[extropy-chat] sonofusion tested on BBC tonight

[Dan Clemmensen]

Dirk Bruere wrote:

> Damien Broderick wrote:
>
>> The BBC is showing a program tonight on cold fusion claims (of a 
>> sort). If anyone here watches it, maybe they could report back?
>>
> No replication, and Taleyarkhan refused to work with one of the people 
> involved.
> However, I'd say that it may well be that all collapsing bubbles are 
> not equal and that symmetry is crucial.
>
I'm fairly skeptical of the Oak ridge sonofusion experiments, but I'm 
really distressed when they are linked to "cold fusion." There was never 
a viable theory for palladium-catalyzed "cold fusion." and the 
experimental setup was quite complex. Experiment showed an ambiguous 
excess energy production, difficult to reproduce, and fusion was then 
suggested as a possible reason. This is really bad science.

By contrast, sonofusion has a very clear theoretical underpinning. 
Single-bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) is easy to reproduce, and the glow 
of the bubble is most parsimoniously explained as thermal (or blackbody) 
radiation. From this hypothesis, we can make a simple calculation to 
show that IF the bubble gets hotter THEN fusion will occur. Great 
theoretical science, no voodoo required.

The problem with the Oak Ridge experiment is that they chose to use a 
neutron source to nucleate the bubble. They also use neutron production 
as the indicator that fusion has occurred. Yes, the respective neutrons 
differ in energy and time, but extrordinary claims require extrordinary 
proofs, so I would really, really prefer to see an experiment with no 
neutron source anywhere near the experiment.