In the category of chemical reactions - "vicinal" chemistry (from Latin vicinus = neighbor) relates to functional groups bonded to adjacent atoms in a molecule to form isomers with markedly different properties . These functional groups, which can consist of a single proton or a bound pair of protons in a reduced orbital have a characteristics of "extropy" (anti-entropy). The groups have freedom of movement whereas the underlying substrate has comparative little freedom.
If you consult Wiki, their entry is way behind on this niche of chemistry - since the term applies to more than carbon (as Wiki states) and is about to reach a tipping point due to graphene. In fact the vicinal chemistry of silicon, carbon and even silicon carbide are all inter-related - and most interesting at the nano-geometry because surfaces "auto-organize". This term "auto-organize" is suggestive in itself of a violation of CoE. It is especially relevant to elements that have four bonding sites and "prefer" to form hexagonal crystals. FRET - or Forster resonant energy transfer is also a key to understanding a related facet of vicinal chemistry from the biological perspective. FRET has ZPE written all over it, so to speak. The FRET niche and vicinal chemistry overlap in MRI - so there is a magnetic component to all of this as well. And then there is Rossi. It is looking to me like one key to understanding the dynamics of the HotCat device is the surface chemistry of silicon carbide when heated and exposed to fractional hydrogen (dense hydrogen) at temperatures where plasmons form. The gainful reaction that derives from this interaction may not be nuclear... cough, cough... and it may not be Millsean either. Let me state that conclusion differently: there can be nuclear side-effects in the HotCat, and fractional hydrogen must be involved - but the bulk of the gain in the Rossi device probably comes from "elsewhere" ... meaning the zero point field. If gain is shown to related to dynamical Casimir interactions and to the zero point field, instead of nuclear - then entire technological base of LENR will be thrown into disarray - and the old proponents of cold fusion, going back to P&F, will probably be as skeptical of the new findings as present cold fusion skeptics are skeptical of what is perceived to be the low energy nuclear reaction. Almost everyone is out of step but Hal. Although Hal Puthoff is the best known proponent of ZPE as a usable energy source, the most active person on the zero point scene today appears to be his associate Bernard Haisch - who is involved with a startup called Jovion in a commercial venture to capture ZPE. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Haisch The relevant patent is http://www.calphysics.org/Patent7379286.pdf My bet is that the HotCat of Rossi is better understood from the perspective of a zero point converter than from LENR, but it relies on several other overlapping areas besides these two. Another twist of the story, however, is that Jovion apparently did have a device constructed, which was largely a disappointment. There is nothing public on this detail, so it may not be true. But the most confusing part of the emerging story of this relates to the HotCat, and therein may reside the detail of what Jovion "forgot to do", and what Rossi "did do" (but inadvertently)... and that third critical detail which is/was to also incorporate the findings of Randell Mills on f/H - fractional hydrogen. ZPE may work effectively using the smaller geometry of f/H and not very well with hydrogen. The bottom line is that the Jovion device - or one like it (if there really is a device at all) - only needs to employ f/H and the correct temperature (for plasmon formation) to work in a better way than the HotCat works. Looking ahead, it this speculation is correct - it could turn out to be a mess at the patent office or in court unless one strong company moves to the front and manages to pull in everything under on umbrella. A few years ago, I would have said that Google is the one and only company with the foresight and deep pockets to do that, but alas, they seem to have fallen prey to their own success. Jones
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