Gnorts! One of the misconceptions regarding the research done by private industry is that private industry would publish their work, or even let it be known that work was being done in a particular field by that industry in the first place. Private industry only reports on what it does if it is legally required to do so, or if there is some kind of public relations advantage to informing the public of its actions.
The above is true for every aspect of its operation from payroll to tax accounting procedures to suppliers to the names of the members of the board of directors, etc., etc.. Research direction is particularly well hidden so as not to tip off the competition as to any new products that may be introduced in the future. This is just the way private industry operates. If you want to get an indication of how many people, and sometimes even the identities of the people or organizations, who are doing research in your particular field, simply publish your work, and then read the logs on your computer firewall. You will find the addresses of the computers that are trying to gain access to your computer. In many cases, you can trace the numerical addresses back directly to the registered owners of those addresses. It was a hobby of mine for quite some time, and I must say, it was fascinating. University high energy physics labs, heavy industry companies, energy consultant firms, engineering companies, domestic and foreign governments, all will want to get into your computer to find out more about who you are and exactly what you are doing. Practically none (and believe me, I have looked hard...) of these entities ever published a single word about their own endeavors in the field. In the few cases where they did, the information was very general and usually written to attract new shareholders or generate sales of their own technologies. To say that the industrial world is not investigating cold fusion just because you don't read about it in the Wall Street Journal is extremely naive. The levels of funding, the names of the scientists, and who they are working for are a matter of speculation unless, of course, you can fund your own industrial espionage effort. The fact remains, however, that the number and frequency of attempts to gain access to your particular research efforts are a good indication that serious efforts are underway by private industry in this field. It is also proof that these entities still feel that theft of intellectual property is quite often cheaper and faster than doing the original research themselves. Knuke
