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Message 9 6/17/94 0:25 Subject: Cold Fusion - more stuff From: Duncan M. Roads To: Science Files (word processor parameters LM=8, RM=75, TM=2, BM=2) Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501 Sponsored by Vangard Sciences PO BOX 1031 Mesquite, TX 75150 There are ABSOLUTELY NO RESTRICTIONS on duplicating, publishing or distributing the files on KeelyNet! May 5, 1991 COLDFUS2.ASC ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ This file courteously supplied to KeelyNet by Mike Vest. [More] ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ The following was taken off of the National Science Echo from Fidonet. Someone should call Mills Technology, and see if we can get their paper now.. Onward, Resonant Warriors... Mike Vest ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ Cold Fusion Lecture - broad new theory WASHINGTON (UPI) ╤ Two physicists said Thursday they had developed a theory that could explain some of the puzzling phenomena persistently produced by disputed ``cold fusion'' experiments. The experiments did not produce excess energy through nuclear fusion, but instead by a new type of nuclear reaction that scientists say could possibly harness to produce power, said Michigan physicists Frederick Mayer and John Reitz. The reaction may result from production of a new type of particle dubbed a ``hydron,'' which could interract with metal to produce a nuclear reaction at room temperature, they said. The pair described the theory at a news conference in Boston, one [More] day after presenting a paper published in the Journal of Fusion Technology at a seminar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. Lawrence Lidsky, a nuclear engineer at MIT who attended the seminar, said the theory was interesting but needed to be confirmed by experiments. '`Nobody ran out of the room screaming, 'He's got it,''' Lidsky said. ``It's interesting but the theory makes a lot of assumptions and requires several leaps of faith.'' One of the appealing aspects of the theory, however, is that it should be able to be tested fairly easily, he said. ``There are some nifty tests that could be done to see if the theory is correct or not that should be fairly definitive,'' he said. Meanwhile, Mills Technologies of Lancaster, Pa., (see COLDFUS1.ZIP on KeelyNet) also held a news conference Thursday to claim the ``cold fusion'' results were actually from a non-nuclear reaction that produces energy through the contraction of hydrogen atoms. [More] Company president Randell Mills said Fusion Technology had agreed to publish a paper describing his work, which would be presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in New York in August. Chemists B. Stanley Pons and Norman Fleischmann created a worldwide uproar in 1989 when they announced that they had produced nuclear fusion in a simple experiment at room temperature at the University of Utah. Scientists had thought enormous pressure and very high temperatures would be needed to produce fusion ╤ the reaction that powers the sun that researchers have been trying to harness as an energy source. Pons and Fleischmann's claims largely have been discredited. But some scientists have continued to report detecting hints of a possible nuclear reaction produced by the experiments that they could not explain. Pons and Fleischmann's experiment involved running electricity through jars containing rods made of the metal palladium and a form [More] of water that has an extra hydrogen atom. The pair theorized the electrical current drove deuterium atoms in the water into the palladium until the deuterium became so tightly packed the atoms fused ╤ releasing excess energy. In the new theory, deuterium could react with metals like palladium to form unstable neutral particles dubbed ``hydrons,'' which then could react with the palladium in a nuclear reaction that produces excess heat. ``What he's saying is people were looking for the wrong reaction. It's not a form of fusion but a form of nuclear reaction,'' Lidsky said. ``If it were true, it would explain a number of phenomena that are puzzling,'' he said, adding: ``Can you use this to make power? Lord knows.'' Mayer is president of Mayer Applied Research Inc. in Ann Arbor. Reitz is an Ann Arbor consultant who taught physics at Case Western Reserve University from 1954 to 1965. [More] ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ Cold Fusion Lecture broad new theory Theory Suggests Cold Fusion May Be Real by John Travis Perhaps rewakening a controversy which stunned the world over two years ago, a Michigan physicist yesterday at MIT presented a broad new theory that may explain the sporadic and puzzling results of cold fusion experiments, as well addressing other intriguing problems such as excess planetary heat and the presence of tritium in volcanic emissions. In 1989, two Utah chemists shocked the scientific community with their announcement of room-temperature fusion-in-a-bottle. Attempts to duplicate the experiment proved largely unsuccessful, prompting most researchers to dimiss the original report and the few others that followed as incorrect. Still, in the face of strong skepticism and even disdain from the majority of physicists, a small band of believers have continued to experiment and have reported [More] some unusual results. Speaking before a small audience at a lecture sponsored by MIT's Laboratory for Nuclear Science, Dr. Frederic J. Mayer, a plasma physicist with his own company in Ann Arbor, MI, detailed a paper, appearing in next month's issue of Fusion Technology, that attempts to explain the experimental inconsistencies that have been observed over the past 24 months. Fusion, the process which powers the sun, has a number of established pathways, the most common being the collison of two hydrogen atoms which produces a helium atom and a burst of energy, However, this new theory bypasses fusion reactions and proposes a novel energy-producing nuclear reaction that involves a new class of atomic particles not yet directly detected. Mayer's paper, co-authored with theoretical physicist Dr. John R. Reitz, suggests that the excess heat and other nuclear products detected