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As many physicists pointed out at the time of the Fleischmann and Pons controversy, fusion at room temperatures may well be possible. If fact we know it’s possi

by simonh 5y ago

As many physicists pointed out at the time of the Fleischmann and Pons controversy, fusion at room temperatures may well be possible. If fact we know it’s possible because we have Fusors, and then there’s muon catalysed fusion. The problem wasn’t with the temperature range, it was with the not working and not being fusion.

JackFr 5y ago
> The problem wasn’t with the temperature range, it was with the not working and not being fusion. And them being chemists not physicists. And the University of Utah issuing a press release before the anything was peer reviewed. The whole episode is is an example of what can go wrong with science. This article shows what clearly could have been a useful and productive field of investigation became poisoned to the extent that no significant research could go on for a quarter century and still the authors have to go to great pains to distance themselves from Fleischman and Pons.
- phkahler 5y ago
  >> And them being chemists not physicists. That was a huge part of it - I wrote a paper on the controversy for a class. The physicists basically said "That can't work, it must be a chemical reaction." Regardless of the physics working or not, they were effectively saying two chemists couldn't properly do calorimetry on a cell containing 4 elements that don't do very much chemically. This a much harsher thing than the chemists saying physics overlooked something.
willis936 5y ago
Nothing about fusors are room temperature.
- simonh 5y ago
  The point is you can operate it unshielded or thermally lagged. A typical Fusor has about the power output of a domestic lightbulb. I have several of those on in the room I’m in right now. Fusion in a desktop apparatus, by itself, is no big deal.
  - willis936 5y ago
    I still don't get this line of reasoning. Pulsed MCF research devices only get hot on divertors and are thermally lagged. These distinctions don't seem important because they're decoupled from the physics.

by simonh 5y ago

JackFr 5y ago

> The problem wasn’t with the temperature range, it was with the not working and not being fusion. And them being chemists not physicists. And the University of Utah issuing a press release before the anything was peer reviewed. The whole episode is is an example of what can go wrong with science. This article shows what clearly could have been a useful and productive field of investigation became poisoned to the extent that no significant research could go on for a quarter century and still the authors have to go to great pains to distance themselves from Fleischman and Pons.

phkahler 5y ago
>> And them being chemists not physicists. That was a huge part of it - I wrote a paper on the controversy for a class. The physicists basically said "That can't work, it must be a chemical reaction." Regardless of the physics working or not, they were effectively saying two chemists couldn't properly do calorimetry on a cell containing 4 elements that don't do very much chemically. This a much harsher thing than the chemists saying physics overlooked something.

willis936 5y ago

Nothing about fusors are room temperature.

simonh 5y ago
The point is you can operate it unshielded or thermally lagged. A typical Fusor has about the power output of a domestic lightbulb. I have several of those on in the room I’m in right now. Fusion in a desktop apparatus, by itself, is no big deal.
- willis936 5y ago
  I still don't get this line of reasoning. Pulsed MCF research devices only get hot on divertors and are thermally lagged. These distinctions don't seem important because they're decoupled from the physics.