Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusion

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Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusion

Postby Belligerent Savant » Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:33 am

.


http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-ita ... video.html

and

http://www.journal-of-nuclear-physics.c ... _paper.pdf


(PhysOrg.com) -- Few areas of science are more controversial than cold fusion, the hypothetical near-room-temperature reaction in which two smaller nuclei join together to form a single larger nucleus while releasing large amounts of energy. In the 1980s, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleishmann claimed to have demonstrated cold fusion - which could potentially provide the world with a cheap, clean energy source - but their experiment could not be reproduced. Since then, all other claims of cold fusion have been illegitimate, and studies have shown that cold fusion is theoretically implausible, causing mainstream science to become highly speculative of the field in general.

Despite the intense skepticism, a small community of scientists is still investigating near-room-temperature fusion reactions. The latest news occurred last week, when Italian scientists Andrea Rossi and Sergio Focardi of the University of Bologna announced that they developed a cold fusion device capable of producing 12,400 W of heat power with an input of just 400 W. Last Friday, the scientists held a private invitation press conference in Bologna, attended by about 50 people, where they demonstrated what they claim is a nickel-hydrogen fusion reactor. Further, the scientists say that the reactor is well beyond the research phase; they plan to start shipping commercial devices within the next three months and start mass production by the end of 2011.

The claim

Rossi and Focardi say that, when the atomic nuclei of nickel and hydrogen are fused in their reactor, the reaction produces copper and a large amount of energy. The reactor uses less than 1 gram of hydrogen and starts with about 1,000 W of electricity, which is reduced to 400 W after a few minutes. Every minute, the reaction can convert 292 grams of 20°C water into dry steam at about 101°C. Since raising the temperature of water by 80°C and converting it to steam requires about 12,400 W of power, the experiment provides a power gain of 12,400/400 = 31. As for costs, the scientists estimate that electricity can be generated at a cost of less than 1 cent/kWh, which is significantly less than coal or natural gas plants.

“The magnitude of this result suggests that there is a viable energy technology that uses commonly available materials, that does not produce carbon dioxide, and that does not produce radioactive waste and will be economical to build,” according to this description of the demonstration.

Rossi and Focardi explain that the reaction produces radiation, providing evidence that the reaction is indeed a nuclear reaction and does not work by some other method. They note that no radiation escapes due to lead shielding, and no radioactivity is left in the cell after it is turned off, so there is no nuclear waste.

The scientists explain that the reactor is turned on simply by flipping a switch and it can be operated by following a set of instructions. Commercial devices would produce 8 units of output per unit of input in order to ensure safe and reliable conditions, even though higher output is possible, as demonstrated. Several devices can be combined in series and parallel arrays to reach higher powers, and the scientists are currently manufacturing a 1 MW plant made with 125 modules. Although the reactors can be self-sustaining so that the input can be turned off, the scientists say that the reactors work better with a constant input. The reactors need to be refueled every 6 months, which the scientists say is done by their dealers.

The scientists also say that one reactor has been running continuously for two years, providing heat for a factory. They provide little detail about this case.
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby Luther Blissett » Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:36 am

No, Italian scientists have not discovered cold fusion

Two physicists recently announced they had figured out the secrets of cold fusion, which is a low energy nuclear reaction that, if it exists, could solve the world's energy problems. But to call their story fishy is a massive understatement.

Cold fusion is sort of like the alchemy of the modern world - yes, there might be a trickle of real science behind it, but the idea that it could provide free, limitless energy is almost certainly a pipe dream. Cold fusion became infamous in the late 1980s with the extremely controversial and largely rejected findings of Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, and since then cold fusion has largely gone from legitimate line of inquiry to the domain of cranks, laughingstocks, and hoaxers. For more background on cold fusion, check out this post from last year.

That more or less brings us to today, as physicists Andrea Rossi and Sergio Focardi of Italy's University of Bologna have unveiled their supposed massive breakthrough. They don't just claim to have figured out how to make a cold fusion reactor, the actually say that they have built one and already tested it, with lots of new reactors ready to ship within the next few months.

Before you get out your checkbook, let's examine what's going on here. The scientists claim that a reactor has been running a factory for the last two years, but nobody knows what they're talking about and the physicists did not elaborate on where or what this factory is.

They also don't have any theoretical foundation for their work. They say the reactor takes in nickel and hydrogen, and then it produces copper and tons of energy, all at room temperature. But they admit they don't know how any of that is going on, and there's a ton of theoretical work that says reactions don't work in the way the pair have described. It's not impossible for an empirical discovery to precede the theoretical understanding, but in this case it's an excellent reason to be very skeptical, if not outright dismissive.

