A couple items on the list caught my eye.
Jed Rothwell wrote:
Notes from the 12th International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear
Sciences
November 27 – December 2, 2005, Yokohama
T. J. Dolan
The following brief summary refers to only some of the 60 papers
presented at the conference.
Experiments
Yasuhiro Iwamura (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) presented more data on
transmutations of Cs to Pm, Ba to Sm, and Sr to Mo, using a variety of
diagnostic techniques, including a detailed surface mapping using a
synchrotron microbeam (100 x 100 micrometers). They found that the
transmutations occurred in small concentrated sites on the surface.
Afterward I asked him what labs have reproduced some of his
transmutations, and he said Osaka University, Shizuoka University,
Francesco Celani (Italy), and NRL (in progress).
A. Kitamura (Kobe University) coated films on the vacuum side of the Pd
foil (Iwamura coated the gas side) and reported transmutation of Sr into
Mo.
Irina Savvatimova (“Luch” Institute, Moscow) reported transmutation of
Ba into Sm.
A. El-Boher (Energetics Technologies, Israel) used "superwave"
modulation of the current in electrolysis cells to increase yield. He
achieved 600% excess heat for 24 hours, and 150% for 134 hours. Irving
Dardik (a physician) developed the superwave technique with regard to
curing human illnesses, and it is found to have applications in several
fields.
The numbers on this one sound fabulous: 600% excess heat sounds
stunning. Is this paper online? I didn't see it in the index, though
there appears to be other "superwave" stuff from El-Boher on your site
going back at least to ICCF-10.
Anyone got any idea where "breakeven" is for a "typical" cold fusion
cell? (Yes, I know, they're all different, there is no "typical"
cell...) At what level of excess heat is total energy in likely to be
less than recoverable energy out? (For that matter, what's the right
way to even ask the question? It's pretty obvious what "breakeven" is
for hot fusion, but for CF it seems a bit less clear.)
In other words, is 600% excess heat anywhere near "breakeven"?
Vittorio Violante (ENEA, Italy) used a HeNe laser to enhance excess
power generation during electrochemical loading.
Yoshiaki Arata (Osaka University) observed intense heat generation
during ingress of deuterium into a thin cylinder containing Pd
nanoparticles.
Alexander Karabut ("Luch" laboratory, Russia) observed excess heat
generation and transmutations during deuterium glow discharges, but not
during Kr or Xe discharges. Using spark mass spectrometry, SIMS, and
secondary neutral mass spectrometry they identified the emergence of
many impurities, including abnormal isotope ratios for several elements.
They also observed emission of gamma rays and x-rays.
Andrei Lipson and George Miley (Lebedev Institute, Moscow, and
University of Illinois) reported emissions of energetic protons and
alpha particles during controlled exothermic deuterium desorption from
the surface of a Pd/PdO:Dx heterostructure. Using CR-39 detectors they
found 1-3 MeV proton tracks and 11-16 MeV alpha tracks, with a yield
about 0.005 alphas/cm2-s, reproducible during about 20 experiments. They
also reported data indicating superconductivity in Pd hydride and
deuteride.
This appears to be a PowerPoint slide set. Is there a paper to go with it?
The slides are fascinating, though, sad to say, mostly pretty
incomprehensible to this yokel. I had no idea that signs of
superconductivity had been observed in loaded Pd, but it appears from
your index that there are hints of this going back to at least ICCF-10.
Might it be possible to parley this aspect into back-door access to
"conventional money" for research into CF, I wonder? 30K for a
transition temperature isn't exactly sweltering, but it still qualifies
as HT and it's totally different from "conventional HT superconductors",
I think, and that should interest people.
For that matter, is that possibly what Lipson and Miley are already
doing...?
[ snip snip ]
Summary
In his summary of the ICCF-12 conference Prof. Xing-Zhong Li said that
CMNS has three “legs”:
· excess heat generation
· nuclear reaction products & transmutations
· good reproducibility.
Many experiments have achieved the first two legs, but reproducibility
has only been demonstrated in a few experiments, such as those of
Iwamura. Prof. Arata is building a larger device (3 x 30 cm) to
demonstrate reliable higher power operation.
That will be really interesting! I have no idea if using Pd as a sort
of catalyst for high-temp D2 gas will every produce useful energy, but
the tiny amounts I've read about it make it sound like the process may
be a lot more reproducible than the wet-cell CF.
