Edmund Storms wrote:
As I said in my talk at Univ. of Missouri, "skeptics have to believe
that everyone studying cold fusion makes mistakes that are only
visible to a skeptic".
Yup! That was a good talk.
By the way, Shanahan ends his comments with a real bang: "And you
expect me to believe them? And you even more expect me to trust the
opinion of someone who is new to the field [Duncan] and thinks
]Energetics Technology] is a great company?? What planet do you live on?"
Charming!
The reaction says more about the person making the statements than
about the subject of CF. Such people should be treated like any
irrational person is treated, i.e. ignored.
I point him out only to show that the skeptics are getting more
isolated and desperate.
Google Alerts brought me another straw-in-the-wind indication of a
shift in public opinion. See:
http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/commissioning/bbc1-revives-spirit-of-tomorrows-world/5002092.article
"BBC1 revives spirit of Tomorrow's World
BBC1 is to reinvent the Tomorrow's World format with new science
series Bang Goes the Theory.
The 10 x 30-minute series, which will debut in late July, promises to
explore "the world's most advanced technological breakthroughs" and
how to test and manipulate scientific principles in our own backyard. . . ."
A letter from the editor, which is not from me or anyone we know (for
once!) says:
"Good news on science reporting.
I hope the first program contains an apology from the bbc to all cold
fusion researchers.
When it was sport for the flat earthers to attack cold fusion the bbc
joined in with a few tame "experts" to show it can not possible be a
genuine effect.
Now research groups around the world are getting positive results
they should immediately update with the correct situation."
A little here, a little there. I have never seen such widespread
public acceptance of the field, or such dug-in, last ditch anger on
the part of skeptics. At the meeting in U. Missouri it was summer
vacation and the audience was 30 or 40 grizzled middle-aged
physicists and chemists. After the three talks by SPAWAR people,
Larry Forsley asked the audience to: "raise your hand if you now
believe cold fusion is real." Everyone raised their hand! I was
astounded. I have never seen a response like that from a group of
people newly introduced to the subject.
Small changes seem to be adding up, and I get as sense that a
catastrophic change in public opinion is underway. ("Catastrophic" in
the mathematical sense, or the conventional sense if you happen to be
Moshe Gai or Robert Park.) It reminds of the last scene in the
otherwise forgettable war movie "Force 10 from Navarone." I hate to
spoil the plot, but anyone who seen it will know what I mean. You can
find it on YouTube.
- Jed
