There is an interesting article out at the American Institute of Physics under the "Physics News Graphics" section:
http://www.aip.org/png/2001/118.htm The graphic depicts super cooled clouds of two different isotopes of lithium atoms. Lithium possesses two stable isotopes, Li-6 (classified as fermion), and Li-7, (classified as a boson). The article discusses the attempt to produce "cooper pairs" from the Li-6 atoms (fermions) in the hope that studying the properties of superconductivity in a gaseous state might be easier than cooper pairs studied within solid metallic states. What fascinated me more, than attempts to create cooper pairs, was how the Li-7 (bosons) behaved as they got progressively super cooled toward the state of absolute zero. The colder they got, the smaller the volume of space the entire cloud of atoms occupied. Meanwhile, Li-6 atoms (classified as fermions) as they get progressively colder could not reduce their overall volume beyond a certain point due to [...the principle of "Fermi degeneracy," in which the fermions cannot condense further, due to a law of quantum mechanics--the Pauli exclusion principle--that keeps identical fermions from occupying the same space at the same time.] My current knowledge pertaining to how certain atoms are classified as fermions versus bosons is practically null. I'm also reasonably sure that what I'm discussing in this post has probably already been mentioned in passing more than once, so my apologies for possibly being redundant or naive. It was only recently that I discovered the fact that atoms possessing the same atomic number can be either be classified a fermion or a boson depending on their isotope number. What struck my curiosity (and fancy) was the fact that certain atoms (boson atoms) under certain conditions can apparently begin to occupy the same volume of space, which their fermion oriented brethren can't do as easily. This boson-like characteristic of ignoring fixed boundaries of space suggests some interesting possibilities. For example, such a mechanism might allow for the effects of fusion, if the principals can be better understood. It essentially suggests the possibility that a mechanism exists of getting around the dreaded coulomb barrier, perhaps by simply ignoring it when temporarily cloaked as a "boson." (Like a wolf in sheep's clothing!) What's also intriguing is the fact that certain "CF" related experiments have detected a mish-mash of transformed atoms, which apparently have undergone transmutation. (Mitsubishi comes to mind). Such experiments, suggests there might exist practical mechanisms for which we may eventually learn how to harness in transforming atoms back and forth between boson and fermion states. If that can be done, it suggests procedures might exist for manipulating a new form of fusion. The production of massive amounts of energy would be inevitable. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
