I disagree. Off topic subjects are often food for thought. Some seem off topic at first, but turn out to be on topic.
I have often posted news items and things that caught my attention from books I am reading that seemed off topic. After some discussion here I realize why they caught my attention and why they do, in fact, have some bearing on cold fusion. Cold fusion is a broad subject. If we overcome the opposition and cold fusion energy is used, historians, sociologists, economists and others will eventually write thousands of books on this subject, trying to explain what happened, why it happened. They will try to explain why there was such tremendous opposition, why people such as Rossi acted the way they did, who really discovered cold fusion, and so on. Cold fusion is the most important discovery in the recorded history of technology. Only a few prehistoric discoveries such as fire and domesticated animals outweigh it. It will revolutionize many aspects of daily life, and many other technologies. It will force us to rethink our attitudes toward science and research, funding for research, and our ideas about where technology originates, who gets the credit, and who should get the profits. It will change history; it will change the face of the earth; and it will help open the whole solar system to exploration and colonization. It is hard to imagine a bigger subject, or one that has more "on-topic" ramifications. Needless to say, if we cannot overcome the political opposition, or if Rossi and the other researchers continue to act as their Own Worst Enemies, then cold fusion will be a forgotten footnote to history, and we will continue to blunder our way to ecological disaster and world-wide poverty with existing energy systems. - Jed
