Better hurry Arch! http://www.physorg.com/news135003243.html
On Mar 26, 8:28 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > I actually bid for research money Don. As you suggest, it's bent. At > this very moment I am plotting to unleash EU funds to develop Slip's > rather crude notion - perhaps a machine that collects cow-fart and > recycles plastic bags at the same time? Get those shares in Rubber > Hose Inc. right now - if this plot fails we can sell the surplus to > police forces world-wide. I can hardly wait for the next dinner > party. "What are you researching now old chap?" "I'm into cow-butt > adaptation these days Charles. Have you simulated Slip's frig yet? > I've heard rumours the paired-cheese anode is clearly demonstrating > fusion smells". > > On 26 Mar, 23:03, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Now don't downplay the Methane generators, Don! Maybe these milk > > farms could find alternative resource in their cows instead of talking > > about going out of business. I think it's just a matter of hooking up > > a rubber hose to a cow butt in order to harness the resource. If you > > could invent the cow butt adapter, money would start to flow in your > > direction. > > > On Mar 26, 4:07 pm, Don Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Sounds like a lame and clumsy attempt to get 'stimulus' or 'energy > > > research' money from the government. We'll see how much more the > > > school gets in grant money to see if it worked. At least it's not cow > > > fart studies. > > > > dj > > > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 8:09 PM, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Twenty years to the day that two electrochemists ignited controversy > > > > by announcing signs of cold fusion at an infamous press conference in > > > > Utah. It was all something of a farce - now new evidence is being > > > > taken more seriously. Fleischmann and Pons at the University of Utah > > > > announced the tantalising prospect of abundant, almost-free energy, > > > > but their claims of fusion reactions in a tabletop experiment were > > > > dismissed by nuclear physicists, not least because such reactions > > > > normally occur inside stars. The small quantity of extra energy they > > > > found was widely considered a fluke or the result of experimental > > > > error. They made some really stupid mistakes. Even in my days at the > > > > bench, a mad Iranian made some wild claims about a palladium cell - I > > > > hoofed outta da place as he would have killed us all had his theory > > > > worked. The first reference to the theory I remember was published in > > > > Nature in1949. We should remember this is not just about 'free > > > > energy' - tritium would be produced and that's central to H-bombs. > > > > The general problem in proof is the absence of fusion products. > > > > > Pamela Mosier-Boss and colleagues at Space and Naval Warfare Systems > > > > Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego, California, are claiming to have made a > > > > "significant" discovery – clear evidence of the products of cold > > > > fusion. On 23 March, the team presented its work at the American > > > > Chemical Society's spring conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, a few > > > > months after the study was published in a peer-reviewed journal > > > > (Naturwissenschaft, DOI: 10.1007/s00114-008-0449-x). > > > > > The rest below is from New Scientist this week. > > > > > Using a similar experimental setup to Fleischmann and Pons, the > > > > researchers found the "tracks" left behind by high-energy neutrons, > > > > which, they suggest, emerge from the fusion of a deuterium and tritium > > > > atom. > > > > > The team used a low-tech particle detector: a plastic called CR-39 > > > > that is otherwise used for spectacle lenses. When CR-39 is bombarded > > > > with subatomic charged particles, a small pit forms in the material > > > > with each impact. > > > > > The researchers placed a sample of CR-39 in contact with a gold or > > > > nickel cathode in an electrochemical cell filled with a mixture of > > > > palladium chloride, lithium chloride and deuterium oxide (D2O), so- > > > > called "heavy water". When a current was passed through the cell, > > > > palladium and deuterium became deposited on the cathode. > > > > > Triple tracks > > > > > After two to three weeks, the team found a small number of "triple > > > > tracks" in the plastic – three 8-micrometre-wide pits radiating from a > > > > point (see diagram, top right). The team says such a pattern occurs > > > > when a high-energy neutron strikes a carbon atom inside the plastic > > > > and shatters it into three charged alpha particles that rip through > > > > the plastic leaving tracks. No such tracks were seen if the experiment > > > > was repeated using normal rather than heavy water. > > > > > Johan Frenje at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an expert > > > > at interpreting CR-39 tracks produced in conventional high-temperature > > > > fusion reactions, says the team's interpretation of what produced the > > > > tracks is valid. > > > > > "I must say that the data and their analysis seem to suggest that > > > > energetic neutrons have been produced," he says, although he would > > > > like to see the results confirmed quantitatively. > > > > > More controversial is the team's suggestion for the process that > > > > produced the neutrons. High-energy neutrons are unlikely to be > > > > produced by a normal chemical reaction, says Mosier-Boss. So, it's > > > > possible, she says, they are created during the fusion of deuterium > > > > and tritium atoms tightly packed in palladium framework at the > > > > cathode. The tritium also being a product of the fusion of two > > > > deuterium atoms. > > > > > Some researchers in the cold fusion field agree. "In my view [it's] a > > > > cold fusion effect," says Peter Hagelstein, also at the Massachusetts > > > > Institute of Technology. > > > > > Alternative theory > > > > > Others, though, are not convinced. Steven Krivit, editor of the New > > > > Energy Times, has been following the cold fusion debate for many years > > > > and also spoke at the ACS conference. "Their hypothesis as to a fusion > > > > mechanism I think is on thin ice … you get into physics fantasies > > > > rather quickly and this is an unfortunate distraction from their > > > > excellent empirical work," he told New Scientist. > > > > > Krivit thinks cold fusion remains science fiction. Like many in the > > > > field, he prefers to categorise the work as evidence of "low energy > > > > nuclear reactions", and says it can be explained without relying on > > > > nuclear fusion. > > > > > In 2006, Allan Widom at Northeastern University in Boston and Lewis > > > > Larsen of Lattice Energy, LLC, suggested that the key to the process > > > > was oscillating surface plasmons – waves of energy rippling through > > > > electrons on the surface of the electrode. > > > > > They said that the rough surface of the palladium on the electrode > > > > focuses the energy into small pits, where it can be transferred to a > > > > single electron. The high-energy electron can then shoot into the > > > > nucleus of a nearby deuterium atom and combine with a proton to > > > > release a neutron and a neutrino (European Physical Journal C, DOI: > > > > 10.1140/epjc/s2006-02479-8). > > > > > "Electrons and protons don't have trouble attracting," Widom told New > > > > Scientist, and he says the explanation conforms to the Standard Model > > > > of particle physics. He speculates that this theory could explain > > > > instances of exploding laptop batteries, and could be harnessed as an > > > > energy source – something Larsen's company hopes to commercialise. > > > > > Journal reference: Naturwissenschaft (DOI: 10.1007/s00114-008-0449-x) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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