3 ms·

You mentioned the Coulomb barrier makes this impossible. Can you comment on this story about Edward Teller? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10780632 https

You mentioned the Coulomb barrier makes this impossible. Can you comment on this story about Edward Teller? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10780632 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10780632 Seems to me it's not proven beyond doubt that it's impossible. Furthermore, even if it does prove to be impossible it could turn out to be a 'useful mistake' if new science needs to be developed to explain the phenomena that were once labelled as 'cold fusion', that's what interests me more, I don't really mind what it's called.

mahranch 11y ago
> Can you comment on this story about Edward Teller? It's an anecdote of an anecdote. It's literally third person hearsay, with Teller saying "Oh, it "might" be possible". We don't even know he said that. Even on the off-chance he did, it means practically nothing. There are similar wordings and phrasing done about breaking light speed from respected physicists. You could probably get one to say "might" as well. It doesn't mean there's any validity behind it. The point and facts still stand - you're not going to break the Coulomb barrier at room temp. It's an impossibility.