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EDITORIALS AND OPINION
1.   From the Editor: Low-Energy Nuclear Transmutations Take Center Stage
2.   To the Editor
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
3.   2006 Cold Fusion Conferences
4.   Cold Fusion Short Documentary Video
5.   Conference Proceedings
ANALYSIS AND PERSPECTIVES
6.   An Outsider’s View of Cold Fusion
7.   12th International Conference On Condensed Matter Nuclear Science (ICCF12)
8.   Dolan ICCF12 Report
9.   Chubb ICCF12 Report
10. The Hydraulic-Electrostatic Cold Fusion Method
BITS AND PIECES
11.  "Unconventional Science," A British Military Presentation
12.   Amoco Paper Posted
13.   Cold Fusion Papers Published
14.   Wikipedia Warriors Defend Cold Fusion
15.  Speakers Available - Experts on the Subject of Cold Fusion
16.  Contribute
17.  Administrative

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Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.
--Joel A. Barker

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EDITORIALS AND OPINION

1. From the Editor: Low-Energy Nuclear Transmutations Take Center Stage 
 

by Steven B. Krivit
(Photo Credit: D. Bosler)

The idea that nuclear reactions can cause the transmutation of one element into another is nothing new in modern science. High-energy physicists, using particle accelerators and cyclotrons, have been able to perform elemental transmutation for decades. There is no question about this.

Some of the reasons that transmutation is accepted in high-energy physics are that the processes are well-known, they are 100 percent repeatable and reproducible, and the evidence is not transient; a physical product results from the process.

Now let's switch gears and consider the new field of low energy nuclear reactions, sometimes referred to as cold fusion, brought to us courtesy of Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons at the University of Utah in 1989.

A lesser-known aspect of the LENR phenomenon that arrived shortly after the heretical 1989 announcement, which also uses the same components, palladium and deuterium, shows evidence of not only some energy production but also elemental transmutation.

Like the more familiar excess-heat claim, this transmutation claim is not, so far, accepted any more than cold fusion. Cold fusion has had a hard time gaining credibility. It's a tough experiment; it requires, at times, the skill of a rocket-scientist, the patience of a saint, and a bit of luck. The dominant product, heat, also disappears as soon as the experiment concludes; hence, there is no lasting, tangible evidence.

So why isn't low-energy transmutation accepted if high-energy transmutation is unquestioned?

Not because low-energy transmutation isn't repeatable.

Yasuhiro Iwamura et al. of Mitsubishi demonstrated 100 percent repeatability with their work. Over the last few years, they experimented with three elements and observed strong evidence of low-energy transmutation in multiple experiments with each element.

It's not because it isn't replicable.

Taichi Higashiyama et al. at Osaka University replicated the Iwamura work a year later. The results were confirmed at one of Japan's pre-eminent laboratories, the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.

It's not because of a lack of hard evidence.

The products of these reactions are as tangible as those created in high-energy physics. Iwamura even went to one of the most well-respected high-energy nuclear research facilities in Japan, Spring-8, to confirm their results.

So what's the problem?

The problem is that some of the early experimenters in the 1990s were using chemistry, and more recently, low-energy physics to achieve their claimed effects.

Uh-oh. Did someone say chemistry? Changing elements? Good heavens, isn’t that alchemy?

As any high-school science student has learned, alchemy was a chimera, a fraud devised by foolish believers who thought they could turn lead into gold. To think that respectable scientists in the 21st century are attempting another shot at alchemy? How ridiculous can one get?

So what do we do with this apparent conflict with scientific knowledge? Let's try, for a moment, to dismiss the whole idea. We have to consider that reputable scientists, working for reputable laboratories around the world, using standard methodologies and instrumentation have all made mistakes. Or perhaps something more sinister is happening; perhaps they are all conspiring in a big lie. I'm sorry, but that just starts to sound ridiculous too.

One cannot easily ignore the fact that their results, although difficult to achieve, have been highly repeatable, replicated and verified.

The other possible options are that the world is witnessing an historic set of scientific discoveries, and a new field of science is appearing. And it is being reported first here, at New Energy Times, rather than in an established science journal. Could it be?

Certainly, the methods demonstrated so far are not cost-effective for turning lead into gold. Mitsubishi surely didn't spend $20 million dollars just to make a few nanoparticles of praseodymium.

Yet, as we know historically, almost all great science and technology developments start from tiny glimmers and revelations of nature's secrets.

So what might the future hold for such research? One physicist with four decades of nuclear science to his credit told me that low-energy transmutations have a potentially unlimited set of possibilities. Transmutations using high-energy physics require immense laboratories and costs. Low-energy transmutations, however, are starting out at a fraction of their cost, complexity and size.

Practically speaking, what does such potential mean for society, I asked? And that's when the impact of this research hit me. The physicist explained, "Suppose one country has an abundance of one natural resource, but not another. And another country has a different set of natural resources altogether. It could mean that any country could create whatever resources they needed." Wow! I thought, science fiction and science fact are not so distant.

What is the state of the art with this research? Tom Dolan (ret., Idaho National Laboratory) and Scott Chubb (Naval Research Laboratory and Research Systems Inc.) report some of the latest research in this issue. Some of the more recent work does not appear as strong as the earlier work. However, the work of Iwamura et al. and Higashiyama et al. still stand strong.

Xing Zhong Li of Tsinghua University, in the closing ceremony for the recent cold fusion conference in Yokohama, Japan, remarked, with his signature mile wide smile, "We are seeing a lot of the Iwamura effect without Iwamura."

You'll see that the Naval Research Laboratory is listed as one of the labs with a transmutation experiment under way. This was first reported to me in 2003. Navy scientists were noticeably missing from this year's official list of presenters. Was it because they had nothing to report? I suspect not. One group from San Diego's SPAWAR Systems Center racked up two published cold fusion papers this year, as reported in earlier editions of New Energy Times.

A reliable source also told me before the Yokohama conference that the Naval Research Laboratory had replicated the Iwamura Mitsubishi experiment: "[name redacted] confirms the confirmatory work in two labs in [the United States], of the transmutation work that came out of Japan."

I attempted to confirm this with the head of the NRL department head that was responsible for the project.

"It is our intention to publish definitive positive or negative results when all the work is complete, subject to mutual agreement between MHI and NRL," the NRL department head replied. "I can not predict when that will be, but I hope it will be in 2006."

The source who told me of the confirmation had no imaginable reason to lie or hype things to me. The NRL department head clearly had reason to try to keep the cover on this possible story. My sense is that the source is correct.

I tried to sort things out by talking with the Navy scientists at the Yokohama conference who were there unofficially.

The first one brushed me off angrily.

When I mentioned my interest to a second one, he smiled politely, but said, "I could get fired for talking to you about that." I smiled and walked away.

I was still a bit naive, perhaps, about why the topic was so forbidden. So I asked an ex-Navy officer there why I was getting such stonewalling.

He looked straight at me and exclaimed, "It's alchemy, man!"

Steven B. Krivit
Editor, New Energy Times
Executive Director, New Energy Institute Inc.

"The Alchemist" - Pereplet Gallery

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2. To the Editor
(Letters may be sent to "letters" at the New Energy Times domain name. Please include your name, city, and state or province.)
 
To the Editor:
 
Skepticism toward "cold fusion" was justified initially . No reasonable person could believe such strange claims without raising serious objections. But over the next 16 years, the intellectual war shifted, without skeptics realizing they were fighting the wrong battle.

Of course, the nuclear products are different from those observed during "hot fusion" or when high energy is applied. After all, the conditions are entirely different. However, evidence for such unusual reaction products is now too great to permit reasonable rejection of their presence.

Now the question is, How are these new conditions able to initiate observed nuclear reactions? This is where the war is being fought and where skeptics should focus their efforts.

In contrast to popular notions, this is not new alchemy. Alchemy has been practiced by conventional scientists since cyclotrons, accelerators, and fission reactors became available. Rejection is based on doing alchemy under conditions conventional scientists do not understand. Consequently, the issue is ignorance, not alchemy. In fact, the conditions used by the alchemists are entirely different from those being used for cold fusion. An alchemist would not recognize or understand what is being done now in the name of alchemy.

It is depressing that a modern scientist needs to invoke an idea believed 500 years ago in order to reject a modern study based on an entirely different method and understanding of nature. It is like rejecting the table of the elements because only four elements were believed to exist 500 years ago. If skeptics want to make a useful contribution, they need to get up to date about what is actually known.

Edmund Storms, Santa Fe, NM
Lattice Energy LLC

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NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
3. 2006 Cold Fusion Conferences
 
U.S. Cold Fusion Session at APS Conference
Cold fusion returns to Baltimore, MD., on Thursday March 16, 2006, at the American Physical. Web site:
http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR06/sessionindex2/?SessionEventID=45597

The following talks are scheduled:

"Cold Fusion – A 17-Year Retrospective," Michael C. H. McKubre and Francis L. Tanzella
"Recent Developments in Cold Fusion / Condensed Matter Nuclear Science," Steven B. Krivit
"Role of Finite Size in Triggering Excess Heat: Why Nanoscale PdD Crystals Turn on Faster," Scott Chubb
"Resolving the Laughlin Paradox," Talbot Chubb
"Dynamics of Nonlinear Soft X-Ray Emission From a Plasma Discharge-Driven Hydride Target," George H. Miley et al.
"Control of Tardive Thermal Power," Mitchell Swartz
"Progress in Excess-of-Power Experiments With Electrochemical Loading of Deuterium in Palladium," Vittorio Violante et al.
"Cavitation Foil Damage," Roger Stringham
"Isoperibolic Calorimetry Applied to the Pt/D2O Blank System," Martin Fleischmann and Melvin Miles
"New Mechanism of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions Using Superlow Energies," Fangil Gareev and I.E. Zhidkova
"Comments on Summary of Condensed Matter Nuclear Science," Xing Z. Li et al.
"Excess Heat Observed During Electrolysis of Deuterated Phosphoric Acid With Palladium Electrodes and a Solid State Electrolyte in Deuterium Gas," Jean Paul Biberian and Georges Lonchampt
"Creating an International Scientific Society as an Act of Scientific Rebellion," William Collis

Russian Cold Fusion Conference
The next Russian cold fusion conference will be held in Dagomys (Sochi) in June 2006. No further details are known at this time.

