May 26, 2008

The holy grail of cheap and abundant energy - Cold Fusion (fusion of atomic nuclei at room temperature) has apparently been demonstrated again for the first time in decades, this time in a repeatable manner. Nuclear power available without its destructive side-effects?

After the 1989 Fleischmann and Pons debacle, it sounds like a dubious PR stunt, nevertheless emeritus physics professor Yoshiaki Arata from Osaka University, Japan performed a demonstration of cold fusion on Saturday. In front of an audience of about 60 people from Japanese universities and companies, some foreigners and gathered media from six major newspapers and two TV stations, Prof. Arata created a heat generating reaction he claims to be due to cold fusion. Bullshit, or not?

  • Where was Peter Parker?
  • I'm really hoping that there's something useful here.
  • Somewhere an industry executive is pushing a big red button on his desk.
  • Debunking in 4... 3... 2... ? Please let my cynicism be unfounded.
  • Had once a discussion over if such a breakthrough would cause much more global upheaval than public contact with aliens. Guess cheap energy would win.
  • Peer reviewed article published in a respectable journal, or it didn't happen.
  • Fusion, if practical, becomes frission.