Yesterday, it was announced than another group had tentatively confirmed the existence of a so-called fifth (or sixth) force.
https://news.uci.edu/research/uci-physicists-confirm-possible-discovery-of-f ifth-force-of-nature/ When we discussed this discovery back in May on Vortex - following the initial announcement, this new bosonic force (or particle) was semi-humorously labeled as "Neuglu" since it binds neutrons and repels protons, kind of like a quark-selective gluon; plus - there already was a claimant a fifth force designation, so this one needed a name. Hamdi Ucar mentioned a paper which could add another level of understanding to a magnetically-mediated force which falls between the two stronger nuclear forces: "Derivation of strong and weak forces from magnetic interactions in quantum electrodynamics (QED)" by Barut (paywalled). But the big deal for LENR, almost unmentioned by any other group at the time is that a putative fifth force (as characterized by neuglu), which acts only between neutrons -- would be able to bind 2 deuterons within in a metal matrix, and would bind at a distance *without nuclear fusion* into an agglomerations of predictable mass (4,6,8 etc) which mimics helium in the case of mass-4 (if the binding is strong enough) and provides plenty of excess energy on decay without gammas (like cold fusion) and does not work with protium. Thus neuglu can fully explain LENR for those who do not accept the claim that real 4He was seen in the prior testing of the ash of cold fusion. The mass-energy of neuglu is about 10 million times greater than chemical energy. Thus, everything fits . except an understanding of how to engineer a neuglu formative process, such as in electrolysis. It is conceivable that a few neutron-rich isotopes naturally operate like tiny factories for neuglu. Candidate isotopes for producing the neuglu boson include Pd-110 and Ni-64. If this happens only in column 10 of the periodic table, where these isotopes have their outermost electrons only in d-orbitals with no p-orbital electrons, then platinum-198 would be another predicted isotope (speculation but testable) which would be a strong candidate for LENR (but because of high cost has not been singled out heretofore). The best way to falsify or confirm this prediction, and also the validity of a neuglu modality - would be to obtain palladium which is enriched in 110 and compare against a matrix which is depleted 110. A simple Arata-style pressure test should be sufficient for confirmation. The platinum alternative would also work if cost is not problem. Jones