Italian Cold Fusion Conference
The next Italian cold fusion conference will be held in the fall of 2006. No further details are known at this time.

Japanese Cold Fusion Conference
The next Japanese cold fusion conference (JCF7) will be held on April 27 - 28, 2006, in Kagoshima, Japan. JCF7 will take place at Kagoshima University.

Registration and abstract submission deadline: April 10, 2006.
Registration fee: 5,000 yen.
Reception fee: About 5,000 yen.

Information will be posted here: http://wwwcf.elc.iwate-u.ac.jp/jcf/mlist/00249.html

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4. Cold Fusion Short Documentary Video
New Energy Times is pleased to present the videotape from Steven Krivit's talk, "What Really Happened with Cold Fusion, and Why Is It Coming Back?" on Nov. 1, 2005, at the International Congress on Nanotechnology in San Francisco, Calif.

http://interface.audiovideoweb.com/lnk/ca25win25198/ICNT2005/2005KrivitS-ICNT2005.wmv/play.asx
(Requires Windows Media Player; Runtime: 17 minutes, File size: 21 MB)

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5. Conference Proceedings

ICCF10 Proceedings
Peter Hagelstein, chair of the 10th International Conference on Condensed Matter reports that the ICCF10 proceedings have been published. He and co-chair Scott Chubb have received advance copies; the remainder are expected to be in the mail as we go to press.

Additional copies may be purchased at http://www.worldscibooks.com/physics/5977.html

ICCF11 Proceedings
Jean Paul Biberian, chair of the 11th International Conference on Condensed Matter, reports that the ICCF11 proceedings will be available in early February. The publication includes 74 papers with a total of 900 pages. A copy will be mailed to all registered attendees of the conference. Other individuals wishing a copy may receive one by sending a request to Biberian at jpbiberian@yahoo.fr. The cost is 100 euros including shipping.

ICCF12 Proceedings
Thanks to Jed Rothwell, LENR-CANR.org Web master, and William Collis, honorable secretary of the International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Science, papers and presentations for ICCF12 are starting to become available. Their Web sites are www.lenr-canr.org and www.iscmns.org, respectively.

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ANALYSIS AND PERSPECTIVES
 
6. An Outsider’s View of Cold Fusion

Editor’s note: Although this report from the 9th International Conference on Cold Fusion is several years old, we are publishing it in this issue because the comments expressed in Dr. Thomas J. Dolan’s 2003 report show an important perspective on both things that have changed, and those that are the same.

by Thomas J. Dolan
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, USA, 2003

1. ABSTRACT

An outsider's views are presented on the 9th International Conference on Cold Fusion (ICCF9), on cold fusion research issues, and on suggestions for improvement.

2-1. INTRODUCTION

I had the privilege of attending the first seminar on cold fusion given by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons in March 1989. Our laboratory began an experiment in April, but support for that study was cut off a few months later, so I have been an outsider to this field since then.

The field of cold fusion research lacks respect and money. It is difficult to get respect if you don't have money, and it is difficult to get money if you don't have respect. I will discuss some impressions of this conference, some potential sources of funding, some negative factors, and some suggestions.

2-2. IMPRESSIONS

I have many good impressions from this conference. There is guidance from expert leaders, pioneers in the field like Martin Fleischmann and Academician Arata. There is emphasis on replication of results, as described by Mike McKubre. There is better understanding of matrix loading conditions and effects and interesting results from use of thin films. There is good evidence of transmutations, such as transmutation of strontium into molybdenum and transmutation of cesium into praseodymium. These results should arouse worldwide attention. And there are several interesting theoretical ideas, including phonon coupling, resonant barrier tunneling, tetrahedral resonance, electron orbit shrinkage or dynamic deformation, and vortex dynamics. A worthwhile feature is that some theories suggest experiments that can be done to confirm or to disprove them. The conference organization and tour were excellent, and we can hope for replication of this good organization at the next conference.

2-3. DIFFICULTY OF GETTING FUNDING

Potential sources of research support are industry, private individuals, government, and foundations. Industry and individuals are interested in patents, scale-up, market control, and profits. They want immediate applications, so that the profits will appear in just a few years. These conditions are difficult for cold fusion to meet. Governments are sensitive to public opinion and to the opinion of the scientific community. Governments usually try to avoid embarrassment, which makes them averse to taking risks in research and development. They try to do what is "politically correct." Past government contributions to cold fusion research were severely criticized, and a recent Department of Energy grant was withdrawn after the award had been decided. Unless the public and general scientific community respect cold fusion research, getting government support will be difficult. Foundations want to know what the applications are, how soon they will be available, and how they will benefit people, but the underlying phenomena of cold fusion and designs of practical applications are not yet clear. Thus, none of these sources of funding is readily available to cold fusion researchers. In addition, several negative factors complicate the problem.

2-4. NEGATIVE FACTORS

Most scientists are too busy with their own research to keep up with what is going on in other fields. They are skeptical of new ideas and tend to conserve existing paradigms. Therefore, most scientists, even in nuclear fields, are uninformed of cold fusion developments. Scientists are also concerned about funding competition: “If new research gets funded, will my support be reduced?” This kind of attitude was partially responsible for lack of enthusiasm by the broader scientific community for the superconducting super collider project.

The public is swayed by the news media. The only scientific information that most people receive is from television, radio, newspapers, and news magazines. Journalists sometimes exaggerate mistakes, dangers, and controversies, because such exaggerations excite people, increase their audience, and sell more advertising. Unless journalists become more responsible, the public will continue to be misinformed. Such misinformation is responsible for the exaggerated fears of nuclear power.

The name "cold fusion" is also misleading. In some cases, this phenomenon is not cold, and in some cases, such as transmutation of heavy elements, it may not be fusion.

Some presentations at ICCF9 were disorganized and unrehearsed, some slides and posters were difficult to read, and some presenters read from manuscripts with little audience contact. These detracted from the quality of the conference.

There are few publications of cold fusion research results in mainstream scientific journals. For example, the one-person group at MIT recently had difficulty getting a paper accepted for publication, and this is a common experience to many people in this field. There are some exceptions: As editor of Fusion Technology, George Miley courageously accepted cold fusion papers for many years. Professor Xing Zhong Li published an important paper in Physical Review C, and some papers will be published in the Japanese Journal of Applied Physics.

In view of these funding difficulties and negative factors, I would like to pass along some suggestions for improving the respect and support for cold fusion research. Most of these are things that I have learned from conversations at the conference.

2-5. SUGGESTIONS

1). We could use the new name "condensed matter nuclear sciences" instead of "cold fusion." This was the consensus of the ICCF9 Steering Committee.

2). We could form a new technical society, as discussed by Dr. Akito Takahashi.

3). We could start a new journal, as discussed by Dr. Jean Paul Biberian.

4). A benchmark experiment could be organized, to have several labs do the same experiment and compare results.

5). A joint review article could be submitted to a mainstream journal, stressing reproducibility of results. This would help gain respect for the field, although getting the article accepted for publication could be difficult.

6). We could offer an annual prize for the best paper or achievement, and name the prize after Giuliano Preparata [Italian cold fusion physicist].

7). We could insist on higher standards for talks, posters and articles at future conferences. These would not affect outsiders immediately, but would raise the standards of the field.

8). Someone could study potential applications, looking at conceptual designs, how they could be carried out, and what their benefits would be. Although preliminary, such a study could help gain interest from funding agencies and respect for the field.

2-5 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this field of research is operating in a very difficult environment: irresponsible journalism, negative public opinion, ignorance by other scientists, profit-hungry corporations, and risk-averse governments. Respect may be attained gradually from publications in mainstream scientific journals if the negative bias can be overcome to get papers accepted. The field also could be helped by a better name, an annual prize, higher standards for presentations, and a study of potential applications.

Dr. Thomas J. Dolan has worked at the University of Missouri-Rolla, the Idaho National Laboratory, LLNL, LANL, ORNL, the Universite du Quebec, Novosibirsk State University (USSR), Tsing Hua University (Taiwan), and the National Institute for Fusion Science (Japan). He also served as head of the physics section and as a radiation safety consultant at the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna, Austria).

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7. 12th International Conference On Condensed Matter Nuclear Science (ICCF12)
by Steven Krivit

The general sense of this year's international conference, by most accounts, was surprise, pleasant surprise. Expectations of attendees going into the conference were low, considering the limited attention to the field from the broader scientific community and the sparse government funding for the field. However, a great collection of work was reported this year.

New Energy Times congratulates and thanks Akito Takahashi, Ken-ichiro Ota and Yasuhiro Iwamura for organizing and producing an outstanding conference. Our hosts are to be commended for a well-run conference, a pleasant choice of hotel facility, and excellent audio-visual support.

