Journal of New Materials for Electrochemical Systems 6, 45-54 (2003). ©
J. New.
Mat. Electrochem. Systems.
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.groupes.polymtl.ca/jnmes/archives/2003_01/v06n01a08_p045-054.pdf&sa=U&ei=UoW2T6CTF5GQ8wTSmaC9Cg&ved=0CBQQFjAB&usg=AFQjCNHGq1lwh3ZGzJKehzr4kNG7kpF-cQ
Warm Regards,
Reliable
Jones Beene wrote:
Now that vortex appears to be working normally, here is a repost of message
that was received by a few but never made it into the archives (although a
reply did get there - very strange).
In the Fall of 2001, an important paper related to hydrogen anomalies
appeared - to little fanfare. It was either a bombshell or a bomb - which no
serious scientist cared to follow up on, and few even studied closely enough
to grasp the implications.
You might say that back in the Fall of 2001, the American psyche was
preoccupied with another, much more visible bombshell. But even later in
2003-4 when World events were a bit less urgent, few high level chemists
took this work seriously enough to investigate, despite enormous
implications and the simplicity of technique.
Anyway - perhaps we should take another look at this one, in a slightly
different context - and at least give it some cyber-space publicity - as it
is easily accessible on the google site: "Highly Stable Novel Inorganic
Hydrides"...
http://tinyurl.com/c4nbqcu
Teaser ... (the easy claim to either prove or debunk) ... page nine - an
electrolysis cell produced a more stable version of potassium hydride that
did not decompose even at 600 degrees C ! Normally this happens below 400 C.
Any grad student could potentially verify that detail.
Get this: a hydrogen bond which corresponds to a binding energy of 22.8 eV !
It is also ferromagnetic ! Dense hydrogen molecular ferromagnetism was
predicted before Mills came along; and is a hot topic these days :
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1968PASJ...20..300I
... mind boggling, when it happens with something as simple as KH (if true)
and beyond all known chemical understanding.
If Mills had merely focused a streamlined paper on a simple new isomer of
potassium hydride, and built the entire disclosure around this one stunning
discovery (instead of the dozens of associated molecules which ironically
complicate everything to such a high level that few can wade through)... and
had BLP then supplied testing samples of this "Special KH" to other labs for
confirmation (they said they would, but reneged) ... then RM would surely
have won the Nobel Prize for that discovery alone. Dozens of Prizes in
chemistry have been won for far less important discoveries. This one is way
over the top, if true.
Instead, the guy is scorned. Does he deserve better?
To tell the truth, it is hard to tell since Randy is his own worst enemy.
There is certainly no more controversial person in Modern Science. He has
been called America's Newton:
http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Newton-Reception-Historical-Contemporary/dp/1
439202273/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337261931&sr=8-2
but pathological skeptics like Bob Park would label him as America's Hendrik
Schön (same time frame) ... real historians, in the final appraisal, will
have the last word.
Yet that verdict may take a decade or two, unless someone makes up a batch
of "Special KH" for independent testing sooner - and without Mills' silly
NDA or other strings attached. His arrogance on IP issues, combined with
poor legal representation - has served to alienate almost everyone in
academia - to the extent that he has little to show for two decades of work,
in the minds of peers - other than a passable software package.
Even if Mills does turn out to be "America's Newton" there can be little
doubt that the paranoid and haughty approach he has employed over the past
two decades - to leak out details, followed by unfulfilled promises - but
then to back-off into silent isolation, makes for a tragic (bipolar) ending.
He may be both reincarnated genius and world-class fool at the same time. I
believe that his story will play out in roughly this way, with acceptance
delayed by decades ... and moreover with acceptance ironically related to
the aftermath of Rossi's duplication of Mills/Thermacore's earlier published
work.
We live in interesting times... and for RM, this may indeed be a novel
version of a Chinese curse.
Jones