The scientific community definitely wants nothing to do with their work, as Rossi and Focardi have had to create their own journal, the Journal of Nuclear Physics, just to get their scientific paper published. The European Patent Office has also pretty much rejected it out of hand, as a preliminary report explains:

"As the invention seems, at least at first, to offend against the generally accepted laws of physics and established theories, the disclosure should be detailed enough to prove to a skilled person conversant with mainstream science and technology that the invention is indeed feasible. … In the present case, the invention does not provide experimental evidence (nor any firm theoretical basis) which would enable the skilled person to assess the viability of the invention. The description is essentially based on general statement and speculations which are not apt to provide a clear and exhaustive technical teaching."

Indeed, even the internet - which just last week managed to conflate the Betelgeuse supernova with 2012 prophecies - doesn't seem to want any part of this. Cold fusion is, if not outright impossible, then certainly highly implausible. If - and that's a big if - cold fusion ever does become a legitimate field of inquiry, it will likely come in several small incremental stages, as scientists first work out how such reactions could even work in the first place. The future of human energy is unlikely to come in the form of self-published scientific papers and vague pronouncements about a factory.

Still, co-discoverer Andrea Rossi deserves a chance to mount a rebuttal:

"We have passed already the phase to convince somebody. We are arrived to a product that is ready for the market. Our judge is the market. In this field the phase of the competition in the field of theories, hypothesis, conjectures etc etc is over. The competition is in the market. If somebody has a valid technology, he has not to convince people by chattering, he has to make a reactor that work and go to sell it, as we are doing."

So, there you have it. We'll know what's the deal with these cold fusion reactors in three months. I'm pretty sure we know what's going on already, but I suppose there's nothing wrong with keeping an open mind...just a highly skeptical one.


http://io9.com/5742290/no-italian-scien ... old-fusion

I'll be watching this. I was under the impression that the physicists demonstrated their device at the press conference.
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby Gnomad » Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:49 am

Yes, they demonstrated some kind of a device. They have not shown the schematics to other scientists, nor have they given the device for independent testing. I am not holding my breath until that is done. It is also possible that if it really does output power, that it might be based on something else than fusion.

Also, a few discussions mentioned that "Krivit also noted that Rossi has been accused of a few crimes, including tax fraud and illegally importing gold, which are unrelated to his research." http://www.kurzweilai.net/forums/topic/ ... on-w-video

If it works for real, maybe we will see in 3 months.

What happened to Steorn, by the way?
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby Belligerent Savant » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:49 pm

.

Gnomad wrote:
What happened to Steorn, by the way?


Why, she's got her own website!

http://www.steorn.com/

Promoting their latest product, Orbo.

Steorn, and the claims by the Italian Scientists, are also discussed in the following amusingly titled blog:

http://freeenergytruth.blogspot.com/

It seems Free Energy is picking up some tempo in the marketplace..

some choice excerpts from the above 'freeenergytruth' blog, Re: Italian Scientists' claim:

So here we have once again deliberate acts of sabotage by establishment science against new energy solutions simply because they threaten scientific dogma and fanatical establishment beliefs.

Rather predictably we also have a deafening silence from the world's controlled corporate media who must be wondering how long they can maintain the silence before critical mass is achieved? (if you pardon the pun).

Time after time we are seeing legitimate attempts to bring new energy technologies thwarted by mainstream fear.

If they can get working devices to market this year then none of the mainstream peer review will matter anyway. As Focardi rightly says "he has not to convince people by chattering, he has to make a reactor that work and go to sell it, as we are doing.”
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby nathan28 » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:13 pm

Sorry, dudes, no data, no dollars. This sounds like hucksterism to me.

The scientists claim that a reactor has been running a factory for the last two years, but nobody knows what they're talking about and the physicists did not elaborate on where or what this factory is.

They say the reactor takes in nickel and hydrogen, and then it produces copper and tons of energy, all at room temperature. But they admit they don't know how any of that is going on, and there's a ton of theoretical work that says reactions don't work in the way the pair have described. It's not impossible for an empirical discovery to precede the theoretical understanding, but in this case it's an excellent reason to be very skeptical, if not outright dismissive...

"We have passed already the phase to convince somebody. We are arrived to a product that is ready for the market. Our judge is the market. In this field the phase of the competition in the field of theories, hypothesis, conjectures etc etc is over. The competition is in the market. If somebody has a valid technology, he has not to convince people by chattering, he has to make a reactor that work and go to sell it, as we are doing."


Are they trying to say that Italian patent law is so weak that they're not even going to file a claim on the device and that they're worried someone will 'steal' their idea? Who cares about the "theory," do they not even have a schematic? Are they saying that they don't even know how they built it, and that neither does the contractor? Did they get it from space aliens? Did it fall out of a CIA-Mossad secret Reptilian craft? Maybe did it in a fugue state, or while under P2 mind control? And who's manufacturing these devices? Was there no contract award? How big is this first run going to be? Who underwrote this? Etc., etc.