New Energy Times is pleased to present two firsthand technical accounts of the conference. Thomas Dolan, formerly of Idaho National Laboratory, wrote a concise overview, and Scott Chubb of the Naval Research Laboratory presented a more detailed review.

Although these reports are comprehensive, they do not represent the full body of work in the field. Other researchers at ICCF12 presented work which did not make it into the following technical reports. As well, a fair number of researchers were unable to attend ICCF12 because of funding limitations. For new observers to the field, the best way to survey the field would be to review ICCF12, as well as the two prior international conferences. Please refer to the "Conferences" menu on the New Energy Times Web site.

The ICCF12 conference program, abstracts and additional photos are located on the New Energy Times Web site here: http://newenergytimes.com/conferences/2005/ICCF12/ICCF12.shtml

This year's Preparata Awards, in honor of Italian cold fusion physicist Giuliano Preparata, went to four recipients: Yoshiaki Arata, Xing Zhong Li, Edmund Storms, and Michael McKubre.

Yoshiaki Arata	Xing Zhong Li

Edmund Storms	Michael McKubre

A fifth person received special praise from Mike McKubre: "I'd like to make a special thank you to somebody who is much unrecognized in the cold fusion community, and that's Bill Collis. The existence of a Preparata Award is entirely Bill's doing. The existence of the International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Science ( http://www.iscmns.org/) is largely Bill's doing. It's his work and his industry: He's been working away behind the scenes, organizing a conference series in Italy, organizing the International society, and really making all of this possible, so thank you, Bill."

Bill Collis
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Participants enjoyed a fun field trip to Kotoku-in (The Great Buddha) and the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine to get a taste of the spectacular heritage of Japan.

The Great Buddha in Kamakura	Who is that tall guy behind Ed Storms?

(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)
Conference attendees were treated to a first-rate Taiko drumming performance. The thunder of the drums reminded Tadahiko Mizuno of the explosion in his lab earlier this year, though the explosion was much louder, he said.

(Photo Credit: W. Collis)
The drums were a bit too loud for a few folks.

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8. Dolan ICCF12 Report

Notes from the 12th International Conference on
Condensed Matter Nuclear Sciences

Nov. 27 – Dec. 2, 2005, Yokohama, Japan

by Thomas J. Dolan

The following brief summary refers to only some of the 60 papers presented at the conference.

Experiments

Yasuhiro Iwamura (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) presented more data on transmutations of cesium to praseodymium, barium to samarium, and strontium to molybdenum, using a variety of diagnostic techniques, including a detailed surface mapping using a synchrotron microbeam (100 x 100 micrometers). The Mitsubishi researchers found that the transmutations occurred in small concentrated sites on the surface. Afterward, I asked him what labs have reproduced some of his transmutations, and he said Osaka University, Shizuoka University, Francesco Celani (Italy), and the Naval Research Laboratory (in progress).

A. Kitamura (Kobe University) coated films on the vacuum side of the palladium foil (Iwamura coated the gas side) and reported transmutation of strontium into molybdenum.

Irina Savvatimova (“Luch” Institute, Moscow) reported transmutation of barium to samarium.

A. El-Boher (Energetics Technologies, Israel) used "superwave" modulation of the current in electrolysis cells to increase yield. He achieved 600 percent excess heat for 24 hours and 150 percent for 134 hours. Irving Dardik (a physician) developed the superwave technique with regard to curing human illnesses, and it is found to have applications in several fields.

Vittorio Violante (ENEA, Italy) used a helium-neon laser to enhance excess power generation during electrochemical loading.

Yoshiaki Arata (Osaka University) observed intense heat generation during ingress of deuterium into a thin cylinder containing palladium nanoparticles.

Alexander Karabut ("Luch" laboratory, Russia) observed excess heat generation and transmutations during deuterium glow discharges, but not during krypton or xenon discharges. Using spark mass spectrometry, SIMS, and secondary neutral mass spectrometry, they identified the emergence of many impurities, including abnormal isotope ratios for several elements. They also observed emission of gamma rays and x-rays.

Andrei Lipson and George Miley (Lebedev Institute, Moscow, and University of Illinois, respectively) reported emissions of energetic protons and alpha particles during controlled exothermic deuterium desorption from the surface of a Pd/PdO:Dx heterostructure. Using CR-39 detectors, they found 1-3 MeV proton tracks and 11-16 MeV alpha tracks, with a yield about 0.005 alphas/cm 2-s, reproducible during about 20 experiments. They also reported data indicating superconductivity in a palladium hydride and deuteride.

Francesco Celani (Frascati, Italy) told how he coated palladium wires with palladium-silicate to produce fractal nanostructures and enhance deuterium loading.

Vladimir Vysotskii (Kiev) and Alla Kornilova (Moscow) reported that manganese-55 was transmuted into iron-57 in a solution of MnSO4 in heavy water plus nutrients and microbes, and the yield after 30 days was about 10 -6. In light water, no iron-57 was produced. They have published a book on this topic. [Available at http://www.infinite-energy.com/]

Some attempts to emulate transmutation results, such as those of Iwamura, have not yet been fruitful. During the discussion Dolan pointed out that oxides of calcium, strontium, and barium are used in commercial vacuum tube cathodes, and that great care must be taken during vacuum tube manufacture to avoid impurities like oil, which can poison the cathodes' thermal emissivity. The samples must also be baked out in a very clean ultrahigh vacuum system.

Mike McKubre (SRI International) presented new data to clarify the relationship between the electrical resistance ratio R/Ro of palladium and the fractional loading of deuterium near N(d)/N(Pd) ~ 1.

Jean-Francois Fauvarque (Laboratoire d’Electrochemis Industrielle, France) reported reproducible heat generation during electrolysis with a tungsten cathode. At 350 volts, the output energy was 1.3 to 1.4 times the input energy.

Tadahiko Mizuno (Hokkaido University) described an electrolysis experiment in which the cathode overheated and exploded. After 300 joules electrical input, the output heat plus explosion energy totaled about 0.24 megajoules. Analysis of the tungsten cathode revealed deposits of calcium, sulfur, and other elements but no residual radioactivity.

There is a new collaboration between Italy and Japan (Takahashi, Celani, Iwamura) to try to transmute radioactive isotopes such as cesium-137 and strontium-90 into stable isotopes, which could have application for remediation of radioactive wastes. I. Goryachev (Kurchatov Institute) is also studying the possibility of waste remediation.

Jean-Paul Biberian (Marseille, France) heated a clean palladium foil to 500 C, cooled and sanded it, heated it again to 500 C, and coated it with zinc, lead, or lithium. When the coated foil was immersed in deuterium gas, it loaded quickly and generated excess heat.

Steve Krivit (New Energy Times) and Vladimir Vysotskii (Kiev) told of experiments by A. Koldamasov (Russia), Hyunik Yang (Hy-En Research Co.) and others involving flow of high-pressure machine oil or water through a small orifice (~ 1 mm). There are experiments in Korea and in Edmonton, Canada, and theoretical work in Russia. Krivit showed a videotape of the Canadian device in action. In boron-doped oil at 30 atm, the color is tawny. At over 40 atm, it is white. At over 60 atm it is clear, with a blue plasma jet downstream of the orifice. At 70-80 atm, there is a bright blue beam 6 mm in diameter, and at over 90 atm, a green glow appears upstream of the orifice. Hard x-rays were observed from the luminous region. The researchers claim that excess heat is generated from fusion reactions (possibly protons plus boron-11) during collapse of cavitation bubbles, and they detected helium-4 emission lines from the cavitating fluid.

Lipson and Miley showed that the walls of high-power tokamaks like the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) could be damaged by low energy nuclear reactions induced by implanted deuterium and tritium.

Theory

Fangil Gareev
(Photo Credit: W. Collis)

F. A. Gareev (Dubna, Russia) stated that he derived the Bohr hydrogen atom conditions from a Hamiltonian without reference to Bohr conditions or quantum mechanics. He said that quantum theory should be reformulated for open systems and that atoms are self-organizing systems in which standing waves are synchronized by resonances.

John Fisher
(Photo Credit: W. Collis)

John Fisher (USA) suggested that under some conditions in lattices, polyneutron clusters may form and stimulate nuclear transmutations.

Akito Takahashi
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Akito Takahashi (Osaka University) noted that 150 theoretical models have been proposed to explain low energy nuclear reactions. He hypothesizes that inside a crystal lattice, four deuterons plus four electrons can coalesce to form a “tetrahedral symmetric condensate,” which can interact with the host atoms’ nuclei, and he estimated the corresponding reaction rates.

Xing-Zhong Li (Tsinghua University, Beijing) discussed calculations of internal reflection and multiple scattering of deuteron waves. The symmetry of the lattice planes may help sustain the deuteron wave nature against lattice vibrations. Even if the absorption in a single layer is very low, the total absorption from multiple layers may be significant.

Scott Chubb
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Scott Chubb (Naval Research Laboratory) and Talbot Chubb pointed out that, in finite chunks of lattice, the end boundary conditions invalidate some of the ideas that hold for infinitely long media. Bloch deuterons may occur along the interface between palladium and CaO. The salt provides a lattice, and the metal provides free electrons to neutralize the deuteron charge. Communication occurs between deuterons in octahedral and tetrahedral sites of the palladium. Tunneling depends on crystal size. Tiny 6 nm crystals with tunneling times in microseconds either cannot provide enough momentum to initiate DD fusion or they conduct ions so rapidly that collisions occur. Medium-sized 60nm crystals load rapidly and create heat. Crystals larger than 60 microns have tunneling times longer than a month, which is too slow.

