Mark Gibbs <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Exactly. Once again, Rothwell misses the point. The issue here is
not about science, it's about technology and making something that
works because the original question was about what would make LENR
recognized.
I hope I have made it clear I am not pooh-poohing the need for a theory
or for technology! I am not saying these things are unimportant, or that
Gibbs is putting undue emphasis on them. I would love to see a theory or
technology. I have devoted 20 years of my life to bringing those things
about. At present I think there is little likelihood of success. The
discovery is likely to be lost and I have probably wasted my life.
What I am saying here is:
Much as we would love to have these things, we DO NOT HAVE them. What we
have is rock-solid, irrefutable experimental proof that:
1. Cold fusion is real.
2. It produces hundreds of thousands of times more energy than chemistry
(and probably millions of times more).
3. It sometimes produces commercially useful temperatures and power
density, about equivalent to a fission reactor core.
People should abide by the conventional rules of science and accept
these facts. People who reject these facts reject rationality and the
scientific method. Starting from these facts, it would be sensible to
fund cold fusion at a level similar to plasma fusion, which got $248
million in FY2012.
Demanding that which we do not have, and which we have no means of
acquiring -- such a theory or technology -- will not do us any good. You
might as well demand a fairy God mother, or a miracle, or that I will
win $200 million in the lottery and donate it this research.
We have to do the best with what nature has given us so far. I am
certain that with enough money and effort, cold fusion can be made into
a practical source of energy. The experiments have shown this often
enough. People have come close often enough. I am also certain that cold
fusion would eliminate the threat of global warming, eliminate the
energy crisis, and save the live of roughly 40,000 people per week,
mainly children. So it is highly desirable. The only thing standing
between the human race and the use of this energy is human nature. That
is, ignorance, stupidity, politics and hubris. Many people fail to
understand the scientific method, including many scientists. Anyone who
understands the experimental scientific method will see that cold fusion
is real. I do not know any experimentalists with knowledge of this
research who disagree, except for Britz, Steve Jones and Huizenga. I
think Britz and Jones have a screw loose. All three are political
animals, much more concerned with their own social status than with the
truth, or the fate of the human race. The other critics have read
nothing and know nothing, so their views do not count.
- Jed