There's even an appeal to divinity ("Our judge is the market") that belongs in Ayn Rand's version of Night of the Hunter.

Oh, wait, here's the patent office:

In the present case, the invention does not provide experimental evidence (nor any firm theoretical basis) which would enable the skilled person to assess the viability of the invention.


Did you read how not only was there no theory, but no data, either? IOW, it doesn't do anything. But here's what got rejected, just to be fair.

A method and apparatus for carrying out highly efficient exothermal reaction between nickel and hydrogen atoms in a tube, preferably, though not necessary, a metal tube filled by a nickel powder and heated to a high temperature, preferably, though not necessary, from 150 to 5000C are herein disclosed. In the inventive apparatus, hydrogen is injected into the metal tube containing a highly pressurized nickel powder having a pressure, preferably though not necessarily, from 2 to 20 bars.


So. Two metals. In a jar. Surrounded by an acidic ("we forgot to mention it needs to be H+ on the patent application, har har, shucks folks") gas. Heated, for good measure. That puts out electricity. Gee, if that don't sound like a battery to me. Has anybody told OrgoneNewsNet yet?

One of the scientists backing this device has faced charges for tax fraud before. I am almost positive that he will at a later date claim to have been persecuted by the gov't for his "low energy nuclear reactor" despite charges that predate the present histrionics.


Wait until next week, when I demonstrate that when I take a cast iron skillet, covered with aluminum, and leave it in the fridge with tomato sauce in it, with copper wires going in and out, I'll be able to light a dim, dim LED bulb that free energy followers will chase across the internet until time immemorial the lights go out on this sad excuse for a prison planet. My juvie record was just me being persecuted by the gov't, not me being a destructive miscreant, I swear. Do you all need any cancer cures? I got some that are too simple to patent, that's why no one sells them! Broccoli-ex, the amazing green powder made from the cabbage family in a capsule! I heard the gov't was going to make us all use biometric implants to pay for goods and services, you should Buy Junk Slver NOW!


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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby Luther Blissett » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:54 pm

http://pesn.com/2011/01/19/9501747_cold ... akthrough/

Macy, M., Specifics of Andrea Rossi's "Energy Catalyzer" Test, University of Bologna, January 14, 2011. 2011, LENR-CANR.org.
Specifics of Andrea Rossi's "Energy Catalyzer" Test, University of Bologna, 1/14/2001
Marianne Macy

On January 14, 2011, Andrea Rossi submitted his "Energy Catalyzer" reactor, which burns hydrogen in a nickel catalyst, for examination by scientists at the University of Bologna and The INFN (Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics). The test was organized by Dr. Giuseppe Levi of INFN and the University of Bologna and was assisted by other members of the physics and chemistry faculties. This result was achieved without the production of any measurable nuclear radiation. The magnitude of this result suggests that there is a viable energy technology that uses commonly available materials, that does not produce carbon dioxide, and that does not produce radioactive waste and will be economical to build.

The reactor used less than 1 gram of hydrogen, less than 1,000 W of electricity to convert 292 grams of water per minute at ~20°C into dry steam at ~101°C. The unit was turned ON and began producing some steam in a few minutes, and once it reached steady state continued producing steam until it was turned OFF. The amount of power required to heat water 80°C and convert it to steam is approximately 12,000 watts. Dr. Levi and his team will be producing a technical report detailing the design and execution of their evaluation.

A representative of the investment group stated that they were looking to produce a 20 kW unit and that within two months they would make a public announcement. He declared that their completed studies revealed a "huge, favorable difference in numbers" between the cost to produce the Rossi Catalyzer and other green technologies. "We had a similar demonstration six months ago with the same success we've had today. We are almost ready with the industrialized product, which we think is going to be a revolution. It is a totally green energy." The representative offered that the company was called Defkalion Energy, named for the father of the Greco Roman empire, and was based in Athens.

Giuseppe Levi, PhD in nuclear physics at the University of Bologna and who works at INFN, offers exclusive comments on the test, which he deemed "an open experiment for physicists. The idea was like a conference: to tell everybody what was going on and eventually to start new research programs on that topic."