Yeong Kim (Purdue University) presented a new theory that uses a Lorentzian broadening of the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution that was formulated in the 1930s. With this broadening phenomenon, he predicts much higher nuclear reaction rates in solids.

Using a Hamada-Johnson potential, Peter Hagelstein and I. Chaudhary (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have computed 400 matrix elements for deuteron interactions with phonons. They soon will be able to predict various reaction rates to test their theory of phonon interactions stimulating nuclear reactions.

William Collis reported that the new International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Sciences (ISCMNS) has 170 members. Its motto is “Ardet nec consumitur,” which means “It burns but is not consumed.”

Summary

In his summary of the ICCF-12 conference, Xing-Zhong Li said that CMNS has three “legs”:

Excess heat generation
Nuclear reaction products and transmutations
Good reproducibility.

Many experiments have achieved the first two legs, but reproducibility has been demonstrated in only a few experiments, such as those of Iwamura. Arata is building a larger device (3 x 30 cm) to demonstrate reliable higher power operation.

New companies are investing in CMNS (D2Fusion and Energetics Technologies), and new international research collaborations involve SRI International-Israel-Italy and Italy-Japan. The double-structure work of Arata demonstrates clear evidence of heat generation during deuterium flow in palladium, and the work of Iwamura provides additional detailed measurements of transmutations. Several theorists are making good progress toward understanding the phenomena, such as the deuteron wave theory of Chubb. The U.S. Department of Energy review of CMNS was favorable, and DOE now is willing to consider research proposals. The Journal of Fusion Energy (edited by Steve Dean) is willing to accept papers dealing with CMNS. Li stated that three of the suggestions made by Dolan at ICCF-9 (Beijing 2002) now are being fulfilled:

A new technical society (the International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Sciences).
An award for great achievements (the Preparata Award).
A new journal (formation in progress).

The next international conference, ICCF-13, probably will be take place in 2007 in Russia or in the United States.

_________________________________________________________________________________ 

9. Chubb ICCF12 Report
by Scott Chubb
Published and reprinted courtesy of Infinite Energy Magazine; Issue #65 (Jan/Feb 2006)

Travel Report 12th International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science

Overview of the Conference

Between Nov. 27 and Dec. 2, 2005, 107 scientists, inventors, engineers, journalists, and students from nine countries came together to meet, socialize and exchange ideas about cold fusion and low energy nuclear reactions (LENR) in Yokohama, Japan. It was the 12th in a series of international conferences on condensed matter nuclear science. Twenty of the participants were students, and the remaining 87 have been involved regularly with the field.

The breakdown by country was: Japan: 33, United States: 22, Russia: 10, Italy: 6, Israel: 6, Korea: 5, France: 2, China: 2, Ukraine: 1.

Conference Organization

In the past, these conferences have been referred to as International Conferences on Cold Fusion, ICCF. Because the term “cold fusion” does not accurately describe all of the relevant science, the local organizing committee for this conference, in consultation with the international advisory committee for the series, decided that the acronym ICCF would remain but the related text used in conjunction with it would refer to “condensed matter nuclear science” rather than “cold fusion.”

Traditionally, the ICCF conference venues have rotated sequentially from Europe to Asia to North America. They typically occur within 12-to-18 months of one another.

In 2003, ICCF10 took place in Cambridge, Mass. Because the venue was an officially sponsored MIT event, larger amounts of funding from outside sources were required to finance the event as compared with the more recent ICCF conferences. This resulted in the potential for greater financial liability on behalf of the conference organizers.

As a consequence, when preliminary plans for future ICCF conferences were formalized during ICCF10 and ICCF11, concerns were raised about funding the future ICCF13 event. No particular group or individual from North America expressed an interest in sponsoring ICCF13.

Consequently, during ICCF11 , organizers tentatively suggested that it was not necessary to continue the traditional rotation among continents. The organizers agreed to an alternative plan: to site ICCF13 in Russia, during the fall of 2006 or spring of 2007.

Consistent with the initial plan, organizers decided that ICCF12 would take place in Asia. Volunteers from Japan offered to organize the conference for the fall of 2005, a year after the Marseilles, France, ICCF11 conference.

During the recent ICCF12 in Yokohama, Japan, representatives of the Russian local organizing committee for ICCF13 presented preliminary plans which suggested their preference to hold the conference in October 2007. Other organizers expressed concerns about the longer time span (23 months) between conferences based on this plan.

In particular, the international advisory committee recommended that ICCF13 take place within 18 months of ICCF12, which would require that it take place during the spring or early summer of 2007.

The primary organizer of the Russian effort, Yuri Bazhutov, was unable to attend ICCF12; consequently, organizers were unable to finalize the schedule for ICCF13. However, the international advisory committee did consider an alternative proposal, by David Nagel of George Washington University, that was consistent with the recommended 18-month timeline.

Nagel proposed that if the Russian group couldn't foresee hosting ICCF13 before October 2007, it might consider hosting ICCF14 instead, a year later. If so, Nagel would volunteer to organize ICCF13 for late spring or early summer 2007 in Washington, D.C.

The final consideration discussed by organizers was that the idea of holding ICCF13 in Russia as opposed to North America had resulted from a tentative modification of the initial protocol. Consequently, organizers were not adverse to Nagel’s alternative proposal.

The committee decided that Akito Takahashi, the chair of this year’s conference, would formally communicate with Bazhotov and the Russian local organizing committee. A resolution is expected by the end of February 2006.

Conference Overview

Readers wishing to view the formal program for ICCF12 can find it online at www.iscmns.org, www.iccf12.org, and New Energy Times ( http://www.newenergytimes.com/conferences/2005/ICCF12/ICCF12.shtml ).

Significant progress in explaining and documenting a number of phenomena related to experiments and in the evolution of employed experimental techniques have taken place. Consequently, many researchers delivered important information in the oral sessions.

Organizers scheduled talks on the more-established subject areas for the earlier sessions in the week; these included existing, research programs and research that had evolved over many years. Organizers scheduled the more speculative talks for the end of the final complete day of the conference, on Thursday, Dec. 1, and during the morning session on Friday, Dec. 2. This structure helped to create a more focused week than previous ICCF conferences.

The program began with a tutorial class on Nov. 27. Vittorio Violante from the Italian Agency for New Technologies Energy and Environment, Frascati, presented first with a reasonably well-understood topic, “Nuclear Effects in Heavy-Water Systems. George Miley, Yasuhiro Iwamura and Akito Takahashi presented the next talks involving newer topics. Respectively, their subjects were 1) potential nuclear effects in “ordinary-water;” 2) analyses of alternative, potential sets of room temperature nuclear processes (“Analyses in Transmutation Experiments”) and 3) A relatively new theory (titled “Fusion Rate Formulas for Bosonized Condensates”).

During the next four days, presentations focused on excess heat with helium-4, transmutation, nuclear physics effects and approaches, material science, and excess heat. During the late afternoon of Dec. 1, topics related to more “conventional” forms of excess heat were also presented, but two additional talks that seem to be related to conventional nuclear physics were presented.

In contrast with most of the prior ICCF conferences, the organizers of ICCF12 allotted 30 minutes for each oral presentation, rather than a broad range of speaking times. People who have been involved with the field or those who have suggested potentially useful, new ideas were selected for the oral presentations. Attendees presenting posters were given a short, three-minute time slot to give a synopsis of the ideas associated with their poster.

Science Overview And General Comments:

New evidence was presented that supports an intuitive idea that, beginning as early as 1996, was postulated as being important for initiating excess heat and possibly other effects: the potential role of crystal size in initiating excess heat and the possibility that excess heat might be triggered more rapidly in smaller crystals.

An additional, potentially important theme of a number of talks involved simplifying the loading process by using gas- (as opposed to electrolytic-) loading of deuterium into palladium and, in the case of glow discharge experiments, other metals.

Both themes appear to be related to a more general trend: attempts to simplify particular protocols for initiating excess heat and to understand potential triggering mechanisms. In particular, innovative ideas were presented for overcoming many of the pitfalls and difficulties associated with conventional electrolysis.

As a consequence, results from a number of new, simplified procedures involving gas-loading, low-power glow discharge, and modified forms of electrolysis (solid, basic or acidic) were presented. In these, one or more problems associated with the conventional Fleischmann-Pons electrolytic loading procedures were eliminated.

Results associated with experiments involving potential transmutations also were presented. However, with the exception of the work by Vladimir Vysotskii and his collaborators, involving possible transmutations in living organisms, these presentations focused primarily on efforts to reproduce or understand the results of Iwamura et al. Thus, as opposed to ICCF11 and ICCF10, in which a number of untested ideas and experiments were presented concerning possible transmutations, the associated results during ICCF12 were considerably more focused.

A number of additional, novel results involving alternative forms of loading and higher energy effects were presented. One was a presentation by Tadahiko Mizuno that summarized an episode involving an explosion associated with a glow discharge experiment. Another, reported by Andrei Lipson and Alexi Roussetski, discussed experiments in which high-energy alpha particle and proton emission were observed after hydrogen or deuterium was gas-loaded into Pd/PdO compounds. Alexander Karabut reported the emission of coherent x-rays during high-current glow discharge experiments.

Selected Excess Heat/Helium Experiments:

Yoshiaki Arata
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Yoshiaki Arata (Osaka University) presented the most important talk of ICCF12. In it, he described an important breakthrough involving a variant of the conventional “Double-Structure” cell that he and Yue Chang Zhang previously developed. The earlier configuration produced excess heat, helium-4 and helium-3 and was published in the proceedings of the Japan Academy of Science ( B 73, 62-7 (1997), (B 73, 1-6 (1997) ). Whereas the earlier configuration used electrolytic loading, the new design used gas loading.

