Here is a message I sent yesterday. I do not think it went through. This calls to mind what someone said about 19th century German professors. They would sometimes invent a word from some complex conception. Then, having the word for the thing convinced them that the thing must exist.
Over the last 22 years, people who call themselves skeptics have repeatedly done this. They invent an imaginary problem, then they assume they are right, then they assume the researcher did not think of this problem and the experiment must be wrong. They do not examine their own assumptions. A vivid example be found at the Defkalion forum, here: http://www.defkalion-energy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=104&start=80 In a future history of the field we should use this example. Here is the sequence of events: The Defkalion forum moderator said they use an ultrasonic flowmeter, similar to these: http://www.dynasonics.com/ Someone took a look at that site, and came up with: "I just checked the specs of some of the dynasonics flow meters and I think the measuring results do not primarily depend on the type of the flowing medium but on the number of flowing and reflecting microscopic parts in it. For example the Series 700 flow meters need a minimum of 25 PPM with a size of at least 30 microns. . . . Does the coolant naturally contain these contamination or do you add any substances for that purpose?" This person calls himself "pseudosceptic, debunker and negativist" which is apt. Someone else assumed this pseudoskeptic is right, ran with the idea, and declared: "And now it seems that you either need particulates in your coolant, or your ultrasonic flowmeters won't work properly either." I stepped in and wrote: "That is incorrect. Please see: http://www.dynasonics.com/resources/products/pdfs/TFX_Ultra_5-11_web.pdf It says, 'May be used to measure clean liquids as well as those with small amounts of suspended solids or aeration (e.g., surface water, sewage).' See also: http://www.dynasonics.com/resources/products/pdfs/TFX_Ultra_5-11_web.pdf 'The TFX Ultra is available in two versions: a stand-alone flow meter, and an energy flow meter used in conjunction with dual clamp-on RTDs. The energy flow meter measures energy usage in BTU, MBTU, MMBTU, Tons, kJ, kW, MW and is ideal for retrofit, hydronic and other HVAC applications.' This would be a hydronic application." Unlike many skeptics, these people saw they had made a mistake. They agreed this is not a problem after all. The discussion ended. Good, but let's look closer to what happened here. The information I found was two mouse clicks away from the initial link. Why didn't the pseudosceptic take a moment to examine the literature and see if his assumption was correct? This person cannot be familiar with these flow meters or he would have known they work with clean water. He is speculating about an instrument he does not know much about. It is fine to speculate or wonder about something, but before you post a message, you should do your homework. This is the 21st century. We have the Internet. The skeptics made larger mistakes here, beyond a mere technical blunder or a careless assumption. They did not stop to think about how corporations do business, or how product engineers do their jobs. Consider the facts -- Defkalion says they will soon be manufacturing 300,000 of these reactors per year. Every one of them will be equipped with on-board calorimetry and diagnostics linked by cell phone to the factory. This is how high tech 21st century technology should work. You could not build these reactors without computerized controls. So, Defkalion will be purchasing 300,000 flow meters per year. The ultrasonic model may seem expensive, but as one of the skeptics pointed out in the discussion thread in that forum, Defkalion will get a volume discount. I can tell you more, based on my experience with flow meters. You do not want to sell 300,000 rotary flow meter or any other immersion type in pipes with rapidly flowing glycol. Metering the flow correctly is important. It is service-affecting, and probably a safety issue. The Greek Ministry will surely check the performance of the flow meter. If they find it does not work, they will not license the equipment. Since this meter is important, Defkalion will assign the job of selecting it to a good product engineer, and they will review the choice on many levels. They will contact several instrument manufacturers and have them submit proposals. These manufacturers will pay close attention, because this is a contract for 300,000 units per year. They are not going to recommend a meter that does not work! That would lead to lawsuits and no end of trouble. This is how people do business. Even if you assume that Defkalion's product engineer in charge of calorimetry is a dolt, you can be sure that engineer's mistakes will be caught and corrected. There is no chance they will end up with a flow meter that gets the wrong answer. Not even at the prototype stage. As I said, other people within Defkalion, and the instrument vendors, and finally the regulators will all work to prevent this. In short, you have to look at the big picture. I get a sense the skeptics cannot bring themselves to take this discussion seriously. Perhaps they imagine that Defkalion's plans are a fantasy, and this company has no intention of manufacturing one unit, never mind 300,000. People here and in comments to me off line still suggest that Rossi may have bamboozled Defkalion, and his devices do not actually work. Or that Defkalion is in cahoots with him, and they are both bamboozling the investors and magically fooling the Greek Ministry engineers. People assign Rossi superhuman abilities to fool engineers in laboratories in several places at one time. Or they say that Defkalion (or Rossi) may have paid bribes to hundreds of professional engineers in regulatory agencies. This is so preposterous, on so many levels, only a true believer or conspiracy theorist would believe it. Rossi would have to be handing out fantastic sums of money -- hundreds of millions of Euros -- which have to be well hidden in Swiss banks. The engineers will surely realize the scheme will be revealed within a months. They will be caught, fired, and probably sent to jail, and the bribe money will be confiscated if the government can find it. So it has to be well hidden. There has to be enough money to entice dozens of engineers and two government Ministers to destroy their careers and go to jail. People opposed to cold fusion pride themselves on not being taken in by what others say, and perhaps it is true. From my point of view, they will not listen to others, or learn from others. But they are gullible all the same, and suggestible. They are taken in by themselves. They believe any damn thing that pops into their own minds. - Jed