The first measurements Levi described were energy measurements to determine the input of energy inside the reactor and the output of energy of the reactor. "I don't have conclusive data on radiation but absolutely we have measured ~12 kW (at steady state) of energy produced with an input of about just 400 watts. I would say this is the main result. We have seen also this energy was not of chemical origin, by checking the consumption of hydrogen. There was no measurable hydrogen consumption, at least with our mass 2 measurement." By measuring with a very sensitive scale, within a precision of a 10th of a gram, Levi measured the weight of the hydrogen bottle before and after the experiment "If the energy was of chemical origin you would have expected to consume about 100 to 600 more than the sensitivity of the scale. You measure the bottle before and after and then you see in your measurements there was almost no hydrogen consumed."

The workings of the Rossi reactor was, Levi explained, unknown to them because of "industry secrets." He said: "What we've done is to measure the water in the flux and we are heating and making steam for that water. We are measuring the water flux and carefully checking that all the water was converted into steam, then it is easy to calculate power that was generated. You are measuring the power that was going in the system by quite a sensitive power meter. Initially the system started up and we had 1 kW of input and then we reduce the input to just 400 W. The output energy was constant at about 12 kW."

The flow rate, Levi continued, was measured with a high precision scale. "The flow rate was 146 g in 30 seconds. Using a simple measurement gives a simple result. There was a pump putting in a constant flux and what I have done is – with the reactor completely off take measurements – we spent two weeks of the water that flowing through the system to be certain of our calibration. After this calibration period I have checked that the pump was not touched and when we brought it here for the experiment it was giving the same quantity of water during all the experiment. The water was coming from an Edison well and the pump was putting it in the system. Then we were releasing the steam into the atmosphere; there was not a loop."

To determine if the steam was coming out dry and at atmospheric pressure, Professor Gallatini, a specialist in Thermochemics and a former head of the Chemical Society of Italy, verified that all the water came out as steam. "There was no water in the steam," Levi certified. "The outer temperature measured was 101° centigrade at atmospheric pressure." The instrument he used was a Delta OHM # HD37AB1347 Indoor Air Quality Monitor. Gallantini inserted the probe inside the exit pipe with the steam.

Levi was asked: How did you compute the thermal energy production by the Energy Catalyzer (ECat)?

He responded, "The calculation is very, very simple. Because you know the number of grams of water per second delivered to the ECat you know you must raise the water to 100°C, this is the transient phase of operation. Once the water is at 100°C the energy is used to make the water into steam. It takes 2272 joules per gram to convert water at 100°C to steam. Because the ECat provided more energy the steam became hotter, 101°C. So our conservative estimate of the steady state thermal output of the ECat, neglecting thermal radiation and other losses, is just 2272 joules per gram multiplied by the 4.9 grams per second = 11, 057 joules per second or Watts. When you realize that you have to add the energy to raise the temperature of the water you get by about 80°C and the steam by another 1°C the total thermal power the ECat releasing is about 12,400 Watts. These are not our refined estimate but they indicate that the input electrical power of 400 W produces using an amount of hydrogen less than a gram in a couple hours of operation we are seeing a system with a power gain = 12,400/400 = 31."
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby Belligerent Savant » Tue Jan 25, 2011 5:00 pm

nathan28 wrote:Sorry, dudes, no data, no dollars. This sounds like hucksterism to me.



Until proven otherwise, I think you pretty much summed it up right there...
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby nathan28 » Tue Jan 25, 2011 6:47 pm

Here's the factory.
A practical embodiment of the inventive apparatus, installed on October 16, 2007, is at present perfectly operating 24 hours per day, and provides an amount of heat sufficient to heat the factory of the

Company EON of via Carlo Ragazzi 18, at Bondeno



So if this statement is true, then the device is heating a building. My computer regularly operates for long periods of time providing "heat sufficient" to heat my cats' butts. Does this make my computer "overunity"? No, it just means the thing gets hot. For all I know they could be plugging their monstrous engine into a wall, letting it get hot, then letting the heat radiate out.

The question is why they aren't using the steam to generate electricity, and why they're relying on the steam generated, and calculations from that steam, to provide the "proof of concept", rather than actually demonstrating the complete concept, because unless this thing makes espresso, they need to attach it to a generator.

If there isn't something hiding behind all this, it sure looks like there is.
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby hanshan » Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:24 pm

nathan28 wrote:Sorry, dudes, no data, no dollars. This sounds like hucksterism to me.

The scientists claim that a reactor has been running a factory for the last two years, but nobody knows what they're talking about and the physicists did not elaborate on where or what this factory is.

They say the reactor takes in nickel and hydrogen, and then it produces copper and tons of energy, all at room temperature. But they admit they don't know how any of that is going on, and there's a ton of theoretical work that says reactions don't work in the way the pair have described. It's not impossible for an empirical discovery to precede the theoretical understanding, but in this case it's an excellent reason to be very skeptical, if not outright dismissive...