An important observation which helped him and Zhang make this breakthrough is that the key heat-producing reaction takes place in regions that contain smaller particles (palladium-black) that were separated from the portions of their cells that involved electrolysis.

They also made a second important observation, involving the identification of a protocol from their initial Double-Structure cell work: It is possible to create extremely high pressures of D 2 gas (> 10,000 atmospheres) electrolytically in regions that are not directly related to the production of heat.

These observations enabled Arata and Zhang to distinguish between the process of effectively creating an electrolytic pump for loading D 2 gas into a particular region of space, which they inferred from the behavior of their Double-Structure cathode, from the process of creating excess heat. In particular, they used the associated pump to load D 2 gas into chambers containing palladium-black and other nanoscale forms of palladium. They found that the smaller nanoscale-dimension materials triggered heat production considerably more effectively. This presentation is available on-line www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/ArataYdevelopmenb.pdf .

Another set of important results was presented in two related presentations associated with work at Energetics Technologies of Israel and at the ENEA Frascati laboratory in Italy.

Arik El-Boher
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

In the first of these talks, Arik El- Boher from Energetics provided a detailed discussion of new results associated with a loading technique. This had been described initially at ICCF10 and subsequently at ICCF11. The loading technique apparently also can be used to create excess heat in a nearly reproducible fashion.

The innovative step in their work that appears to make this possible involves a form of nonlinear pulsing of the applied voltages that are used to load the electrode. It applies to both electrolytic loading and glow discharge experiments.

Apparently, as opposed to using either standing waves or a constant, direct current-applied voltage, by creating a nonlinear, superposition of different waves during the pulsing process, many frequencies are constructed and effectively force deuterium into a palladium substrate electrolytically.

The effect also occurs in glow-discharge experiments in an ionized, gaseous form which is created by passing currents through a D + plasma into a palladium metal substrate.

The associated waves, which El-Boher has referred to in the past as “Super-Waves,” impart momentum to the heavy water (D + plasma) in the electrolytic and/or glow-discharge experiments in a time-dependent manner that includes many frequency components.

Empirically, the Israeli group has found that the Super-Waves appear to induce considerable variation in loading. This makes possible obtaining high electrolytic loading in 10s of seconds as opposed to loading times of 10s to 100s of hours that are frequently required in more conventional, electrolytic procedures.

During both ICCF11 and ICCF12, the Israeli group also reported large amounts of excess power in its electrolytic experiments, in which output power was as much as 25 times larger than the input power. The group also reported the phenomenon of “Heat After Death,” in which excess power continues in the absence of an electrolyte.

At last year's conference, El-Boher reported that the group had found tritium in one of its electrolytic experiments. This year, El-Boher reported significant improvements in the ability to reproduce excess heat. In particular, he reported that the group could reproduce excess heat 80 percent of the time based on eight of 10 runs.

Energetics has been involved with collaborations with Violante since the 2003 ICCF11 conference. In particular, the company has been using electrodes that were prepared specially by Violante.

Vittorio Violante
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Violante, the senior scientist associated with the work at ENEA, now claims he is able to produce excess heat 100 percent of the time, provided particular criteria are satisfied. Underlying much of this successful effort is a research strategy that is based on the assumption that it is necessary to understand important attributes of the materials, the associated material science, and behavior of the electrolytic cells in order to reproduce the associated effect. For this reason, at ENEA, scientists have performed detailed analyses of the material properties and structure of the electrode materials that are used in their experiments.

Violante described the efforts to understand materials preparation in detail during ICCF11 and an analysis of the thermal transport properties of their cells during ICCF12. The associated analysis and measurements are being carried out at the official ENEA cold fusion laboratory. In particular, during ICCF11, Violante emphasized that reproducibly generating excess heat requires understanding the conditions for reproducibly achieving high loading.

He also emphasized that the conditions for achieving high loading in deuterated metals are 1) controlled by equilibrium and nonequilibrium phenomena and 2) impeded by self-induced stress resulting from concentration gradients in deuterium at the surface during loading. These factors can reduce deuterium solubility significantly and, as a consequence, reduce loading.

Since ICCF11, considerable progress has been made in actually simulating the heat flux and thermal diffusion in the ENEA cells, including a detailed analysis of the electrolyte-surface interface of the electrolytic cells, based on a two-fluid model. It involves different fluid densities and viscosities, within the context of a steady-state limit, with negligible changes in mass and pressure at the interface.

These efforts have demonstrated the importance of including a realistic model of the fluid dynamics at the interface and have provided a procedure for understanding the effects of changes in the surface environment on the behavior of their cells. A major focus of the ENEA materials research effort has been to identify procedures -- for example, for annealing and cold-working the materials at particular temperatures and for minimizing self-induced stress.

During ICCF12, Violante showed a new “double structure” cell for producing excess heat using laser irradiation at 690 nm wavelength. These are similar to results reported by other groups during ICCF10 and ICCF11. The ENEA lab found that it can trigger excess heat by optically irradiating electrodes with a laser at relatively low (33 mW) power, tuned to a particular (.635 micron) frequency. The lab also alternately switched the current and loading between higher and lower values. As reported at ICCF11, after applying these stimuli, the lab was able to obtain excess heat during each of three experiments.

During ICCF12, Violante provided additional details associated with work with the new cell. The group found that the amount of extra helium-4 and excess heat in each of these experiments is consistent with a result found at SRI International and elsewhere: The amount of additional (excess) heat energy that is observed equals one-to-two times the amount of energy that results from the product of the total number of additional helium-4 atoms that are observed outside the electrode with the energy release (23.8 MeV) that would occur if all of the energy associated with the d+d > helium-4 fusion reaction is converted directly into heat.

(At SRI International, Michael McKubre and his co-workers have shown that, depending on the material properties of the electrodes that are used in electrolytic experiments, the excess heat can be expected to be larger than the amount associated with helium-4 found outside the electrode because an approximately comparable amount of helium-4 can be expected to remain trapped inside the cathode.)

John Dash
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

John Dash reported an additional, interesting, new result associated with excess heat. It involved additions of small amounts of titanium into an acidic solution (H2O+H2SO4) that was used during electrolysis (by palladium) in a novel configuration of the form, Pt|H 2O+H 2SO 4|Pd. In particular, the introduction of small amounts of titanium generated excess heat.

Selected Transmutation Presentations

Yasuhiro Iwamura
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Yasuhiro Iwamura (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) presented more data on transmutations of cesium to praseodymium, barium to samarium, and strontium to molybdenum.

The amounts of material are small. Consequently, careful experiments must be conducted using sufficient X-ray fluxes to insure that quantitative bounds can be established for the associated changes in composition.

Iwamura partially confirmed that these kinds of studies are being conducted, using x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, at the Spring-8 synchrotron facility. These XRF studies included a detailed analysis of surface morphology using the Spring-8 synchrotron microbeam (defined by an initial 100 x 100 micron resolution image), analyzed with varying degrees of resolution and XRF Spectra.

The “apparent” transmutations occurred in small concentrated sites within this image. An important point is that the most compelling evidence for transmutation, in these experiments, is the near-simultaneous appearance of new elements (praseodymium and molybdenum), accompanied by the depletion of elements (cesium and strontium), involving a reduction of 4 protons and 4 neutrons.

Although the work involving XRF spectra did not precisely mimic the earlier X-ray photoemission studies, the distribution of potential byproducts occurred at particular locations that are difficult to explain based on a quasi-random model of impurity diffusion. Thus, although the associated findings were not conclusive, they were quite convincing in suggesting that nuclear transmutations were involved. The Iwamura team also found evidence for lanthanum also being produced in the cesium-to-praseodymium experiment.

Variants of the Iwamura approach were presented by Shinya Narita and Hiroshi Yamada of Iwate University and Akira Kitamura of Kobe University. Narita and Yamada attempted to reproduce the Iwamura effect, however, it was not clear if they precisely followed Iwamura's protocol Part of the reason for this probably involved differences in the procedures that were used.

Yamada seems to have included several of the important aspects of the Iwamura configuration. He used a composite multilayer structure, including CaO layers, as well as cesium on palladium.

However, high pressure D 2 gas was used. It also is not clear whether the loading was performed at the same temperature (70 o) that was used by Iwamura.

The procedures followed by Narita also deviated from the procedures used by Iwamura. In particular, as opposed to using a flux of D 2 gas at room temperature in a quasi-equilibrium situation, Narita and co-workers performed discharge experiments (with energies <~ 10 keV). They also used a Pd/CaO/Pd sandwich structure for their cathode, but again, their detailed procedure was significantly different from the procedure followed by Iwamura. Thus, although in both the Yamada et al. and Narita et al. experiments, evidence of anomalous elements appearing in their electrodes was found, the findings deviated significantly from those obtained by Iwamura et al.

An important point is that the most convincing results from the Iwamura et al. work resulted from the x-ray photoemission spectra. In particular, these results show that a significant correlation occurs between the appearance of new material (praseodymium or molybdenum) and the disappearance of material (cesium or strontium) initially present at the surface of the palladium. Neither Narita et al. or Yamada et al. presented results that are as convincing. In particular, in both of these newer experiments, the possibility that impurity migration might account for their transmutation claims cannot be ruled out. Important reasons for the very different results found in both experiments involve the very different procedures that they used and the fact that both of these procedures also deviated significantly from the procedures followed by Iwamura.

