[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Every time I hear the term "cold fusion" it's always followed shortly by "fraud" "dissapointment" and "let down"

Pons and Fleischmann blew it. They published before they understood what was going on. There was definitely something going on, but by their actions they tarred the field for a decade.

But there's something there. Hats off to those who have had the stones to keep looking.

Cold fusion is the fascinating potential intersection between chemistry and nuclear reactions-- it's not at all understood, but the basic principles make sense.

[edwin hubble]

Well, Pons and Fleischman were disgraced for the way they presented (or didn't present) their data -- at the advice of their lawyers. But the word-of-mouth stories of some of what they saw (explosions unexplained by conventional chemistry)- suggested that there was "something" there.

So, for 14 years research quietly continued around the world. (Japan and Italy and elsewhere). No reports from that line of experiments.

Back in '88 Phil Morrison of MIT said of P&F's experiment:

"..If true, it will be the greatest discovery of man since fire". (thus the lawyers' motivation)

Sonoluminescence produces flashes of light in the visible (blue) range, suggesting extremely small regions of great pressure as the symmetrical bubbles collapse. Different from the electrochemistry of P&F.

We will see.