>From Abd:
>>"COLD FUSION EXPERIMENT KIT SOLD AT WALL MART HEATS POT OF TEA"
>>"PHYSICISTS HYSTERICAL"
> Nah, WalMart would want too much of a cut. On the other hand, if we
> knew how to do that with a fast turn-on method, it would be cool to
> put together such a tea-brewer, even if only as a prototype. You know,
> with the kit I do plan on selling, someone just might put together a
> mock newspaper story and send it to Garwin. So, it doesn't actually
> brew tea, in fact, it doesn't even get more than a little warm. But,
> see, lots of neutrons. No, not enough to kill anyone, not even to hurt
> anyone, but .... at least three orders of magnitude above neutron
> background. If that doesn't get the attention of a physicist, I don't
> know what would. A mushroom cloud? ("Must have been a chemical
> explosion. The guy must have had high explosives stored in his
> basement. At least they think the building had a basement, a neighbor
> says he remembers the bulkhead.")
Enjoyed your response. Admittedly, my preliminary thoughts on your objective
is that it is way too ambitious. I fear it probably wouldn't change anyone's
mind other than the already converted, not really, and particularly not the
hard-core skeptics. i.e. "...so what if the CR-39 appears to show lots of
neutron tracks." One can be sure those uppity physics graduate students
would come up with excuses to explain it all away, like "contamination."
After all, it's just a #$&*# kit being sold in stores like WALL MART!!! Not
a real science experiment! Yada-yada.
That's why I wished someone could come up with a "kit" that would actually
be capable of heating a pot of tea. In a sense, it's all about the SHOW. I
suspect the political statement would make more of an impact than the
scientifically precise one. IMHO, most Joe six-Pack's out there (including
our esteemed congressmen) are not likely to be capable of understanding the
significance of what all those "tracks" embedded within the CR-39 strip
signify.
Also, who really thinks Garwin would change his mind if everyone mailed in
their sheets of CR-39 to his offices, allegedly containing all those pesky
neutron tracks? Somehow, I get the feeling his position wouldn't budge one
iota. He would just smile and sit back with that all-knowing smile on his
face, just like he did on 60 minutes. I bet he'd reply with something
soothingly sage-like like, "Those aren't really neutron tracks... You have
to be a real physicists to understand how absurd it is to even consider the
opinion that those tracks might actually be neutron tracks. Now go along and
write a story about unicorns."
Case closed.
Regards,
Steven Vincent Johnson
www.OrionWorks.com
www.zazzle.com/orionworks