In a poster presentation, Kitamura also reported results from experiments involving attempts to reproduce the Iwamura et al. effects. In the work by Kitamura et al., a number of additional probes using higher energy particles were used (including Rutherford backscatter, spectra, for example) in addition to x-ray photoemission spectra (XPS), which also was used.

Tom Dolan (retired, Idaho National Laboratory) reported that this group claimed to see a form of transmutation of strontium into molybdenum, similar to one of the transmutation effects observed by Iwamura.

In his ICCF12 abstract, Kitamura reported that preliminary work involved placing the cesium on the opposite side, away from the D 2 gas. Dolan reported that in Kitamura’s poster he had repeated the experiments using strontium, with strontium-coated films, also placed on the vacuum side. Dolan also reported that Kitamura found evidence of the same kind of effect (associated with strontium) in which the number of strontium atoms is reduced (atom-for-atom, within the accuracy of the measurements) as the number of molybdenum atoms increases.

This suggests that the same kind of reaction that was observed in the Iwamura work is taking place, in which strontium is converted into molybdenum through the addition of four protons and four neutrons (possibly involving four deuterons): Sr+4p+4n->Mo.

Irina Savvatimova
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Irina Savvatimova (“Luch” Institute, Podolsk, Russia) reported a number of remarkable results from low energy plasma glow discharge experiments (with 300-1000 voltages and 5-150 mA current) involving hydrogen and deuterium ions. The results included correlation with potential transmutations and the location of particular “hot spots” on the surfaces of the electrodes. She found “enormous” deviations in the isotopic ratios from those that naturally occur for Mg, Si, K, S, Ca, and Fe after deuterium glow discharge in palladium and evidence that irradiation in the discharge induces structural/mechanical impurity increases.

Particle Emission Studies:

In the past, Jirohta Kasagi (Tohoku University) has found unexpectedly large fusion rates and cross-sections in experiments involving collisions that result when lower energy (<10 keV) deuterons (d’s) collide with titanium targets that contain deuterium.

At ICCF12, Kasagi discussed new results associated with d+d reactions in different materials and evidence for multibody d+d+d reactions. The new solids included Pd and PdO and new Li+D reactions in Pd, PdO and Au at lower (~1 KeV) energies than those that are used in most conventional nuclear fusion experiments. (Kasagi et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 73 (2004) 608).

Kasagi’s group also investigated Li+D reactions in solid, liquid, and gaseous forms of Li. He began by providing some background about his previous work involving D+D reactions in metals. In particular, he previously found that the D+D nuclear fusion reaction rate in metals can be strongly enhanced, in some cases by as much as a factor of ~100, at incident, kinetic energies of ~1 KeV. The enhancement implies a considerably larger screening energy, V. (He has found that V can be as large as 300 eV.)

He suggested that this extrapolation, based on the standard Gamow tunneling model to the larger screening energies, implies that in the limit of vanishing incident kinetic energy, fusion rates per unit volume could be as large as 10 9 /cc/sec. His motivation for investigating D+Li (as opposed to D+D) was to see how the presence of a target (Li) with a higher atomic number in the metal potentially could alter the screening energy. He found that, when D ions bombard Pd-Li or Au-Li alloys, the Li+D screening energy is significantly enhanced, as in the D+D case, but he has been able to perform the extrapolation and scaling only qualitatively.

He offered a number of speculations about the physics associated with his observations. In particular, he suggested that the D, within the target, might have appreciable momentum, possibly through an effective form of coherence, which he suggested could result in the D’s effectively behaving as if they have an extremely “heavy mass.” He said that the largest effect occurred in PdO.

He emphasized the fact that more precise information about the behavior of the target nuclei, potentially through a multiple-scattering analysis, is required and that studies of similar collisions in many different host materials at these energies are required to gain some understanding of the underlying phenomena.

Alexi Rousettski and Andrei Lipson
(Photo Credit: W. Collis)

Andrei Lipson and Alexi Rousettski (Lebedev Institute, Moscow) presented remarkable results in which potential high-energy proton and alpha particle emission was observed in experiments involving hydrogen- and deuterium- desorption from PdO/Pd hetero-structures.

Through a novel analysis of the time history of track etching in CR-39 detectors that were used to detect particles potentially emitted from the PdO/Pd samples, and from comparable etchings, observed after the detectors were exposed to well-calibrated sources of alpha particles and protons, Rousettski unambiguously demonstrated that he could identify alpha emissions from the samples possessing energies between 11 and 16 MeV and proton emissions with energies between 1 and 1.5 MeV.

Using the same kind of technique but with deuterium (as opposed to hydrogen) desorption, in addition to finding 11-16 MeV alpha particle emission, Lipson found a “highly reproducible signal involving protons” but at a different energy (~ 3 MeV), which is consistent with the proton emission that is expected in the conventional (hot fusion) d+d->t+p reaction.

Tadahiko Mizuno
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

As written earlier in this article, Mizuno described the history and effects involved with a particular glow discharge experiment that apparently led to a form of nonlinear, run-away event, in which the cathode overheated and exploded. He inferred from details associated with the explosion that from an initial energy of 300 joules, the discharge induced energy (in the form output heat plus explosion energy) of approximately 0.24 megajoules.

Although it was difficult to isolate potential artifacts involving possible migration of material from regions external to the experiment from materials that could be relevant to transmutation reactions associated with the experiment as a result of the explosion, he inferred that anomalous deposits of calcium, sulfur and other elements appeared on his tungsten cathode, distributed in a manner that was similar to the way other anomalous materials were distributed in some of his earlier experiments. As in most situations involving LENR, he observed no appreciable radioactivity or high energy particles.

Glow Discharge/Gas-Loading Experiments

There were a number of Glow Discharge experiments, besides the ones that were conducted by Energetics Technologies and Mizuno. Domenico Cirillo, Alessandro Dattilo, and Vincenzo Iorio (from Italy) gave a talk in which they reported a number of transmutations (Re, Os, Au, Tl, Tm, Hf, Yb, Er, Ca.) in their glow discharge experiments. This work is similar to Mizuno’s, which involves a plasma formed from a normal water – K 2CO 3 electrolyte between a tungsten cathode and a potassium anode.

Glow discharge tube built by Passell and Benson (Dec. 2004) (Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Thomas Benson and Thomas Passell (associated with D2fusion Inc.) presented preliminary results in a poster and in a talk associated with using glow discharge devices. In the poster, a particular device modeled after the ones used by Energetics Technologies was presented. It involved cathodes made from various metals and a variety of nanoscale structures formed from the materials.

In the talk, Passell described a new simplified glow discharge device, involving small (.69 watt) input power with slightly greater (.79 watt) output power, discharged in a low pressure (2-20 T) D 2 gas.

In additional work on glow discharge, reported by Tom Dolan, V.A. Romadonov (“LUCH” Research Institute, Podolsk, Russia), presented a poster in which attempts were made to find gamma ray and neutron emission from a glow discharge device. In their experiments, they used procedures that they have published in papers at www.lenr-canr.org. Not unexpectedly, they found no evidence of “fast” or “slow” neutrons. They speculated they had observed gamma rays from a potential transmutation of 55Mn to 56Mn.

Alexander Karabut and interpreter Nataliya Famina
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Alexander Karabut (“LUCH” Research Institute) presented two posters involving glow discharge experiments. In the first, he described experiments carried out over a relatively long period of time (0.1s) involving discharges of either H 2, or D 2, in the presence of an isolated palladium cathode. He also described similar experiments involving discharges of noble gases (Ar, Xe, or Kr) in the presence of palladium that previously had been charged with deuterium. In both sets of experiments, he used pulsed currents (up to 500 mA) and discharge voltages between 500 and 2500 V, with cathode samples of Pd, in which the pulse period, pulse duration and value of discharge current were changed.

Also in these experiments, Karabut used initial gas pressures up to 10 Torr. He found excess power (10 –15W) with an efficiency (output power/input power) of 150 percent, using a palladium cathode, and D 2 discharge. He also found that the discharge process released as much as 5 watts of excess power with an efficiency of 150 percent by discharging Xe, using palladium that had been previously charged with deuterium.

In his second poster, Karabut described similar experiments, in which H 2, D 2, or Kr 2 was discharged in the presence of a number of different cathode samples (made from Al, Sc, Ti, Ni, Nb, Zr, Mo, Pd, Ta, W, Pt). Again, these were with pulsed currents, up to 500 mA, and discharge voltages in the same, 500-2500 volt range. In an oral presentation (mentioned earlier), he observed x-rays that apparently were being created through processes that were initiated during the discharge process. However, they persisted for periods as long as 0.1s after the discharge current had been turned off. The associated process appears to result in the generation of coherent “beams” of X-rays ( 10 4 beams per second and 10 9 photons per beam) that he proposes involve a form of an X-ray lasing phenomenon. (He explicitly referred to the beams as being the output of an X-ray laser.)

Additional Gas-LoadingExperiments

Xing Zhong Li (Tsinghua University) presented a talk in which he described gas-loading experiments performed in his group. The experiments involved fluxes of D 2 alone or diffuse mixtures of D 2/ H 2 into a small palladium disk, similar to the kind of disk used in the Iwamura experiments.

This work was inspired by an early publication by C. Fralick of NASA Lewis from December 1989. (C. Fralick, NASA Technical Memorandum, 102430, DEC 1989 (http://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/FralickGCresultsofa.pdf).

The NASA paper reported that, in gas-loading experiments involving D 2 in Pd, at elevated temperatures (380 o C), excess heat, was produced when a net flux of D 2 gas passed through the palladium. The NASA researchers considered the experiment to be "negative" because the work demonstrated excess heat, but no neutrons.

