Re: Cold fusion advocates should put up or shut up

[OrionWorks]

> From Walter Faxon

...

> The science of cold fusion is a mess.

> What started as D-D fusion in a metal lattice
> without radiation (just two or three miracles) now
> has "transmutations" occurring everywhere, with
> energy appearing and disappearing from apparently
> nowhere, still almost completely without tell-tale
> radiation. And experimentally still largely
> hit-or-miss.
>
> [The Cold Fusion] problem will not be solved without
> the involvement of the entire worldwide physics community.
>
> Which is why it is vital that cold fusion be rehabilitated
> in the West, which is why, as a short-cut, we need to
> short-circuit the skeptics who, using ridicule alone (!),
> are holding open-minded scientists and science-funding
> officials in thrall. Winning Randi's prize will do that.


Patience Grasshopper.

>From my perspective skeptics such as those who make up organizations like CISCOP often seem to lose the capacity to be objective in their own investigative efforts, which is incredibly ironic.

Again, this is strictly my opinion, but I suspect winning Randi's prize is not likely to accomplish much of anything other than acquiring bragging rights. Winning Randi's prize is not likely to be noticed by those in key financial positions because while some may give his organization lip service (because it occasionally serves a useful purpose in exposing cheats and frauds) I suspect many of those same "supporters" don't agree any more with Randi's conclusions than I might.

While few dispute Randi's skills as an excellent and entertaining magician, he reduces himself and his organization to nothing more than the status of a big fish in a little pond, a fish out-of-water that is constantly seeking a special kind of recognition that it will never receive, when they take it upon themselves to debunk controversial scientific claims.

In the meantime the struggle continues. While acquiring scientific legitimacy is desirable it is difficult to accomplish when the politics of the times are stacked against you. Under the circumstances it seems more likely to me that authentic "bragging rights" will eventually be accomplished when some obscure upstart company finally finds a way to demonstrate a "CF" and/or "ZPE" prototype capable of self-running. Historically speaking, this has often been the way major paradigm shifts have come out of the closet, so-to-speak. Why should CF behave any differently?

And that takes time.

Regards,
Steven Vincent Johnson
www.OrionWorks.com
www.zazzle.com/orionworks