Cold Fusion is Back

This week the American Chemical Society is holding its 237th National Meeting and one of the talks is, believe it or not, about the very controversial, previously debunked topic of cold fusion. Of course, we don't call it cold fusion anymore. It is now known as low-energy nuclear reaction (LENR). Scientists working with the US Navy claim they have proof that LENR devices do produce neutrons. Previous cold fusion studies were hard to replicate and traces of neutrons were never found. These must be present to show a nuclear reaction has/is occurring. The irony of all this cold fusion talk is that Salt Lake City (where the national meeting is being held) and the state of Utah has a long and sometimes dark history with cold fusion. E. Paul Palmer of BYU coined the term in the 80's. A professor named Stanley Pons at the University of Utah was one of the leaders of the push to fund cold fusion research. When their grant proposal was turned over for peer review it was Steven E. Jones, also from BYU, who reviewed. After research, publication, and later interviews, no one could replicate their findings and they slipped into obscurity. Now it has come full circle again and people are presenting data at the national meeting being held in Salt lake City. Funny how things work out.

You can find out more here.