Glass funnel was not in use in the cell that exploded

[Jed Rothwell]

Mizuno reports that the inverted glass funnel was not in use in the latest 
series of experiments, so there was a stoichiometric mix of hydrogen and 
oxygen in the headspace of the cell. After further investigation, he 
concluded that the explosion was probably triggered by the platinum mesh 
anode. I will revise the accident report to include his latest comments, 
and I will upload a version of it in a few days.

The outlet tube leading to the mass spectrometer was definitely not blocked 
or impeded, so the gas in the headspace was at 1 atm.

One of the glass shards struck Mizuno's neck next to the carotid artery and 
penetrated about 1 cm. I'll bet that put the fear of God in him! He has 
been rather slack about safety up to now, in my opinion.

There is a great deal of opposition to cold fusion in Japan and at the 
university, so I feared that the university might step in and tell him he 
can no longer perform these experiments. But apparently, he is already back 
at work starting the experiments again, despite the trauma. Mizuno has 
guts. All cold fusion researchers have guts. They are an ornery bunch, but 
you have to admire them.

- Jed