The Inconceivable Embarrassment From Cold Fusion

New Energy and Fuel ^ | Dec 10 2012 | Anon

[Wonder Warthog]

U.S. institutional politics, government agencies, and academic science have been caught in denial so strident they’re now shouting “no” while stark raving naked. The nakedness is because of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions or LENR, or an evolution of the famed cold fusion.

The intellectual embarrassment is tattooed to the naysayers forever and disqualifies many people.

Steve Krivit reports from behind his paywall physicist Yasuhiro Iwamura from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that researchers at Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories performed an independent replication of a Mitsubishi low-energy nuclear reaction transmutation experiment.

Iwamura spoke of the replication at the American Nuclear Society’s LENR session on Nov. 14th 2012 in San Diego. Krivit reports Iwamura saying the Toyota researchers confirmed that nuclear changes from one element to another took place without the use of high-energy nuclear physics.

Toyota is being said to have used a LENR deuterium-permeation transmutation method that Iwamura invented. This follows the information that Osaka University and Iwate University had previously reported similar replications.

Iwamura is said to have been working with this LENR method for 14 years.

The target of the work in Japan seems directed to the transmutation of elements, something that has been seen in many past experiments of LENR. Direct potential commercial applications could be processing of nuclear waste or the production of rare earth elements such as platinum.

The story is leading to two different camps, the LENR people trying to produce energy and the Low Energy Nuclear Transmutation (LENT, a new short form to remember) people trying to change an element into another. The process is doing about the same thing; each pathway is optimized to achieve one result or the other.

Now Mitsubishi and Toyota, two major international industrial firms are releasing information. The firms obviously understand that the money from product sales will be vastly more important than research grants.

Politics, bureaucrats and academia are being scooped by big business. It’s probably a good thing.

Private enterprise isn’t just after LENR in Japan.

Dr. Francesco Celani has announced a successful 3rd party replication of his LENR system, which apparently has been improved since he did the demonstration at National Instruments Week in Texas earlier this year.

Celani said the reactor used is completely different from the one he and his group developed and used. As a result, he says, the probability of a systematic error in the measurements has become highly unlikely.

The private firm involved in this effort is believed to be STMicrolectronics, a French-Italian electronics manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. The firm’s logo is part of the photos Dr. Celani has released.

What is one to make of all this? The first major point is academia has utterly let the world down. Now that LENR obviously functions there are almost no experimental experts available or organized training underway. The world economy is completely out of the loop, so far. The second is governments worldwide have set up a patent barrier, which is still in place that keeps the potential dowsed down. Only the very brave and eccentric have ventured out with Andrea Rossi leading the way.

At the human level the price of condemnation is beginning to show. For those who followed the press, media and academic lead to condemn Pons and Fleischmann, while some knew full well that a few very careful experimenters were able to replicate the work, the guilt is the harm done to science progress, intellectual expansion and economic growth.

At the frontier of knowledge there is no disgrace at an experiment that fails. Disgrace comes from denial of the opportunity for research and experimentation. Denial of a venture into the unknown is one of the ultimate scientific dishonesties.

[Wonder Warthog]

"There are books about ghost hunting, too. One man's "excellent analysis" is another man's unreasonable speculation and bullshit."

Read it and see for yourself. The evidence is there, but you and some others simply refuse to look at it.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Only by the feeble minded that like hearing big sounding words. Cold-fusion has never been replicated. There’s always an excuse why it couldn’t be done."

Sorry, but you're simply wrong. Read Beaudette's book. He goes into depth on each topic, calorimetry, neutron detection, "nuclear ash", and transmutation, and covers the initial experiments and the replications under each heading, with references to the scientific literature in each case. He doesn't cover as many replications as Storms, but more than sufficient to prove his case.

[Moonman62]

Is there are a chart with error bars showing expected output for given inputs? How well does each replication agree with the chart?

