John Coviello wrote:
Though a believer, Rothwell has no hope for cold fusion, predicting
"gradual extinction" as aging cold fusionists die. He expects this
November's 12th international cold fusion conference in Shizuoka, Japan,
will be the last.
------------------------------------------------
Jed, Did they quote you correctly?
Yup. The article was distorted and one-sided, but I think his quotes and
facts are correct. I suppose we should be thankful for that.
Are you really that cynical about cold fusion?
"Cynical" is the wrong word. Pessimistic, perhaps. I am at heart an
optimist, but honestly I see little hope for CF as things now stand. Ed
Storms and others have told me that breakthroughs are brewing in hidden
labs. They do not tell me the details because I do not want to know any
secrets. I hope they are right but I have heard that sort of thing for more
than 10 years, with no results.
That is pretty stark the way they portrayed you. Do you really think
ICCF-12 will be the last? I doubt that.
When that reporter contacted me, around August 25, I had just heard from
the ICCF-12 secretary who was panicked because only 18 people had
registered, and we need at least a hundred to keep the hotel reservation.
(I do not know whether 100 have registered yet.)
Fewer people show up at each ICCF conference. They are always the same
people. Most of them are not doing active research anymore, and they
present only a rehash of their previous work. Most of the ones who do not
show up are incapacitated by old age, or dead.
It seems as if the ICCF conferences are getting more popular,
attracting a little more mainstream attention . . .
No, they are getting less popular.
. . . and now with an official sponser the ICMNS, unlikely to fade away
now that there is an organization behind it.
ICMNS is hardly an official organization. It is an informal shoestring
operation run by people who have been involved with the field for years.
Also, there were some good tidbits in that article. The Univ of Utah
President from 1989 is basically a believer in cold fusion even though he
didn't come out and say it (100s of replications), interesting. . . .
Yes, there was some good stuff. It was not entirely one-sided. Still, I may
write a short letter to the author complaining about some of his
distortions. I will copy it here.
- Jed