in various cold fusion experiments are not the result of fusion, but instead a reaction involving an isotope switch. [More] Isotopes are atoms that are chemically identical, but have different numbers of neutrons. For example, carbon has a number of isotopes. A carbon atom may have up to twelve or more neutrons in its various isotopic forms. An isotope that is stripped of a neutron, or picks ups one, can often release energy. These reactions, which Mayer calls Resonant Direct Nuclear Reactions, may be the explanation for the cold fusion phenomenon, according to the new theory. There are a number of these isotope reactions, many of them occuring in metals that have been accused of contaminating cold fusion experiments. Since the level of contamination can vary widely, Mayer suggests this may be one explanation for the irreproducibity of many experiments. "The primary nuclear actions are not the conventional d-d fusion reactions, but are RDNRs," Mayer told the gathered audience, "The contaminants are driving the system." Mayer divides the RDNRs into two categories, tritium producers and tritium consumers. Tritium is an extremely rare isotope of the [More] hydrogen atom which normally has a single proton. (An isotope is one of two or more nuclides that have the same number of protons in their nuclei. Atomic hydrogen has one electron and one proton, the two "normal" isotopes of hydrogen are Deuterium (mass number 2, also known as HEAVY WATER) and Tritium (mass number 3 and radiocative)......Vangard) Tritium, in addition to the positively charged proton, has two extra neutrons in the nucleus and has been accused of being another contaminant in the experiments. In Mayer's isotope switch, tritium is converted to deuterium, another form of hydrogen that has a single neutron plus the proton, or vice-versa. When tritium is transformed into deuterium, a freed neutron is available for a metal atom, creating two isotope switches overall. The metal, perhaps platinum or uranium, can also lose a neutron, allowing a deuterium atom to be converted to tritium. It is the [More] isotope switch in the metals that release the excess energy. While the process appears simple and obvious, there is an obstacle most physicists thought prevented such nuclear reactions╤the Coulomb barrier. This barrier is similar to the repulsion that magnets can have with each other and occurs when particles of similar charge are brought together. The tritium, or deuterium, must be very close to the metal atoms before they can trade neutrons. Yet, the positive proton is repulsed by the large number of similarly charged protons in the metal atoms and the reactions are prevented from occuring. But, as Mayer explains in the most controversial part of the new theory, the proton in the the tritium or deuterium can be neutralized, which allows the atoms to evade the Coulomb barrier and procede with their resonant direct nuclear reactions (RDNRs). To perform this magic, Mayer and Reitz have theorized a new class of particles they call "hydrons" or virtual particles (the second name [More] is avoided since it has been used for other atomic particles as well). According to Mayer, a hydron is an unstable, compact neutral particle that sometimes occurs when an electron interacts with a proton. In effect, the electron and proton cancel each other out, creating a "virtual" neutron. If the proton in tritium can be neutralized in this way, the Coulumb barrier would no longer be an impediment and the nuclear reactions would occur. However, these hydrons have not been directly observed and many in the audience were unconvinced that such a proton-electron interaction could exist. Mayer could offer only indirect evidence for the hydrons, but pointed out they provided the best explanation for the variety of experimental data. "Small compact objects that are neutral appear from the data to be present in nature," said Mayer, "A compact object like this could solve a lot of problems." [More] The absence of certain helium isotopes and gamma radiation have been key arguments against cold fusion proponents, since the two are typically produced in the accepted fusion pathways. However, the new theory offers numerous routes in which no radiation would be expected, and none of the reactions would produce helium. This fact may help solve another, older mystery involving the Earth itself. Only about half of the earth's interior energy, geothermal heat, can be accounted for from measurements of helium. Mayer suggested these new reactions may account for the extra heat, as well as explaining why the ratio of helium isotopes is different for geothermal gases than the ratio found in the galaxy. Jupiter, which emits twice as much heat as can be explained presently, is another area where hydrons may be involved. Observations of volcanic emissions have also been found to have large anounts of tritium, more than can be explained from the normal fusion rate at the volcanoe's temperature. Tritium-producing RDNRs may explain the excess, according to Mayer. [More] The broad scope of the theory is one the reasons it is so attractive, said Mayer. It is not just limited to explaining cold fusion phenomenon, but many other scientific puzzles. In fact, the strongest evidence for the new theory may come from other fusion experiments at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Scientists there are studying a process known as Cluster Impact Fusion in which they shoot deuterium atoms at titanium foil. Charged particles measured during the experiment appear to match one of the isotope reactions proposed by Mayer and Reitz. Another puzzle that may back-up the new theory is the diffusivity of hydrogen into metals. This is a well-recognized problem that embrittles the metals. The hydrons, in addition to being neutral, would be extremely small and could seep into metals much more effectively than similar atoms like oxygen or nitrogen. Since the hydrons are short-lived, they would convert back ("go normal" in Mayer's words) taking up a larger volume. And since the hydrons are now inside the metal, this increase could cause cracking, a possible explanation for the [More] metal's brittleness. Mayer's audience at the lecture included Peter Hagelstein, a theoretician at MIT who had provided one of the first possible explanations for cold fusion almost two years ago. While intrigued with the new theory, Hagelstein was not yet persuaded that hydrons could exist. The mathematical proof of them would be difficult, he said. Mayer agreed but pointed out one of the benefits of the hydron explanation was a number of obvious experimental tests that could be done to either support or contradict the theory. Repeating some of the cold fusion experiments, with deliberate and controlled contamination of the metals, would be an excellent start, according to Mayer. Concluding his lecture, Mayer answered what he said was the most obvious question ╤ does the theory suggest a large scale nuclear energy source. While refusing to speculate on the actual method, Mayer simply responded, "I think there is." ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ [More] If you have comments or other information relating to such topics as this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the Vangard Sciences address as listed on the first page. Thank you for your consideration, interest and support. Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ If we can be of service, you may contact Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 242-9346 ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ Commands: Help,Logout,Exit,Read,New,Home,Delete,Scan,Send,Reply,Forward. > Home:The Akashic Records:Science Files: 18 Messages. Commands: Help,Logout,Exit,Read,New,Home,Delete,Scan,Send,Reply,Forward. > 10 Message 10 6/17/94 0:23 Subject: Cold Fusion From: Duncan M. Roads To: Science Files (word processor parameters LM=8, RM=75, TM=2, BM=2) Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501 Sponsored by Vangard Sciences PO BOX 1031 Mesquite, TX 75150 There are ABSOLUTELY NO RESTRICTIONS on duplicating, publishing or distributing the files on KeelyNet! May 1, 1991 COLDFUS1.ASC ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ This interesting file uploaded to KeelyNet courtesy of [More] Jim Shaffer. ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ From the Williamsport, PA _Sun-Gazette_, April 25 1991: FIRM CLAIMS COLD FUSION MYSTERY SOLVED Lancaster Company's Assertion Disputed SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ╤ A Pennsylvania company claims to have solved the puzzle of cold fusion. Mills Technologies, of Lancaster, Pa., claims to have determined a non-nuclear mechanism for the purported phenomenon reported at the University of Utah two years ago. Mills also says it has made the effect reproducible. The company attributes the effect to a previously unknown reaction that creates a new, smaller form of hydrogen. The explanation disputes much of the quantum mechanical theory that has guided nuclear scientists most of this century, and was greeted with some skepticism by other scientists. [More] "Basically, we have both the theoretical and practical aspects solved," Mills' owner, Randell L. Mills, said in a telephone interview Wednesday. The company scheduled a news conference in Lancaster today. Mills said his company of about a half-dozen employees has built its own cells that have produced up to 40 times the electrical energy put in. He also said the heat production works with ordinary water as well as heavy water, and it does not require a palladium electrode. University of Utah researchers Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann stumbled on to the process "by serendipity" and they were wrong in their assumption that nuclear reactions were creating the excess heat, Mills said. But since hydrogen from ordinary water is the fuel, the prospects for use as an energy source are still very good, he said. Mills also said the effect is "100 percent reproducible" and the [More] company has applied for patents worldwide. Reproducibility has been a major hindrance in the acceptance of the phenomena. Under the theory, the electrons in hydrogen atoms drop to previously unknown energy levels below the "ground state" thought to be the lowest level under conventional quantum mechanics. Dropping to these lower levels requires a release of energy as heat. A paper is to be published in the August issue of the Journal of Fusion Technology, where a number of cold-fusion-related articles have appeared, Mills said. He will speak on the work at the August meeting of the American Chemical Society in New York City. Fritz Will, director of the National Cold Fusion Institute at the University of Utah, was out of the country. Haven Bergeson, who directs the physics group for the institute, said he was unfamiliar with Mills and his work and could not comment on its specifics. "On the surface, it seems like an unlikely idea," Bergeson said. "It's a line of thinking that I don't think any of us have followed." [More] John Huizenga, a University of Rochester nuclear chemist who co- chaired the Department of Energy's cold-fusion review panel, said he also knew nothing of the work, but thought it difficult to take the claim seriously at this point. Huizenga, who has previously said that cold fusion would require "a succession of miracles," said the Mills work appears to be more willingness to surrender a well-accepted and proven theory for the sake of sketchy experimental evidence. "When surprise upon surprise upon surprise comes along, one has to be very careful," he said. Mills said his company was formed in 1986 as a research-oriented business. He said his background includes a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a medical degree from Harvard University. He also studied electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ If you have comments or other information relating to such topics [More] as this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the Vangard Sciences address as listed on the first page. Thank you for your consideration, interest and support. Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ If we can be of service, you may contact Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 242-9346 ╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤ Commands: Help,Logout,Exit,Read,New,Home,Delete,Scan,Send,Reply,Forward.