[Kevmo]

If presented with a stock certificate from BNY Mellon, do you treat it with the same precaution as you would from one claimed to be found in grandma’s safe? How would you treat one presented from a convicted forger?
***Good point. Proceeding from your analogy of fraudulence, the only verified instance of fraud in LENR so far has been from MIT when they fudged their positive results. So, How would you treat anti-LENR assertions presented from such fraudsters?

[Moonman62]

If there are 80+ years (the effect was first claimed in the 1920's) of non-fraudulent LENR claims, then meeting the following request for basic scientific evidence should be simple:

Is there a chart with error bars showing expected output for given inputs? How well does each replication agree with the chart?

[Moonman62]

So the skeptopaths are allowed certain tactics on FR but the LENR afficianados are not.

Can you explain "skeptopath?" It looks like nothing more than derogatory slang to me.

[Triple]

“the only verified instance of fraud in LENR so far has been from MIT” - K

So, you trust Rossi more than you do MIT, and you have seen no evidence of fraud from Rossi.

Interesting...(I think most people do not share your opinion or observations.)

[TXnMA]

You and I share similar professional backgrounds-- although I decided that the effort of applying for follow-on I*R 100s benefitted my employer more than me -- so I declined the effort...

Your answers sound reasonable; I will follow your posts with an open mind...

[Wonder Warthog]

"Your answers sound reasonable; I will follow your posts with an open mind..."

Please, please, please read Beaudette's book. It is very much what I would have written if I had the time.

This quote from page 341 explains all:

"This book was written by one who loves science. I wrote it in the hope that this new field of scientific research, misnamed cold fusion, might become known to mainstream science rather than being known only to a small cadre of scientists working in an intellectual ghetto."

Like Beaudette, I love science, and the bastardization of science that the pathological skeptics have promulgated REALLY ...... me off.

[Kevmo]

If you can prove fraud for Rossi, by all means contact the authorities and have him arrested. MIT’s fraud has already been proven.

[Kevmo]

If you have something legitimate to ask, some other freeper needs to ask it. Your history of disingenuousness on this topic is enough for me to proceed with higher priorities in my life, such as clipping my toenails.

[TXnMA]

I just watched (and understood) the video of Iwamura's paper, and will do so several more times. Fortunately, I lived in Japan for three years, and am able to follow Iwamura's (quite good, BTW) "JEnglish" fairly well.

As physical chemist, this is the sort of investigation of the mechanism I have been wanting to see: clear, stepwise, using several iterations of materials and conditions -- with multiple, repeated runs producing excellently-overlapping results from standardized, repeatable measurements.

Iwamura's folks do experimentation as it should be done! Only one who comprehends all the variables he explored and reported can appreciate the vast amount of time, work, and attention to detail involved in that report.

By comparison, Rossi's "I fired it up and it got hot!" method naturally leaves genuine professional experimental scientists dissatisfied and unconvinced.

Note that Iwamura focused on the transmuation mechanisms (and variables that affect them) -- and never (yet) reported on the energy effects that the "short-cutters" in the LENR field have taken a "go directly to energy commercialization" approach toward hyping.

Does anyone really think that the likes of Rossi would ever characterize intermediate materials of higher work function (as Iwamura did) -- knowing that their effectiveness should be less or nil -- instead of concentrating solely on the "optimum" material because it would produce "the most results" -- NOW?

If LENR is ever going to become "mainstream" -- careful, "plodding" work on understanding the mechanism MUST be done first. Iwamura is to be congratulated. Rossi, et al, ...well... they do more harm than good...