"We have passed already the phase to convince somebody. We are arrived to a product that is ready for the market. Our judge is the market. In this field the phase of the competition in the field of theories, hypothesis, conjectures etc etc is over. The competition is in the market. If somebody has a valid technology, he has not to convince people by chattering, he has to make a reactor that work and go to sell it, as we are doing."


Are they trying to say that Italian patent law is so weak that they're not even going to file a claim on the device and that they're worried someone will 'steal' their idea? Who cares about the "theory," do they not even have a schematic? Are they saying that they don't even know how they built it, and that neither does the contractor? Did they get it from space aliens? Did it fall out of a CIA-Mossad secret Reptilian craft? Maybe did it in a fugue state, or while under P2 mind control? And who's manufacturing these devices? Was there no contract award? How big is this first run going to be? Who underwrote this? Etc., etc.

There's even an appeal to divinity ("Our judge is the market") that belongs in Ayn Rand's version of Night of the Hunter.

Oh, wait, here's the patent office:

In the present case, the invention does not provide experimental evidence (nor any firm theoretical basis) which would enable the skilled person to assess the viability of the invention.


Did you read how not only was there no theory, but no data, either? IOW, it doesn't do anything. But here's what got rejected, just to be fair.

A method and apparatus for carrying out highly efficient exothermal reaction between nickel and hydrogen atoms in a tube, preferably, though not necessary, a metal tube filled by a nickel powder and heated to a high temperature, preferably, though not necessary, from 150 to 5000C are herein disclosed. In the inventive apparatus, hydrogen is injected into the metal tube containing a highly pressurized nickel powder having a pressure, preferably though not necessarily, from 2 to 20 bars.


So. Two metals. In a jar. Surrounded by an acidic ("we forgot to mention it needs to be H+ on the patent application, har har, shucks folks") gas. Heated, for good measure. That puts out electricity. Gee, if that don't sound like a battery to me. Has anybody told OrgoneNewsNet yet?

One of the scientists backing this device has faced charges for tax fraud before. I am almost positive that he will at a later date claim to have been persecuted by the gov't for his "low energy nuclear reactor" despite charges that predate the present histrionics.


Wait until next week, when I demonstrate that when I take a cast iron skillet, covered with aluminum, and leave it in the fridge with tomato sauce in it, with copper wires going in and out, I'll be able to light a dim, dim LED bulb that free energy followers will chase across the internet until time immemorial the lights go out on this sad excuse for a prison planet. My juvie record was just me being persecuted by the gov't, not me being a destructive miscreant, I swear. Do you all need any cancer cures? I got some that are too simple to patent, that's why no one sells them! Broccoli-ex, the amazing green powder made from the cabbage family in a capsule! I heard the gov't was going to make us all use biometric implants to pay for goods and services, you should Buy Junk Slver NOW!


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yeah, too funny


ImageImage


...
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby DrVolin » Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:26 pm

P2 mind control... Only the funniest line in a brace of classically funny and informative posts. Thanks.
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby stillrobertpaulsen » Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:36 pm

DrVolin wrote:P2 mind control... Only the funniest line in a brace of classically funny and informative posts. Thanks.


P2 mind control. So this is Berlusconi's method of distracting the masses from his sex scandals!

:lol:
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby Nordic » Thu Nov 24, 2011 2:48 am

Well this story just got weirder.

http://cryptogon.com/?p=26129

http://www.tarrtalk.com/2011/11/cold-fu ... oston.html

From Massachusetts State Senator Bruce Tarr's office:

Cold Fusion Inventor Comes to Boston

Andrea Rossi, an engineer who has captured the attention of the scientific world with two successful tests of his “E-Cat” cold fusion reactor, arrived at the State House on Tuesday morning for two days of meetings with government officials and representatives of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Massachusetts and Northeastern University.

Mr. Rossi’s reactor, if successfully proven and developed, has the potential to change the way the world deals with energy, and I’m pleased that he’s willing to discuss basing its production in Massachusetts.

Rossi’s E-Cat reactor, which has thus far been developed and tested in the Italian city of Bologna, is intended to produce large amounts of energy from a reaction between nickel and hydrogen. The reaction produces heat which then heats water to produce steam, from which electricity can be generated. Importantly, the process creates little to no radiation, a major problem for the nuclear fission process currently used to produce power in reactors around the world.

The enormous potential of this technology demands that it be addressed by the best scientific minds in the world. Since Massachusetts is the home of some of the best colleges and universities in the world, it makes sense for that process to happen here.

Our institutions of higher learning have been tremendous in their response to this opportunity, and I look forward to working with them.


More here, from a month ago:

http://cryptogon.com/?p=25753

Which U.S. Organization Bought Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat System?

October 30th, 2011

I’ve been watching Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat saga for over a year, and it just took a turn for the weird.