The gas is loaded into the palladium from either of two external regions in Li’s and Fralick’s experiments. As in the Iwamura experiments, the palladium disk is placed along the boundary between two distinctly different volumes of gas. Effectively, a net flux of D 2 passes from one external region to the other after each D 2 molecule dissociates at one side of the palladium, moves through the palladium, and recombines after it leaves the other side of the palladium.

The amount and direction of the flux is controlled by differences in temperature or pressure between the two external regions. By changing the amount of D 2 in the different regions, as a result of passing the gas through the palladium, initiating excess heat was possible. In particular, by reducing the pressure and externally applied heat, Fralick found that the temperature of the sample actually would increase. (In the absence of LENR, such an increase in temperature violates the second law of thermodynamics.)

Li and his group repeated a similar experiment and have published their results (J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 36, 3095 (2003)). In addition to finding excess heat, Li reported that they also looked for tritium. Preliminary results suggest tritium may have been produced.

Andrei Lipson reported additional results involving loading and deloading of hydrogen into PdO that indicate the onset of a potential 70 o K (and possibly higher temperature) form of superconductivity. The experiments involved thin PdO films that were cyclically loaded and deloaded with small amounts of hydrogen. In particular, beginning from thin (12.5 micron) palladium foils in the presence of thermally adsorbed O, Lipson repetitively introduced and removed residual hydrogen from the sample electrolytically.

Typically, loading involved values of x~0.003 (in PdH xO). Here, through the electrolytic recycling process, Lipson inferred that some of the residual hydrogen was trapped in deep, dislocation core sites. In particular, Lipson performed precision measurements of quantities of hydrogen that were present as a function of temperature as the hydrogen from the sample was recycled through the sample into a very low pressure vacuum. These measurements allowed him to estimate the quantity of residual hydrogen that remained trapped in the sample.

From detailed analyses of the temperature-dependence of the deloading process, Lipson was able to estimate the desorption energy required to release the hydrogen. In particular, a significant amount was released at 430 o (corresponding to a desorption energy of ~0.05 eV). Standard metallurgical arguments were used to infer that locally within each dislocation core, high loading (x~1.8 in PdH x) took place.

Measurements of resistance and magnetic susceptibility were performed which confirmed that a form of diamagnetic response and conductivity were present that are consistent with the onset of a form of type-II superconductivity at 70 o K, through a highly anisotropic form of conduction and electron-phonon coupling.

Other Loading Experiments

Francesco Celani
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Francesco Celani and his collaborators at Italy's Istituto Nazionale Fisica Nucleare were motivated partly by Arata’s suggestion that nano-scale materials could be important and partly by the possibility that similar nano-structures might be playing a role in the Iwamura transmutation experiments.

His team developed a procedure for creating extremely thin (nano-scale-like) silicate coatings on “thin” (50 micron) palladium wires by immersing a PdO wire (formed by effectively annealing palladium in air) in a colloidal silica. The resulting structures were capable of achieving high loading in very short times (hundreds of seconds). The associated analysis has provided an important guideline for achieving high loading using simpler procedures and involving particular alternative choices of electrolyte.

McKubre clarified the history of one particular technique of measuring loading of deuterium into palladium that the SRI team has used to establish a correlation between high loading (x>0.85, in PdD x) and excess heat. Initially, the importance of high loading in cold fusion was inferred from measurements of the net increase of mass that occurs with loading, as well as the relatively new, alternative form of measurement that SRI developed, which involves measurements of changes in resistance of applied current as a function of loading.

The SRI procedure is based on the observation that the conduction in PdD x decreases with increasing values of x until a peak value of the resistance R is obtained. This is referred to as the Baranowski Peak, a term that McKubre coined during ICCF4 in 1993 and which occurs near the optimal equilibrium loading of H (x=0.4) or D (x=0.6) into Pd, followed by a decline in R that appears to approach an asymptotic limit (near x=1) in which the values of R (in PdD) approach the value of the resistance R o of Pd.

Although this measurement procedure, which appeared to be reasonable at the time it was first introduced, had not been used previously, no one seriously questioned how it was discovered or whether it was accurate.

In fact, the associated measurement procedure evolved from a relatively new idea that was based on a working hypothesis that SRI International researchers formulated during the early 1990s. After the fact, not only has this relationship been accepted, but loading measurements, based on this procedure, also have proved to be more useful for predicting the onset of excess heat than other, alternative procedures, for example, through measurements of changes in mass. However, when McKubre and his collaborators used this hypothesis initially, its usefulness was not at all obvious.

The initial SRI International model for measuring loading, using the ratio R/R o, was based on an approximate calibration curve, inferred from a “best guess” of the loading that is required to maximize R/R o and a second estimate of the magnitude of the corresponding (peak) value of R/R o.

At the time that loading measurements were presented for the first time, during ICCF4, using this procedure, measurements of R/R o as function of loading x had been performed for values of x above and below the value where R/R o has its maximum value.

However, the values of x and R/R o at the maximum had not been determined. The SRI International group inferred from the relatively new idea developed by Baranowski (J. Less Common Met., 158. 347 (1990)) for measuring loading in PdH using R/R o, that a similar procedure probably could be used to measure loading of D in PdD x. And the group used this procedure to infer that high-loading ( x>0.85 in PdD x) was necessary in order to create excess heat. Subsequently, additional work performed by McKubre and his group at SRI International refined the earlier calibration curve (S. Crouch-Baker et al., Z. fur Physikalische Chemie, 204, S. 247-254 (1998)).

On the final day of ICCF12, Jean-Paul Biberian described a new form of excess heat experiment involving electrolysis of deuterated phosphoric acid with palladium electrodes, using a solid state electrolyte in deuterium gas. As in Li’s earlier talk, the underlying idea that motivated this work was the 1989 NASA Lewis report by Fralick.

New Speculative Reports

On Dec. 1, Steven Krivit (New Energy Times) gave a talk in which he described observations regarding a new technology that is being developed by several parties in Russia, Korea and in Canada. The process appears to be new and unknown; however, other scientists have suggested it might be related to LENR and to cold fusion.

Krivit, a science journalist, visited one of the laboratories in Canada and attended meetings and demonstrations which ran from June 6, 2005, through June 9, 2005. The meetings involved staff scientists and a number of prominent scientists from the LENR community. Staff presented two demonstrations of their process on June 6 and additional demonstrations in the following days. Krivit videotaped several of these demonstrations and displayed excerpts during his talk.

Vladimir Vysotskii
(Photo Credit: S. Krivit)

Immediately following Krivit’s presentation, Vladimir Vysotskii presented a working hypothesis of the physical effects associated with the process: The excess heat is the result of some form of reaction in which a single proton combines with boron-11 to form three helium-4 nuclei. Although inconsistent with conventional nuclear physics, this reaction is not forbidden. At ICCF12, Krivit also identified the key group of scientists, including Hyunik Yang and Alexandr Koldomasov, associated with the effort.

The basic claim by this group is that it is possible to create excess power from a mechanical cavitation process that forces machine oil through a nozzle into a confined space that directly creates large amounts of electricity through cavitation.

No formal presentations associated with these results had been given before Krivit’s talk at any earlier scientific meeting. To date, researchers involved with this project have not provided data, including measurements of heat or a potential nuclear byproduct; published information about their data or process in the open scientific literature or in patents; presented information about their process at scientific meetings; or even informally distributed information about their process to individuals who have not signed a nondisclosure agreement.

Based on Vysotskii's presentation, Dolan provided the following narrative: “A boron-doped oil at 30 atm appeared to have a color that is tawny; and that at over 40 atm, it is white; while at over 60 atm it is clear, with a plasma jet downstream of the orifice. At 70-80 atm, there is a bright blue beam 6 mm in diameter, and at over 90 atm a green glow appears upstream of the orifice. Hard x-rays were observed from the luminous region. The researchers claim that excess heat is generated from fusion reactions (possibly protons plus boron-11) during the collapse of cavitation bubbles, and they [claim to have] detected He-4 emission lines from the cavitating fluid. “

A more conventional form of nuclear reaction (involving gamma ray or other high energy particle emission) might be initiated through the process. In response to the video, however, Talbot Chubb was skeptical about this possibility.

In particular, Chubb pointed out that because of the large amounts of electricity that were being produced, he was suspicious about comments made by one of the scientists at the laboratory concerning gamma rays. In particular, the scientist suggested that, when a particular gamma ray detector was moved away from the location where the process was assumed to be taking place, the detector indicated a reduction in gamma ray flux.

Chubb suggested an alternative possibility: The large electrical fields that were being produced through the process could trigger cascade effects in the semiconductors in the detector that could result in spurious signals in the detector associated with electrical noise as opposed to gamma rays.

Theory

As in the past, I have decided that it would be inappropriate for me to comment on theory, except to suggest that progress is being made. I do this not only because I have been involved in a personal way with a particular theory but also because, in the limited space that is available, I could not do justice to the excellent work that has taken place in this area. I do note in passing, however, that Takahashi did provide a nice review during his ICCF12 presentation of the existing ideas that appear to have value. His assessment probably will appear in the proceedings of ICCF12.

I did provide a very limited assessment in the report (Technical Report 1862, Space Warfare Systems, Center, available at http://www.lenr-canr.org/) that describes my ideas of what might be appropriate in a useful theory of LENR.

Conclusion and Acknowledgement

It is too early to judge how and to what degree this particular conference will affect the field. However, the information presented during ICCF12 and in the ICCF12 proceedings will have an impact. Within this context, it is especially nice to identify, acknowledge, and thank people who have helped to alter the dynamic associated with discussions of this highly controversial area of science, including all of the participants of ICCF10, ICCF11, and ICCF12.

