60 Minutes on Cold Fusion

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The Cold Fusion segment on 60 Minutes.

Michael McKubre is an electro-chemist who imagines, in 20 years, the creation of a clean nuclear battery. “For example, a laptop would come pre-charged with all of the energy that you would ever intend to use. You’re now decoupled from your charger and the wall socket,” he explained. (first third)

Richard Garwin worked on the hydrogen bomb and is prominent critic. He wants 100% reliability and producibility. (second third. reviewing the past and the criticism)

Rob Duncan, vice chancellor of research at the University of Missouri and an expert in measuring energy independently reviewed the work. It appears he went to the Energetics Technology lab in Israel. He doubted Cold Fusion when he was invited to review but came away believing that the effect is real but not understood in detail.

“If you ask me, is this going to have any impact on our energy policy, it’s impossible to say, because we don’t fundamentally understand the process yet. But to say, because we don’t fundamentally understand the process and that’s why we’re not going to study it, is like saying, ‘I’m too sick to go to the doctor,'” Duncan argued.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Martin Fleischmann, one of the original scientists who discovered cold fusion twenty years ago, was interviewed to close the piece.

FURTHER READING

This site had videos of the American Chemical Society press conferences on Cold Fusion/Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR).

So what has changed over the last twenty years ?

There are more detections of various nuclear reaction products like neutrons.
There is more reliability in the tests. 70-80% consistency of getting some results.
Nanoparticles and thin films begin reactions without delays for loading to critical levels.
There is more understanding of the elements of the tests that can lead to failed tests. The quality of the palladium at the nano-scale.

Some say it does not look like regular nuclear fusion in a tokomak. Why should it look like nuclear reactions in a diffuse plasma when they are new reactions in a condensed solid ?

Pamela Mosier-Boss and colleagues at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego, California, are claiming to have made a “significant” discovery – clear evidence of the products of cold fusion. Tracks of energetic Neutrons are being detected.

One of the most important new research was done in Japan by Arata where heat was produced without adding electricity but just loading deuterium into metal powder.

This site had a preview of the 60 Minutes piece and had videos made by Energetics Technologies, who lab was visited by the 60 Minutes hired independent investigator and is indicating that they are close to commercialization.