Fusing Fear and Science - Lets stick to Nickel and Hydrogen
Humans fear the unknown. If they do not understand something their first
reaction is usually to run from it or attack it. Certain parties that
understand
this can use that fear to their advantage. There are examples of this
throughout
history and even more so in modern times. By manipulating fear political
parties, corporate entities, big businesses, military complexes, and nations
can
herd the masses. Fear can be used to start wars, entice hatred, manipulate
economies, and make normally intelligent and rational people do irrational
things.
Unfortunantly, scientific advancement has not been free of the fear factor. As
we speak a new "Cold Fusion" technology is launching. How will the world react
when they realize it is real and not a hoax? Will they accept this amazing new
technology and quickly utilize it to benefit all of humanity? Or will powerful
entities fuse fear and science to slow down and limit the utilization of this
technology? Lets take a look at an issue we are facing today in which fear is
used to push agendas and manipulate the masses.
For thousands of years humans have been using plants and other substances for
medical purposes. Sometimes it is to treat a disease, other times to relieve
pain, and other times for recreation. The use of these substances always have
risks involved. Some drugs can have severe side effects, others can be habit
forming, others can kill in improper doses, and others can impair judgement.
These risks have led governments around the world to start a "War on Drugs"
which prohibits the production, cultivation, posession, and usage of many
natural and synthetic medical substances.
This "War on Drugs" has been a disaster. Despite severe penalties for breaking
drug laws they are violated frequently. Most school children can obtain just
about any drug they want. Our prisons are filled with individuals who were
convicted of a drug related crimes, but for every one that is caught many more
elude the authorities. It can be debated if drug laws should exist or if
certain
drugs should be legalized. However, no one can deny fear has been used by law
enforcement, special interest groups, governments, and schools to propagate
specific propaganda and beliefs.
One drug that has been victimized by fear is marijuana. Of all the illegal
drugs
in the USA it is probably the safest. Some studies indicate that it is safer
than alcohol or tobacco. Yet it is illegal in most of the USA. However, certain
groups have lied repeatedly to keep it outlawed. It all begins during the
"reefer madness" era when logging companies were threatened by "industrial
hemp"
which is a form of marijuana with almost no potential for drug abuse.
Specifically, it is low in THC which is one of the main natural chemicals in
marijuana that produce euphoric effects. The logging industry was threatened by
the fact that industrial hemp could be used to produce fiber, rope, paper,
clothing, and food. So they began to encourage newspapers to write up false
stories depicting individuals using marijuana and comitting violent crimes.
This
scared countless people. Before long marijuana nd industrial hemp were both
illegal.
In more modern times governments and groups have continued to lie about
marijuana. For example, the 1980's commercials on TV claimed marijuana fried
brain cells. However, we now know THC is a neural antioxidant. Also, there are
studies which show THC has cancer fighting properties. The government also
tries
to tell us there is no medical use for marijuana when modern science has proven
it can help relieve pain, prevent nausea, reduce stress, reduce pressure in the
eye in glaucoma sufferers, etc.
Another example of propaganda about marijuana is the idea that if made legal it
would fill the road with dangerous drivers. However, studies indicate that
people who drive intoxicated from marijuana have less chance of getting into an
accident than people who drive after using alcohol.
Perhaps another interesting fact is that it is almost impossible to overdose
and
die from using marijuana. Large quantities of marijuana can be consumed without
significant toxicity. However, it is very easy to overdose on alcohol or
caffeine which are both totally legal.
How does this relate to cold fusion? There could be people who try to claim
cold
fusion is dangerous for various reasons and should be closely regulated. Yes,
there will be dangers using a cold fusion device. However, there are dangers
using almost any device. A turkey fryer can catch your home on fire if you do
not watch it. A small heater can tip over and catch your home on fire. A saw
from home depot can cut your finger off if you are not careful. An internal
combusion engine that is not maintained can catch fire. The list goes on and on!
There is no reason a cold fusion device should have any more regulations than
other similar LEGAL devices that are also dangerous. Do you have to have a
license from the NRC to buy a generator from Home Depot? If you run that
generator inside of your home you can gas yourself to death! This happens every
year! It is possible a cold fusion device could emit some low level of
radiation. In my opinion if you disobey safety guidelines by sleeping next to
it
to stay warm then it is your fault if you get radiation burns or cancer!
With any product PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY is the key. Anyone that buys a product
has the responsibility to follow the instructions that come with it. If they do
not follow the instructions and something happens it is their own fault. Also,
if they use a product recklessly and harm someone else they can be found
criminally responsible!
However, there will be fear mongers that will yell and scream about the safety
dangers of cold fusion reactors. They will say allowing private citizens to own
them is "irresponsible." In addition, they may claim having one in a vehicle is
insane. Instead of EDUCATING people about the risks involved and trying to make
these devices SAFER they might simply advocate a ban on these devices outside
of
power plants.
What is scary is that they may go further. The loggers who got marijuana banned
did not stop there. They got industrial hemp banned too. It is possible that
lawmakers, corporations, or advocacy groups could demand no use of cold fusion
until hundreds of millions of dollars worth of testing is performed. This could
take many years. During this time we will have used up more oil reserves,
polluted the planet even more, and our economy will have crumbled. In this time
period we could be phasing out oil usage for energy, the internal combustion
engine, and using the monetary savings to benefit our species.
Instead of banning cold fusion like marijuana and industrial hemp it should be
utilized! For example, industrial hemp was a huge industry in the USA until it
was banned. Cold Fusion could be such an industry! It could be enough to boost
our economy! Just imagine the ripple effects as thousands of factories are
opened or re-tooled to build Cold Fusion generators. This would create
countless
jobs!
I consider cold fusion to be a very safe technology. It poses some risks, but
the fact of the matter is they will probably be minimal like those associated
with marijuana. For example, if you have a cold fusion reactor if they tell you
to keep it shielded do so! Also, if they tell you not to open it up and work on
it yourself do not! If they tell you not to override the fail-safe that
prevents
it from overheating do not!
My guess is there will be a few incidents with cold fusion reactors, but they
will actually be far fewer than those with internal combustion engines. Due to
the very nature of the devices they will have to be built with EXTRA
safeguards.
I doubt most models available to civilians will work at 1/10th of their
potential to prevent the possibility of an overload. But what would happen if a
"melt down" did happen? With a cold fusion cell probably not much more than
would happen if a generator or car engine blew up. There would probably
relatively little radioactivity and once the explosion occurs the reaction
would
end. I doubt most cells would even "blow up." My guess is that they will have
some sort of pressure relief valve which will activate to vent fuel if the cell
becomes too hot. Also, they could have a small canister of nitrogen or some
other substance that would open up and end the reaction if the cell becomes too
hot. The worst that that would happen 99.9% of the time is that your generator
would be non functional and if you bought a warranty you would get a new one.
Unfortunantly, if fear is used most people will not consider the facts. They
will listen to what government agencies, advocacy groups, politicians, and
others have to say. Even if Cold Fusion could benefit them they will jump up
and
start protesting against it.
My hope is that lots of people will stand up and say NO to the fear factor. If
enough of us DEMAND that Cold Fusion technology be utilized the powers that be
will have to listen to us.
