The 'New Energy Times' website has an interesting item revisiting the Wendt-Irion-Rutherford controversy of 1922 in which Wendt-Irion observed He and other transmutations in Tungsten-wires exploded by large current pulses.
http://blog.newenergytimes.com/2012/05/12/for-christs-sake-soddy-dont-call-it-transmutation A URL pointing to the original Wendt-Irion paper is: "EXPERIMENTAL ATTEMPTS TO DECOMPOSE TUNGSTEN AT HIGH TEMPERATURES" - G.L. WENDT, C.E. IRION - Amer. Chem. Soc. 44(1922) p.1887-1894 http://www.uf.narod.ru/science/WendtIrion.pdf The NET website contains the Rutherford rebuttal of their work, and Wendt-Irion's reply, as well as some published observations on still earlier anomalous observations. Rutherford's point is that the electron kinetic energies/temperatures fall well below the point where nuclear effects can occur. However, Rutherford neglects that the energy in intense coherent electron beams, or currents, is mostly in field energy - and can far exceed the sum of the kinetic energies of the individual electrons. The real question is whether the magnetic field energy can drive nuclear reactions. Since 1922, there have been many confirming and conflicting results. A recent 2009 presentaion by Prelas, Miley, et al, is at: "A Review of Transmutation and Clustering in Low Energy Nuclear Reactions" http://research.missouri.edu/vcr_seminar/Prelas.ppt Either their is a considerable amount of sloppy experimental work, or a lot of unfounded criticism. Does anyone know which? Thanks, Lou Pagnucco