I also would like to acknowledge financial assistance from Talbot Chubb, the New Energy Foundation and New Energy Institute for funding that helped to make this report possible. I would like to thank my wife, Anne Pond, for allowing me to attend the conference during an especially stressful time for our family.

I would like to thank Tom Dolan for providing a copy of a travel report that he prepared which included useful information that I have included in this article and Steven Krivit for providing photographs and additional material.

Finally, I would like to thank Christy Frazier for encouraging me to attend ICCF12 and to write this article.

Additional Information

ICCF12 was sponsored by the International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Science, the Thermal and Electric Energy Technology Foundation and the Japan CF Research Society. Consistent with previous conferences, the organizers of ICCF12 intend to publish the conference proceedings through World Scientific. Authors of manuscripts for the proceedings have been asked to submit their papers by Dec. 31, 2005. It is possible to obtain a DVD that contains half of the ICCF12 invited talks through http://www.iscmns.org/. PDF files of many of the talks are available online at www.lenr-canr.org.

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10. The Hydraulic-Electrostatic Cold Fusion Method

Steven Krivit
(Photo Credit: L. Kowalski)

On Dec. 1, 2005, at the 12th International Conference on Condensed Matter, Yokohama, Japan, author and editor Steven B. Krivit presented a summary of his observations and news reporting of a cold fusion demonstration in Edmonton, Canada, on June 6, 2005.

The related links are here:

Paper: http://newenergytimes.com/library/2005KrivitS-ICCF12-Paper.pdf
Presentation: http://newenergytimes.com/library/2005KrivitS-ICCF12-Presentation.pdf
Video: http://interface.audiovideoweb.com/lnk/ca25win25198/ICCF12/KRIVIT-ICCF12.wmv/play.asx
(Requires Windows Media Player; Runtime: 20 minutes; File size: 17 MB)

New Energy Times thanks its Russian contacts for uncovering the following related abstract:
*********
A.I. Koldamasov "Nuclear Fusion in the Field of an Electric Charge," Proceedings of the 6th Russian Conference, 1998, Sochi, Russia, pp. 125-137.

D2O electrolytic solution was contained in a glass tube with a 1 mm diameter and 20-30 cm length. In the middle of the tube, there was a dielectric plate with a pinhole at the center. When supersonic wave with frequency 1-5 kHz was excited in the solution, neutron, gamma, helium-4 and heat were generated at the pinhole region with high reproducibility. The amount of excess heat reached 2000 percent of the input power. Energy and number of generated neutrons were 3 MeV and 40 /s cm2. Energy of gamma was 0,3 MeV.
*********

The related paper by Vysotskii et al. is here:
http://newenergytimes.com/library/2005VysotskiiV-ObservationAndInvestigation.pdf

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BITS AND PIECES
 
11. "Unconventional Science," A British Military Presentation
A New Energy Times tipster sent us a fascinating slide show titled "Unconventional Science" by R.L. Jones:
http://newenergytimes.com/library/2005JonesR-UnconventionalScience.pdf

The presentation is marked "dstl," which is the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory of the British Ministry of Defence.

Although New Energy Times has been aware of the U.S. military interest in cold fusion for quite some time, this is the first we have seen of British military interest. We are pleased to see somebody in the British government considering cold fusion; however, we sincerely hope that agencies geared toward using cold fusion for energy and peaceful applications also take an interest in cold fusion. British citizens: Contact your government representatives!

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12. Amoco Paper Posted
by Steven Krivit

LENR-CANR.ORG Web master Jed Rothwell obtained a 1990 Amoco cold fusion paper and has posted it here:: http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/Lautzenhiscoldfusion.pdf. The cover letter to the report is below.

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AMOCO PRODUCTION COMPANY
Tulsa, Oklahoma
March 19, 1990
90078ART0098

SUBJECT: T-90-E-02: Report on a Recent Amoco Experiment

Cold fusion was announced by Fleischmann and Pons of the University of Utah at a press conference on March 23, 1989. Cold fusion's potential impact and the difficulty in reproducing the Fleischmann and Pons' reported results kept cold fusion a controversial state in both the press and in the scientific community for many weeks. However, if cold fusion were a practical possibility, the process would have a significant impact on Amoco Corporation's business. In light of this possibility and to determine the potential of cold fusion as an energy source, Amoco Production Company's management elected a limited support of cold fusion research at Amoco Production Company's Tulsa Research Center.

The attached document is the first formal written report covering that research. The latest cold fusion experiment run at the Tulsa Research Center documented anomalous energy production, as measured through careful calorimetry, and produced enhanced levels of tritium, an indication that a nuclear process is involved in the experiment. Work is continuing to further understand the cold fusion mechanism.

<signature>

Michael R. Waller
MRW:ts
Attachment
cc: K. W. McHenry - AC M/C 4094B, Chicago

***********

The most common question that people have asked Rothwell and me about the Amoco paper is "Why did Amoco drop this line of research, considering they showed a positive cold fusion result?" Rothwell spoke with Eisner and relays the following:

"They were never enthusiastic about it in the first place. The researchers were not able to easily reproduce or scale up the results, and Amoco lost interest. The researchers also told me that Amoco management said that most scientists consider cold fusion crackpot nonsense so they did not want the company associated with it. This is also the reason most research in India ended after Srinivasan, Iyengar and others retired. Hard-line "skeptics" who knew nothing about the research took over management positions and banned the experiments because, they said, the Indian government does not conduct pathological science."

"Public opinion affects decisions about scientific project funding to a surprising extent. The decision makers themselves do not realize how much they are affected by newspaper reports and the like."

Eisner told me last year that he and a former colleague were inspired to restart their cold fusion experiments. Perhaps wise administrators in India also will demonstrate such courageous leadership.

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13. Cold Fusion Papers Published

Editor’s note: We are pleased to see several authors listed here, and earlier in 2005, (Szpak et al.) finding success in getting their papers published in mainstream journals. The papers seem to have a common trait: they do not make speculative theoretical assertions, or even assert “cold fusion.”

LENR-CANR.org Web master Jed Rothwell created a handy index of papers for each of the recent international conferences. This is especially useful to quickly review the latest papers.
http://lenr-canr.org/Collections/Introduction.htm.

George Miley et al. published a paper in a well-respected Springer journal last year:
"Use of Combined NAA and SIMS Analyses for Impurity Level Isotope Detection"
Journal of Radiological and Nuclear Chemistry, 263 (3), p. 691 - 696, 2005
http://newenergytimes.com/library/2005MileyG-UseOfCombinedNAAandSIMS.pdf.

K.P. Sinha reports that one of his papers on the Pd-[H/D]x system is now available on arXiv at http://arXiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0509596 and that it will appear in "The National Academy Science Letters," India Vol. 28 (Nov. and Dec.) 2005.

Scott Chubb has spent considerable time developing a formalism for generalizing a number of band theory ideas, associated with infinitely repeating lattices, to situations involving finite lattices with real boundaries. In particular, the associated arguments can be used to estimate critical incubation (or triggering) times, as a function of crystal size.

A paper of his on this subject became available at the Cornell archive. It is available here: http://arxiv.org/cond-mat/0512363.

Chubb writes, "This paper involves conventional physics. However, based on ideas related to the electronic structure of PdD, it suggests that excess heat could be triggered through a form of ion-insulator/ion conduction transition that can be expected to take place when crystals of PdD are subjected to applied electric fields for sufficiently long periods of time."

Xing Zhong Li reported to ICCF12 attendees that he has published "A Chinese View on Summary of Condensed Matter Nuclear Science" in the Journal of Fusion Energy (23(3): pp. 217-21 2004). The paper is also available at:
http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/LiXZachinesevi.pdf.

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14. Wikipedia Warriors Defend Cold Fusion

A fierce online battle for the facts about cold fusion is under way in cyberspace ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion).

Wikipedia is the Internet's answer to Encyclopedia Britannica. Anyone with a Web browser can look up nearly anything and get a reasonably accurate definition and explanation.

Unique to Wikipedia is the fact that anyone can be an editor; no prerequisites are required! The content is generally, though not always, reliable. Fans of Wikipedia clamor for the chance to show their know-how and are vigilant in seeking and correcting artifacts and inaccuracies.

Ah, but how do they fare with cold fusion, a subject in the middle of great turmoil and controversy? Among the various posters who struggle to prove cold fusion false by citing 16-year-old references, three cyberheroes have locked arms and are smiting the cold fusion opponents with a healthy dose of reality.

The intensity of the debate in this public forum is interesting, particularly considering that the radar of the national media apparently has not detected it.

By the looks of things on Wikipedia and by the voluminous current references, the real facts of cold fusion finally have surfaced, despite the major efforts to suppress them. Students of science history, sociology, and ethics are sure to find a rich, lasting record of what may be one of the greatest scientific debates of our time.

New Energy Times salutes the pseudonymous user "Obsidian Order," Jed Rothwell and Edmund Storms for their tenacity and persistence in the fight for the presentation of true facts about cold fusion.

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15. Speakers Available - Experts on the Subject of Cold Fusion
Steven B. Krivit - General audiences (author of The Rebirth of Cold Fusion)
Charles G. Beaudette - Academic audiences (author of Excess Heat and Why Cold Fusion Research Prevailed, 2nd ed.)
David J. Nagel - Government and military audiences (participant in the 2004 DOE Cold Fusion Review)
 

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16. Contribute
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17. Administrative

 
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Publication, in print or electronically, is not permitted without express written permission.