Monday 14 February 2011

Italian Scientists Claim (Dubious) Cold Fusion Breakthrough

Good science is always rooted in good data, but the most entertaining science is the stuff that transcends the need for data by rooting itself in fantastical claims -- and a rejection of the idea that data is even necessary.


So naturally it’s a thrill to learn that two Italian scientists claim to have successfully developed a cold fusion reactor that produces 12,400 watts of heat power per 400 watts of input. Not only that, but they’ll be commercially available in just three months.


Maybe.


Cold fusion is a tricky business -- some say a theoretically implausible business -- and exactly zero of the previous claims of successful cold fusion have proven legitimate (remember when North Korea developed cold fusion?). Hypothetically (and broadly) speaking, the process involves fusing two smaller atomic nuclei together into a larger nucleus, a process that releases massive amounts of energy. If harnessed, cold fusion could provide cheap and nearly limitless energy with no radioactive byproduct or massive carbon emissions.

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