One connection to a magnetic field could be to magnetostriction, which has been mentioned recently and in the past. So many decent ideas are passing through the forum nowadays, that a few good ones will be overlooked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetostrictive The effect is small but it could be amplified in nanomaterials and by "energy localization" which has been a hot topic lately (so to speak). I wonder what the effective magnetic field is for normal resistive tape? Probably low since although the amps are decent, the amp-turns is on the low side. Also the Villari effect, which is the inverse could result in a "pumping action" when the Curie point of nickel (loaded with spillover hydrogen) is approached in a narrow range or balance - such that hydrogen is being shuttled in and out of cavities. Perhaps that is why tight temperature control is needed. This mention of "cavity effects" is Fran's cue to bring in the zero point connection, but I will do it for him :-) If it turns out that there truly is no radioactivity at all, and no deuterium in the ash, then Casimir heating is a decent bet . or even if there is some low level of radioactivity or deuterium in the ash, it is not ruled out. Jones From: Mark Iverson Could the magnetic field generated by the resistive heaters be inducing some other effects that help promote the reaction, or inductively heat the Nickel??? -Mark
