Cold fusion.10th anniversary update It's been 10 years since Drs. Pans and Fleishmann set the scientific world on end with their claim to producing fusion at room temperature with a simple tabletop apparatus. Not only did their news send physicists scrambling for their lobs to run their own experiments frequently without reproduction of the purported results), but they also met instant criticism for first announcing their results to the media via a press conference, rather than publishing their findings in scientific journals so that the scientific community could have a chance to confirm or disprove disprove, v to refute or to prove false by affirmative evidence to the contrary. the experiment. The procedure that Pons and Fleischmann reported consisted of sending a current through platinum and palladium electrodes into on electrolyte electrolyte (ĭlĕk`trəlīt'), electrical conductor in which current is carried by ions rather than by free electrons (as in a metal). of lithium compounds dissolved in heavy water -- water in which normal hydrogen is replaced with a heavier hydrogen isotope, deuterium deuterium (d  tēr`ēəm), isotope of hydrogen with mass no. 2. The deuterium nucleus, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one neutron. . The chemists believed fusion occurred as the result of
duterium nuclei fusing to form helium or tritium tritium (trĭt`ēəm), radioactive isotope of hydrogen with mass number 3. The tritium nucleus, called a triton, contains one proton and two neutrons. It has a half-life of 12.5 years and decays by beta-particle emission. with release of energy
in the form of heat. Pens and Fleischmann determined that the excess
heat had a higher energy than the electrical current imposed to operate
the cell.
Initial acceptance of the possibility of cold fusion cold fusion or low-temperature fusion, nuclear fusion of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, at or relatively near room temperature. Fusion, the reaction involved in the release of the destructive energy of a hydrogen bomb, requires extremely quickly changed to skepticism. Many scientists who failed to repeat the experiment compalined that there was insufficient detail in the paper published after the first announcement. The paper did not present raw data, but only derived values calculated in on obscure way. However, other scientists have claimed confirming evidence and some enthusiasts continue to produce encouraging if inconclusive results. Cold fusion proponents insist that the problems of repeatability and other shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw. Shortcomings may also be:
There are still a number of researchers internationally pursuing cold fusion as a kind of grail, with no clear end in sight. And there are other experiments under development, such as the new tokomak lab at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , which may hold the key to other sources of clean energy for the world. |
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