Cryptogon is read by all of the alphabet agencies, military branches, some members of the Congress (or their staffs), and the White House. Someone reading this post could know the answer to this simple question:

Who bought Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat system?

Via: Wired:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/201 ... si-success

Against all the odds, Andrea Rossi's E-Cat cold fusion power plant passed its biggest test yesterday, producing an average of 470 kilowatts for more than five hours. (A technical glitch prevented it from achieving a megawatt as originally planned). The demonstration was monitored closely by engineers from Rossi's mysterious US customer, which was evidently satisfied and paid up.

The energy was output in the form of heat, measured by the quantity of water boiled off. The results are reported in NyTeknik and Pure Energy Systems News, who both had reporters present for the test. Associated Press also sent a correspondent who should be filing a story in the next few days (one suspects his editors might have some questions).

But this does not mean we can crack open the champagne and celebrate the end of fossil fuels quite yet. Skeptics have plenty of grounds to doubt whether the new test really takes us any further forwards.

For a start, the US customer remains anonymous. In other words, a group of unknown, unverifiable people carried out tests which cannot be checked.

Secondly, observers apart from the customer were only allowed to view the test for a few minutes at a time and during the entire test the E-Cat remained connected to a power supply by a cable. The external power was supposedly turned off; as a demonstration it would have been more impressive for the reactor in its shipping container to be visibly disconnected while operating.

The successful test should pave the way for further work at the University of Bologna, and more contracts with the enigmatic customer. NyTeknik did discover one possible clue to their identity. The customer's controller, one Domenico Fioravanti, apparently reports to a man whose title is "Colonel". This suggests that the mystery customer might be DARPA, the Pentagon's extreme science wing which, as Wired.co.uk has previously noted, has expressed interestin Rossi's work -- but which might not be quite ready to explain to its political masters why it spent millions on a cold fusion device.

Plenty of mysteries remain. But the game just got a lot more interesting.


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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby Sounder » Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:37 am

The demonstrations so far do not provide enough information to asses whether this is a fraud or not, and I can easily imagine DARPA spending a million dollars to promote a fraud so that study of LENR effects might be pushed back a bit.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/201 ... uccess?p=3
From the comments section, this from Vicram
Article should point to the dominant evidence for the LENR effect, and not make Rossi seem like the only or best proof of it. Rossi is not an exemplary scientist, but plenty of them are out there with prove positive of LENR. It will be a shame if Rossi is not right, because it might increase the excuses to neglect the science behind the Pons and Fleishman effect, which has been observed in over 50 repectable labs over the last 22 years, and in many published papers. The US Govt (Tom Claton, Los Alamos, NRL, and SPAWARS San Diego) have all reported on the excess energy. Well funded non-flakey companies such as BrillouinEnergy and Energetics can replicate the reaction quite reliably. Stanford Research Institute's Michael McKubre has an unimpeachable reputation and very solid recent data, perfect replication of excess energy. Look for him on Youtube in 2009. A good handle on the modest changes to the standard model are coming from Dr. Peter Hagelstein (MIT). The leading US university in the field is Ol Miz, Missouri University. Check Youtube for their lectures from leading researchers on LENR. The majority of people on the DOE panel in 2004 recommended funding for LENR however colder minds prevailed when it came to cutting checks which totaled zero. Now even the extremely productive "discretionary funds" that young NRL researchers used to have have been canceled in favor of micromanagement by aging bureaucrats funneling funds to friends. Because of how Pons & Flieshman disrupted research funding 22 years ago, a lot of prominent execs at DOE and NSF and Nature and Science and MIT are on the record calling anybody who ever observed the effect a total fraud. They want the truth to come out, slowly after they retire. There was fraud too- court records prove how MIT falsified graphs to make it look like Cold Fusion didn't produce excess heat, when it had. They were so sure that excess heat would be accompanied by high energy neutrons or gamma rays, that they really felt they should make their heat observation go away. In 22 years NO high energy neutrons or gammas have been observed, but excess heat, tritium, ehhanced dueterium, metal transmutations (from excess ultra-cold neutrons) and helium in proportion to energy have been observed. My favorite theory on why it can happen without Gammas or fast Neutrons is Peter Hagelsteins. He wrote the textbook on Quantum Mechanics so hopefully the willful ignorance of the Physics Priesthood will be replaced with curiosity when he throws correct differential equations at them. My favorite apparatus is BrillouinEnergy.com because they seem to have the on-off switch mastered. Most folks in the field take 500 hours to make the reaction happen if it starts at all. Even Rossi takes hours. The BrilloiunEnergy boiler turns on in less than one second, and off even quicker (which is relevant post Fukishima!). Note Rossi brags about his reactor staying warm when the inputs are turned off- is that a feature or a bug? ---Awesome history of cold fusion - NewScientist 2003. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg1 ... ?full=true
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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby StarmanSkye » Thu Nov 24, 2011 4:27 pm

I recommend this vid from about a year ago as a highly informative overview of the Cold Fusion controversy, making the case for over 20 years of research results produced by a large and growing body of scientists and technicians from a wide range of hosting agencies, from academia and corporations (ie., Toyota) to foreign governments, utility companies and militaries, demonstrating production of tritium and excess energy up to 100 times greater than that expected according to conventional notions of chemical engineering.