Another problem is that there are too many dumb@$$3$ who leap to shout spectacular things like

"The Inconceivable Embarrassment From Cold Fusion!"

instead of simply announcing,

"Mitsubishi Reports Progress on Validating and Understanding LENR Transmutation Mechanisms".

~~~~~~~~~~

You 'hypemeisters' are your own worst enemies...

[Triple]

“If you can prove fraud for Rossi, by all means contact the authorities and have him arrested.” - K

Nice evasion.

I take it to mean you don’t really want to admit that there truly is evidence of fraud on the part of Rossi.

[Wonder Warthog]

"If LENR is ever going to become "mainstream" -- careful, "plodding" work on understanding the mechanism MUST be done first. Iwamura is to be congratulated. Rossi, et al, ...well... they do more harm than good..."

I'm sorry, but "understanding the mechanism" has zip to do with the scientific validity or lack of same of CF/LENR. And the "plodding work" has largely been done. The failure has been on the part of the theorists to understand and acknowledge the reality of the subject, and get their asses to work on said understanding. There is a whole new field of physics out there, and being ignored.

To understand just how MUCH "plodding work" has already been done, read Beaudette, then Storms, and then the LENR/CANR database.

"Another problem is that there are too many dumb@$$3$ who leap to shout spectacular things like "The Inconceivable Embarrassment From Cold Fusion!"

I didn't write the headline....the originator of the article did. The Mods frown on posters using our own headlines.

But the headline is accurate, even if you don't like it. Eventually, the reality of cold fusion will be realized by both the general public and the larger scientific community, and the reputations of a large number of the chronic CF skeptics will suffer (and deservedly) as a result.

"You 'hypemeisters' are your own worst enemies..."

Neither Kevmo nor I are "hypemiesters", though the skeptopaths try their darnedest to paint us as such.

[Moonman62]

TXnMA handed you a gift and you did not take it.

[Moonman62]

I didn't write the headline....the originator of the article did. The Mods frown on posters using our own headlines.

You could have excerpted the original article from Krivit's site, which has an accurate headline and is much better written.

Instead you chose a hyped article (which includes a mention of Rossi the con artist) by "anon." You are your own worst enemy.

[Moonman62]

If you call your critics pathological skeptics, do we get to call you and your partner pathological cranks?

[Kevmo]

I take it to mean you don’t really want to admit that there truly is evidence of fraud on the part of Rossi.
***Nice evasion.

Of course there is evidence of fraud on Rossi’s part. But we’re talking proof versus proof. One dirtbag group at MIT meets that standard whereas the other questionable character dude does not meet the standard (or else he’d be in jail by now).

[Kevmo]

I agree with much of what you say here. The SCIENCE behind LENR is detailed, substantive, and worthwhile. When someone tries to jump to ENGINEERING capitalization of their discoveries which includes hiding trade secrets, that’s where the problems have been.

Of course, if only 10% of the Hot-Fusion public trough money was available for the kind of research & engineering needed in this field, we would not have an energy crisis right now.

But the anti-LENR crowd isn’t just anti-Rossi; they are anti-science pathological skeptics. If you honestly think that the differently titled article is worthwhile, why not post it yourself rather than criticize another Freeper’s mistake? Posting it is what someone would do who appreciates science.

[BlueDragon]

And here I thought all along that skepticism was a required thing...

But congratulations. Seagulls have been successfully transmuted into skeptopaths before our very eyes.
I guess that beats waving pom-poms;

Rossi-Rossi he's got a [E-CAT] plan
He can heat water like nobody can!

So after the home team drops back and punts, enough lose interest including the "opposing team" that all one needs do is bring some breathless, hyper-ventilating article that links purported basis for all this ducks(?) coming-home-to-roost editorializing um-phah to another article which withholds certain data behind a pay-wall.

The home team can then pick up the months ago punted ball, with much or most of the methodology used to achieve results hidden from view. The "football" having always been much in the shape of a black box...

Now there are, or can arguably be good enough reasons for claimed results only being spoken of (even in form of graphical imagery), and results chiefly summarized... But that doesn't exactly get the ball fully over the goal line, scoring the decisive "win", giving the pom-pom wavers reason to gloat. Not quite yet.

Who's spackling who around here?

Here is a man asking the question
Is this really the end of the world?
Seagull, you must have known for a long time
The shape of things to come.
? Now you fly, through the sky, never asking why,?
And you fly all around 'til somebody, Shoots you down