From: Frank Grimer > ================================================= > The experiment was carried out by Seth Putterman, > one of the world's leading practitioners of > sonoluminescence. His data was analysed by a panel > in the UK that included experts in sonoluminescence > and neutron detection. They agreed that Putterman > had achieved the vital scientific conditions set out > in Taleyarkhan's paper and that his experiment was a > good attempt at getting the same results.
> But then it came down to the crucial question: did > Putterman find fusion? The result was negative. > Recording data nanosecond by nanosecond, Putterman > did not find a single neutron close enough to a > flash of light for it to be considered the result > of nuclear fusion. ================================================= One wonders, if the BBC really wanted to present a fair picture of the "DREAM" of the low energy fusion, which is the whole range of LENR - and not just this particular device, why they did not also look at the Fusor: http://fusor.net/ http://www.kronjaeger.com/hv-old/fusor/construction/ If neutrons are all they want to find as proof, these Fusor things are great robust neutron sources, have been built for a few thousand dollars, and with absolutely no doubt where the strong source of neutrons is coming from. And they consume less power than an oven. Even LENR skeptic Scott Little built one that can produce more cumulative neutrons than many Tokomaks have. Guess the answer is, that the BBC was not interested in fairness. Or hopefully, they will add another episode and look at the Fusor and the IPI device. BTW earlier I misstated that: > The Fusor of Miley, Hull etc. has demonstrated rather > conclusively that head-on D fusion of the "warm" ICF variety > requires a minimum of 10 keV per particle. This is incorrect. The Farnsworth-type Fusor (warm fusion) uses 10-25 kilovolt input voltage to the grid itself. However, the average plasma temperature itself is less than 5 eV. In hot fusion the average plasma temperature will be in multi-keV range, which is more than a thousand times higher than in the Fusor. The Fusor can produce 10^8 neutrons per second using tritium, and even small Fusors can produce 10^5 neutrons per second using no tritium. This is far away from net energy breakeven, but it could be quite useful to effectively provide the required make-up neutrons for a subcritical fission reactor. In fact, just using Uranium for the containment structure of a fusor, with a thick external graphite moderator, will get pretty close to breakeven because of the multiplication ratio. In sonofusion, especially using cold acetone, the average temperature of the working medium is far less than 1 eV. The UV light emitted would indicate that high temperature occurs inside the bubble, but that could be secondary re-emission, after the fusion has already occurred. Sonofusion is not claimed to produce the anywhere near the neutrons of the Fusor, but, why didn't the BBC spring for the IPI device? Maybe on rental, if cost was the issue ($250,000 US) - that is, if they were interested in a fair story. Maybe Tessien would even guaranteed a certain amount of neutrons and lend them one - just for the publicity. that would assume that the BBC had done its homework, which is not the case. It has been claimed that in sonofusion, the tritium and 3He ash are produced in equal quantities, as in hot fusion. This can be the case but often it is not the case, depending to some degree on the average temperature of the working medium, as the Taleyarkhan article indicates. I think that there are three different fusion regimes, cold, warm and hot; and that it is a mistake to try to classify the Fusor and sonofusion as "hot fusion" devices just because the fusion ash can sometimes look like the ash from hot fusion. The ash can or cannot look the same, depending on circumstances. If this creates con-fusion, then that only means that you cannot say warm fusion without saying confusion. Jones Hey Frank, does the BBC have a "complaints" department that I can send this message to?
