2 ms·

I would think this would be on the "front page" of every media outlet by now. It would rival the announcement of the potential aids vaccine. OWS folks would b

by dhimes 15y ago

I would think this would be on the "front page" of every media outlet by now. It would rival the announcement of the potential aids vaccine. OWS folks would be playing it up as the beginning of the end of the Evil Corporations. Instead, silence. I consider it very unlikely that the experiment was a success. So that leave two possibilities: 1). Deliberate fraud, a la Madoff. Or 2). interesting science, not fusion, but still a reaction that is not well understood. Something like a fuel cell, when for a while it looks like e_out > e_in, but in reality e_in happened over a long time, and as such the reaction is non-sustainable. I'm hoping for 2)- an honest mistake in which we learn something.

vidarh 15y ago
While it's right to be skeptical, it's worth considering that the press has been burned by cold fusion claims many times by now. No serious journalist would touch this without a ton of caveats, and then what's the point? So a lack of massive mainstream media coverage doesn't really mean all that much. Especially given that these guys seems to be secretive, which is understandable whether or not it's real or a scam - if the process is easy to reproduce, and claims are that the process is very simple, and thus if the effect is real they're probably worried about someone copying it and finding simple ways around any patents they might apply for. Of course the second reason to be secretive would be if it blatantly is a scam or they have failed to make it work and refuse to accept that they won't find a way to fix it. And history is littered by companies like this that claimed to have similar stuff for all kinds of reason and then just fell off the radar after it turned out they were frauds, wrong or delusional...
- dhimes 15y ago
  My point exactly.
  - mrb 15y ago
    The most trusted media outlet who wrote about E-Cat was Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2011/10/30/believing-in-cold-fusion-and-the-e-cat/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2011/10/30/believing-i... It is worth noting that the Italian Patent Office first rejected Rossi's patent on claims it was dubious, but they finally recently granted it in April 6, 2011: http://www.uibm.gov.it/uibm/dati/Avanzata.aspx?load=info_list_uno&id=1610895&table=Invention&#ancoraSearch%20Patent%20Issued%20by%20Italian%20Patent%20Office http://www.uibm.gov.it/uibm/dati/Avanzata.aspx?load=info_lis... As I said, Rossi and Focardi are very bad at making themselves look credible. Hopefully, over the next year or so, the situation will clear up.

by dhimes 15y ago

vidarh 15y ago

While it's right to be skeptical, it's worth considering that the press has been burned by cold fusion claims many times by now. No serious journalist would touch this without a ton of caveats, and then what's the point? So a lack of massive mainstream media coverage doesn't really mean all that much. Especially given that these guys seems to be secretive, which is understandable whether or not it's real or a scam - if the process is easy to reproduce, and claims are that the process is very simple, and thus if the effect is real they're probably worried about someone copying it and finding simple ways around any patents they might apply for. Of course the second reason to be secretive would be if it blatantly is a scam or they have failed to make it work and refuse to accept that they won't find a way to fix it. And history is littered by companies like this that claimed to have similar stuff for all kinds of reason and then just fell off the radar after it turned out they were frauds, wrong or delusional...

dhimes 15y ago
My point exactly.
- mrb 15y ago
  The most trusted media outlet who wrote about E-Cat was Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2011/10/30/believing-in-cold-fusion-and-the-e-cat/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2011/10/30/believing-i... It is worth noting that the Italian Patent Office first rejected Rossi's patent on claims it was dubious, but they finally recently granted it in April 6, 2011: http://www.uibm.gov.it/uibm/dati/Avanzata.aspx?load=info_list_uno&id=1610895&table=Invention&#ancoraSearch%20Patent%20Issued%20by%20Italian%20Patent%20Office http://www.uibm.gov.it/uibm/dati/Avanzata.aspx?load=info_lis... As I said, Rossi and Focardi are very bad at making themselves look credible. Hopefully, over the next year or so, the situation will clear up.