'Fire and brimstone' talk stifles curiousity. Harry
On Tue, Apr 13, 2021 at 5:06 PM William Beaty <bi...@eskimo.com> wrote: > > > > magnetic burned match heads (also a homopolar motor next) > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOBmIyu7B30&t=262s > > > On Tue, 13 Apr 2021, Michael Foster wrote: > > > I have no idea why this subject continues to be controversial > > Irrational semi-religious belief-systems are the obvious issue. > > "LENR is for fools, transmutation outside of conventional MeV > reactions just demonstrates incompetence or dishonesty." > > Once a researcher (or a whole academic department, or an entire research > community) has spoken the above phrase, they cannot go back. Their > skepticism is no longer skepticism. Their admitting error is no longer > admitting error: if they turn out to be wrong, it requires confronting the > fact that they've joined the "bad guys," and they've been actively halting > progress in the sciences. (When careers are on the line, truth doesn't > matter, and such a thing must be resisted at any cost ...on pain of public > embarrassment, or career- destruction, or even on pain of death, because > "If P&F turned out to be correct, then I'd have to go out and slit my own > throat." ) > > > > slightest. There are any number of carbon arc configurations that produce > > elemental transmutation of carbon to iron. I have done this repeatedly > > "Your carbon was obviously contaminated by iron! Which became concen- > trated by orders, as all the carbon exits the arc as CO2!!!" > > Yeah right, so we don't even consider using ultra-pure spectrographic rods > (which display no detectable Fe emission lines in the first place.) > Instead we arc-transmute the far purer plasma-grown pyro graphite. But > that doesn't matter, since 1) we'd just be accused of intentional hoaxes > and 2) no reputable researcher would ever replicate this simple test, > because if they demonstrated LENR, it would convert them into Believer- > crackpots. > > > myself. The last time, years ago, I used spectroscope grade carbon rods to > > make sure of lack of contamination. And yes, you get magnetically separable > > particles as a result. For those who are wont to believe this must be some > > sort of magnetic pyrolytic graphite, it's easy to test chemically proving > > that these particles are indeed iron. Just dissolve in dilute sulfuric acid, > > and react with potassium ferricyanide. If you get that characteristic > > Prussian blue color, it's iron. Case closed. > > I'm still tempted to try the other one: that Kervran science-fair > experiment. But I'm not sure that faculty here would dare allow it. > That's the version with two quartz sample tubes containing identical water > and seeds, one then sprouted, both converted to ash, then elemental- > analyze the ash (which should be identical, but supposedly the > sprouted-seed ash displays extra elements.) A few ICP spectrometers here, > and piles of mass-specs, so, not difficult to eliminate artifacts > associated with any one test method. But if it works, then UW chem > department becomes the new P&F, who'd originally heard rumors of some > obscure crackpot claim involving hydrogen and platinum, and discovered > that it was real, to their everlasting chagrin. And credit. > > > > These are the same bunch who will discredit this simple experiment until > > their dying breath, no matter how incontrovertible it is. > > The ones who refuse Galileo's Telescope, we simply wait for them to die. > > Then their students (or more probably, after generations) their students' > students' students quietly accept the results, since after all, they've > been hearing about Cold Fusion ever since they learned to read, and > clearly no sane researcher ever objected to CMNS, so what's the big deal? > > It's not individuals who follow the dishonest face-saving procedure below, > it's also the entire scientific community as a whole... > > "Theories have four stages of acceptance: > 1. this is worthless nonsense > 2. this is an interesting, but perverse, point of view > 3. this is true, but quite unimportant > 4. I've always said so." > - J.B.S. Haldane, 1963 > > PS > > Buy LENR comic books to contaminate young minds! Donate copies to your > local dentist office (or even library, if anyone still goes to libraries:) > > Discover Cold Fusion > https://www.curtis-press.com/product-category/comics/ > > > (((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))) > William J. Beaty http://staff.washington.edu/wbeaty/ > beaty, chem washington edu Research Engineer > billb, amasci com UW Chem Dept, Bagley Hall RM74 > x3-6195 Box 351700, Seattle, WA 98195-1700