Among other scientific critiques of the controversy this vid examines MIT's highly-publicized critical review condemning LENR (low energy nuclear reaction which Ponns & Fleischmann claimed to discover in 1989) which under independant review it was found that MIT researchers falsified their data claiming 'no evidence' to support their denunciation of Ponns and Fleischmann.

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Re: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated Cold Fusio

Postby Bruce Dazzling » Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:36 am

The History of MIT's Blatant Suppression of Cold Fusion
By Hank Mills with Sterling D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News

Due to the fact that commercially-ready cold fusion technologies like Andrea Rossi's E-Cat (Energy Catalyzer) exist and can produce kilowatts of power, I'm not too interested in previous systems from years ago that could only produce a couple watts of power (or less). However, I am very interested in the events that took place immediately after the birth of Cold Fusion in 1989, when Pons and Fleischmann announced the existence of their technology to the world. Although cold fusion systems at the time were not ready for the market place, they proved the effect was real -- a fact the establishment could not allow the public to accept.

Immediately after the announcement was made, the "mainstream" scientific community went on the attack. The late Eugene Mallove was in the middle of it, being employed at MIT in the news office -- before resigning in protest of the institution's misconduct. In a featured article for Infinite Energy Magazine, Mallove detailed exactly what took place that led to his resignation, and the depth of hatred that many professors at MIT had for Pons and Fleischmann's work. The article titled, "MIT and Cold Fusion: A Special Report" also looks at how the replication performed by the institution's Plasma Fusion Center actually did produce positive results, how data from the experiment was altered by unknown individuals at least twice, and how the hot fusion scientists in charge of such tests were far too biased to conduct proper research.

The article is the most detailed piece of documentation I have ever seen in regards to the early years of the war against cold fusion. If you think the suppression Pons and Fleischmann faced was bad, you don't have a clue until you have read this article.

To start with, those in charge of the replication attempt were members of the MIT Plasma Fusion Center. Their work with hot fusion Tokamak brought the university many millions of dollars in funding from the government, and maintained their job security. If cold fusion were to be accepted as a real phenomenon, it could have made hot fusion research appear to be near worthless.

The question in the minds of representatives in Washington, DC would have been, "Why should the taxpayers finance the construction of giant reactors to experiment with hot fusion reactions that produce nuclear waste and lethal amounts of radioactivity, when cold fusion research only requires a small fraction of the funding, while producing no waste and little radioactivity?"

In the minds of the MIT professors, such as MIT Plasma Fusion Center Director Ronald R. Parker, that question could never be allowed to cross the minds of those that paid for their employment. So in an effort to belittle cold fusion research so no one would take it serious, the members of his department (including some scientists from others) took every opportunity they could to attack Pons and Fleischmann. For example, consider how...

*A funeral party or "Wake for Cold Fusion" was held by the Plasma Fusion Center, before their replication test of Pons and Fleischmann's setup was even complete. They held another such party afterwards.

*Mugs belittling cold fusion were given out by Ron Parker, the head of the MIT hot fusion research group, who was supposed to be doing serious research to determine if cold fusion was a reality or not. The mugs read, "The Utah University: Department of Fusion Confusion" and had mocking instructions for cold fusion on the back.

*Ron Parker would use the test results to discredit cold fusion, while at a celebration of the death of cold fusion stated to Eugene Mallove (after being shown evidence in support for cold fusion) stated that the data from the MIT replication was "worthless."

*How examination of the data from MIT's replication showed obvious evidence of tampering. In fact, the corrected data showed excess heat. Yet it was still used to discredit cold fusion research for many years.

*How the former President of MIT, Charles Vest, refused to order an investigation into how the Plasma Fusion Center handled the replication, and their obviously unscientific behavior -- such as partying for the death of something instead of doing unbiased research. Even worse, years later he signed onto a Department of Energy report stating that cold fusion did not deserve funding for research, yet hot fusion deserved millions of additional dollars and was a "bargain."

