[extropy-chat] Bubble fusion--strong evidence for it.

[Dan Clemmensen]

Jeff Davis wrote:

>Friends,
>
>Dan and Gene responded to my lightweight musings with
>crushing objections.  (Dan was genteel, Gene was
>bruteel.) Ouch! That smarts. ;-}
>
Hey, Jeff. If you don't make your ideas known, we cannot
comment on them. It's generally worthwhile to at least raise
your points, since it's likely that others are thinking the same thing.
On the other hand I was a lot more brutal than you give me credit for.
I offered an extreme put-down when I said you were off by
15 orders of magnitude.  The US GNP is currently about 10 trillion
dollars. If you had claimed that the US GNP was one cent, you would
be off by 15 orders of magnitude. I considered apologizing, but decided 
not to,
so I am being at least as brutal as 'Gene.

>
>By way of a reply, consider Julian Schwinger's
>comments on the subject.  In contrast to my
>insignificant self, who developed a nostalgic
>enthusiasm for the virtues of retirement immediately
>post-partum, Mssr. Schwinger diligently applied
>himself, and eventually shared the 1965 nobel prize in
>physics with Richard Feynman and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga
>"for their fundamental work in quantum
>electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for
>the physics of elementary particles". 
>
>Cold Fusion Theory: A Brief History of Mine
>by Julian Schwinger 
>
>can be found at: 
>
>http://www.infinite-energy.com/iemagazine/issue1/colfusthe.html
>
>  
>
I read thie reference. Interesting. It looks to me like the author is 
very fond
of exotic explanations when simple explanations have not been ruled out.
He invokes the Casmir effect to explain SBSL, when classical adiabatic
compression suffices. He invokes a complex set of sophisitcated effects to
explain missing neutrons and gamma rays in cold fusion, when the much 
simpler
explanation is that there is no fusion.

Please note: the current SBSL "fusion" is still problematical. The 
experiment
uses neutron bombardment to stimulate bubble formation. This adds a 
complication
that must then be rigorously accounted for. I wil not be convinced until 
there
is an experiment that does not use a neutron source, but that still 
generates
tritium and gamma radiation.

On the other hand, the implications are huge. If this works, it may 
result in
practical fusion energy in increments suitable for individuals. This would
completely disrupt the existing economy. Consider: If you had a 100KW
heat generator you could heat and cool your home and drive a steam engine
to run a generator. Another steam engine drives the car. No Gasoline. No
Electric company or Gas company. The curent SBSL "fusion" is D-D, but
this is less than an order of magnitude from H-H. Power to the People.