Campbell: Fusion causes scientist to get cold shoulder

‘ ‘ ‘ Back in 1989, a few scientists at the University of Utah received quite a bit of ridicule… ‘ ‘ ‘ Back in 1989, a few scientists at the University of Utah received quite a bit of ridicule from the scientific community when they announced that evidence of cold fusion could be found in what boiled down to a complicated glass of water. ‘ ‘ ‘ True evidence of cold fusion could revolutionize the energy industry, as cold fusion can produce potentially limitless amounts of energy with little or no initial input. The announcement was quite exciting. ‘ ‘ ‘ The nitty-gritty of the science in 1989 seemed intriguing. The ‘glass of water’ contained a mixture of palladium chloride, lithium chloride and heavy water ‘- water containing two deuterium atoms. ‘ ‘ ‘ The two scientists involved, Martin Fleischmann and Stanly Pons, reported measuring an increase in energy in the system. They attributed this increase to spontaneous fusion reactions occurring within the crystalline structure of the palladium chloride molecules. ‘ ‘ ‘ Unfortunately, fusion normally is associated with the interiors of stars ‘- reactions that require astronomically high amounts of energy to get started. ‘ ‘ ‘ Scientists, however, were unconvinced and would hear none of it. ‘ ‘ ‘ The theory was widely ridiculed as being released too soon. It was widely held that the phenomenon of the strange energy, if not a simple measurement fluke, should not have been immediately explained momentously as cold fusion. ‘ ‘ ‘ Now Pamela Mosier-Boss would like to try her hand at convincing the scientific community that cold fusion is a possibility. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘New Scientist,’ an online scientific publication, recently reported that Mosier-Boss, a researcher from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in California, announced measuring evidence of excited neutrons emanating from palladium chloride crystals. ‘ ‘ ‘ With the application of just a little bit of electricity, Mosier-Boss and her team found lines etched in their particle detector. ‘ ‘ ‘ This evidence is significantly more compelling than a simple increase in energy in the system, as the very existence of high-energy neutrons can be plausibly interpreted as the telltale hints of a nuclear reaction. ‘ ‘ ‘ So how did Mosier-Boss discover these tracks? She used a pair of eyeglasses. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘New Scientist’ described the material used, labeled CR-39, as the main polymer used in glasses lenses. CR-39 has the property of responding to particles being thrown at it. After collecting bombarding particles for a while, a researcher has essentially a map of the locations of particles in the system. ‘ ‘ ‘ From examining the CR-39, Mosier-Boss reported the possibility of a nuclear reaction within the crystalline structure of the palladium chloride. ‘ ‘ ‘ The nuclear reaction Mosier-Boss reported’ is the fusion of hydrogen atoms. Essentially, a fusion reaction is occurring in a system where very small amounts of energy are being applied. ‘ ‘ ‘ There is some controversy with this, despite the fact that Mosier-Boss’ conclusions are receiving significantly more respect than the conclusions put forth in 1989. ‘ ‘ ‘ First of all, Mosier-Boss can’t see the high-energy neutrons directly. What she observed were recorded tracks, produced, as Mosier-Boss asserts, by charged nuclear particles produced when high-energy neutrons interacted with the CR-39 material. But the explanation as to how the neutrons received their energy is not exactly certain. ‘ ‘ ‘ So what does this mean? Scientific American once portrayed cold fusion rather humorously as a glass of simple tap water sitting on a scientist’s desk glowing with the intensity of a microscopic star. ‘ ‘ ‘ Essentially, this estimation lies within the hopes of all scientists involved in the search for true cold fusion. With as little input as pouring water into a glass, is it possible to produce a star’s worth of energy? ‘ ‘ ‘ A controlled man-made sun would provide all the energy required to power the planet. Although radiation is involved in any nuclear reaction, a cold fusion plant can be considered ‘green.” ‘ ‘ ‘ The ultimate byproduct of fusing a tritium and deuterium atom, apart from ridiculous amounts of energy, is helium-4, which is not radioactive. ‘ ‘ ‘ Although Mosier-Boss is receiving quite a bit more scientific kudos than Fleischmann and Pons in the late ’80s, her work is far from over. ‘ ‘ ‘ Scientists have far from scrutinized her work to satisfaction, but naysayers are still abundant. ‘ ‘ ‘ We’ll just have to wait for congressman to say ‘not in my back yard’ to a state-of-the-art man-made star.