*Conflicts of interest were ignored from the very start. For example, those who had the strongest need for cold fusion to be proven not to work (hot fusion scientists), were tasked with the replication of the effect. It would be like giving a cigarette company the order to conduct a study on the reality of lung cancer, or the lumber industry the job of determining the usefulness of industrial hemp. What the hot fusion scientists were going to say was obvious!

*How some scientists were so closed minded they stated that if cold fusion was real, Pons and Fleischmann should be dead from radiation poisoning. In addition, some scientists went so far as to personally attack them. In one case, a scientist stated that even if a thousand tests showed excess heat, that the results would not vindicate Pons and Fleischmann.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the article is how Ronald R. Parker and Ronald G. Ballinger had a phone call with Nick Tate of the Boston Herald in 1989. They were talking to him about a potential story about cold fusion, hoping that he would write a hit piece. In their conversation, which is transcribed in the article, Parker uses the fraud word in his description of their work. He also talks about how he is setting up another "blast" against cold fusion with Bob Bazell, a reporter with NBC.

When Tate reported in the Boston Herald on May 1 that the MIT scientists had called Pons and Fleishmann's work a "possible fraud" and "scientific schlock", Pons and Fleishmann were viciously attacked at the meeting of the American Physical Society. In a retrospective piece written in 1991, Tate asserted that: "Some say those comments set the tone for the national criticism of the Utah work that followed."

Meanwhile, when Tate's article in the Boston Herald revealed that Parker had described Pons and Fleishmann's work as being a "possible fraud" and "scientific schlock", Parker rushed to deny he had made such statements. Probably, he realized that in his rush to discredit cold fusion he had crossed the line, and committed slander. In order to avoid possible legal repercussions, in a media advisory from the MIT News Office, Parker specifically denied making such assertions to Tate during their telephone conversation. However, Tate had recorded the phone call, and therefore had rock solid evidence that Parker had made those statements. Years later, Tate allowed Eugene Mallove to listen to the recording, which revealed the truth about what was said. It was too late, the damage to cold fusion's reputation was done.

In summary, Mallove's article paints a damning picture of MIT scientists and professors hell-bent on discrediting cold fusion. Out of desperation to protect hot fusion research, they went so far as to tell blatant lies, alter data, hurl personal insults, conduct celebrations of the "death" of cold fusion, and organize journalists to write hit pieces to try and dismiss Pons and Fleischmann's work in the public eye. Then the leadership of MIT turned away and ignored the misconduct and potentially criminal behavior, even when they were specifically alerted to it. Years later, these same individuals (working in other positions with the DOE and DOD) continued to promote the idea that cold fusion was "garbage."

If you want to know the TRUTH about why it has taken twenty plus years for a commercial cold fusion technology to be developed, you should read this article. It is a tragedy beyond measure that an institution like MIT would allow such inappropriate behavior. Everyone involved has blood on their hands from all the people on this planet that have died due to the suppression of this technology. Literally, due to their suppression of cold fusion, children have needlessly starved, millions have suffered dehydration due to a lack of clean water, the environment has been trashed, and the global economy has been almost destroyed.

If the suppression of cold fusion by MIT had never happened, we might not even have an energy crisis today!

And this is but one of many such stories about the suppression saga from 1989.

The suppression from back then has had phenomenal staying power due to the brainwashing that pronounced "cold fusion" to be "junk science," no matter what, despite thousands of replications worldwide, with several making significant gains toward marketplace viability, and the E-Cat actually reaching the marketplace on October 28 of this year with a 1 MW unit. So now, when people attack Andrea Rossi's E-Cat, it's hard to tell whether they are acting as a function of that brainwashing, or as a present-day disinformation agent, or if they have honest misgivings of a scientific basis.

Gratefully, Rossi keeps moving forward despite these negative statements.

A few individuals in the mainstream are coming around and waking up to the reality of cold fusion, like NASA's Dennis Bushnell who claims cold fusion is the number one most promising alternative energy technology on the planet. However, to protect hot fusion research, protect the status quo, and to keep the public from realizing how the scientific community suppressed cold fusion, he calls the phenomena LENR (Low Energy Nuclear Reactions). In addition, he claims there is no fusion in cold fusion, in order to try and make the technology seem more mundane, and more acceptable.

There were enemies of mankind in 1989 that wanted to prevent the proliferation of cold fusion, and there are still such enemies today. Reading about how cold fusion research was attacked from the very start can help us prepare for attacks from these in the future.

We cannot let greedy, selfish, and power-hungry monsters and their countless minions suppress cold fusion for another twenty years or more. There are too many lives at risk. Simply put, the future of our civilization is at stake.

"Arrogance is experiential and environmental in cause. Human experience can make and unmake arrogance. Ours is about to get unmade."

~ Joe Bageant R.I.P.

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