Cold Fusion is Back (there's just one problem)

I didn't know that there where some cold fusion that actually works. Even if the current methods is impractical for energy generation it doesn't sound like we have to break a few of the laws of physics to achieve it. So then it worth while to do some research about it.

I love Sabine’s sense of humour. There’s just one problem [insert sad violin music]... only she can do it.

“Understanding the strong nuclear force in LHC collisions is quite simple, by which I mean a PhD in particle physics will do.” Loved that!

I greatly enjoy Sabine's discussions. I earned a Ph.D. in physics many years ago and can appreciate the exceptional depth and range of her knowledge. She does not engage in adverse criticism, personally, of other physicists with whom she disagrees. That makes her lectures even more enjoyable.

I wish my high school science, chemistry, and physics teachers had been as effective as Sabine in communicating complex ideas.

I led one of the teams that Sabine cites in this video (at the 10.34 mark). We spent almost five years looking into LENR. In the video, Sabine states that we could not replicate the prior results. That's true, but there’s more to it. We observed the claimed heat effect, both in magnitude and duration, in our parallel control cells. This indicates a calibration error in the apparatus. One little known fact about these electro-chemical cell experiments is that they are run for a week or more before the effect is observed. Typically, calibration is conducted over a few hours and is done both before an experimental run and intermittently during it, to re-check thermal stability. We submit that this approach to calibration is inadequate for establishing a calorimeter’s propensity for heat artifacts. Stability over time periods longer than the experiment should be demonstrated in order to minimize the possibility of misinterpreting the fluctuations that we observed as “excess heat” events. Consequently, we contend that all claims of anomalous heat in LENR experiments using electro-chemical cells that do not exhibit thermal stability on a time period longer than the time duration of the experiment itself must be thrown out. As the majority of research over the past 30 years has not demonstrated this kind of calibration stability, that eliminates most of the effort in this field. You can read more about our work on the ReResearch LLC website. That is not to say that we know everything about hot fusion in the solid state or how quantum mechanical interactions might impact fusion reactivity. There is much still to be discovered. But these electro-chemical LENR heat experiments are noise, not signal.

I love that the "there's just one problem" line had its own theme music!

Ι remember I was a physics student in 1989 when Fleischmann and Pons conducted their experiment; we were all in the auditorium talking enthusiastically about it, when the Nuclear Physics Professor came in and, when we asked him about it, he managed to wipe the smiles off our faces in five minutes! Still, I remember the excitement. We must never give up hope!

Sabine's video is probably one of the most balanced and enlightening discussions on cold fusion that I've seen. Well done!

I admire Sabine's commitment to speaking the truth and letting the chips fall where they may. The first time I heard of her was her article in Symmetry Magazine attacking the sacred cow of "beauty" in physics. As a practicing physicist in the US, I can tell you that was an important message that physicists needed to hear. This video may have an even more important message since it address the conformity rampant in all fields of science. I am certainly guilty of thinking cold fusion is a hoax, but I am now willing to reconsider. Thanks Sabine!

I like that she acknowledges her skepticism, yet believes more study is beneficial. So often, science is treated as established fact. "There's just one problem..." - it is not. Science is still very much 'figuring it out'. That's not bad. We just need to recognize that our models are incomplete, and keep studying. Much continued success, Sabine. I like your attitude, and clear explanations. Well done! :)

As luck would have it, I actually knew Pons and Fleischmann back in the early-to-mid 1980s. I have reason to believe that, based on a cryptic remark the two of them once made to me, I think that they had already started their work on cold fusion at the time they made their remark to me. Martin Fleischmann died a few years ago. The last I heard Pons was still working on cold fusion at an undisclosed site, probably in France. There is another small fusion device called a fusor. It's not exactly cold fusion, but the devices can be quite small. The inventor (or perhaps one of the inventors) of the fusor was Philo T. Farnsworth, who was more famous for inventing television. Farnsworth was my grandmother's second cousin, and I once met his widow at a family party. I am actually in possession of one of Farnsworth's fusors, not the complete device but parts of it. The parts are sitting in my garage. The demonstration a few days ago of hot fusion exceeding the break even point was exciting. There is an old joke about nuclear fusion which goes something like this: practical fusion is just 20 years away, always has been, always will be. I heard that joke about 35 years ago, and it still applies.

I have come to greatly enjoy your programs. You explain complex issues and problems, with no dumbing down. That takes great skill and a thorough understanding of the subject. I may just be a bohunk Georgia boy, but I am not an ignoramus. I think you respect the intelligence of every viewer.

A solid-state diode was in use for radio reception long before science explained how it worked. It was found that a metal wire in contact with a crystal of galena could perform rectification on weak amplitude-modulated signals. It was used simply because it worked.

One thing I really value about this channel. Sabine is frank about the holes in our scientific knowledge.

Stanley Pons introduced cold fusion to the American Chemical Society in Dallas in 1989. It was very exciting. Later attempts to replicate were like trying to play basketball when the air goes out of the ball. One person at Texas A & M explained that in their further work, when it seemed to work, there was a lot of heat and the palladium rods would distort. And, that pure palladium would not work; it had to have impurities, possibly if i recall 5% platinum. Something was happening, if not cold fusion, but possibly neutron capture? Very obvious is that if we stick to known channels using known paradigms, we will not discover new worlds. Kudos to those who continue this work. Thank you Professor Sabine, for an insightful presentation.

This is far more interesting than I expected. I came to hear about cold fusion research, but I was intrigued by the particle physics questions.

According to Sabine, there is only one problem with LENR: Labs aren't blowing up left and right. Finally somethings about physics that I can understand.

I never entirely understand what’s going on in these videos, but they give me such excellent research rabbit hole fodder. I get to be confused about so many new, exciting things. Thank you, truly!

CF is a catalyzed nuclear reaction that occurs by tunneling. It can be done using any of the D8 transition metals Ni Pd or Pt. The strongest resonance transition is with Pd. What happens is the electrons from the deuterium tunnel to fill the gap 9'10 D transitions giving Pd the configuration of Cd. When this occurs the hydrogen briefly forms an intermetallic alloy that nullifies the space charge. This drags the nuclei within the capture radius via quantum tunneling. A curous effect of this reaction is that it will preferentially create 3He and a free neutron rather than 4He and a gamma ray. It was studied as a potential source of tritium production. The major issue is that the reaction damages the lattice of the palladium partly by mechanical dislocation and partly by activation. The energy isnt enough for serious power generation and is self terminating. The best catalyst for the reaction are carbon nanotubes loaded with palladium nanocrystals in deuterium. Trigger with a magnetic field and an accoustic shockwave. Your choice of matrix deuterium at high pressure, lithium deuteride, or deuterium oxide. The first two options require an explosive to pump it, the last one can be done using ultrasound. With plain D2O you get dim blue flashes in the sonoluminescent cavitation cell, with carbon nanotubes the same but sometimes greenish white, with pd nanocrystals you get blue flashes and occasionally a brighter than normal and while flash. With Pd loaded nanotubes it will make the blue and greenish white flashes and occasionally very bright pinkish white flashes with detectable nuclear radiation both gamma and neutron. 🤓