engineering." I have been in touch with some people who will attend the demonstration, and with Rossi. I have been making suggestions to them such as: "record all data into one computer, including the flow rate and the power measured in watts not just amperes." I believe they will do this. I expect this will be better than previous tests. It will be performed and reported in a more professional manner than some of the previous tests. We should aim for progress, not perfection. - Jed
