🚀 go-pugleaf

In recent articles appearing on the net, two concerns appear to
be widespread:

	1)  There is a strong fear that the claimed fusion discovery
	is either a hoax, or the result of faulty research.

	2)  It has been pointed out that Platinum and possibly
	Paladium are rare and expensive elements that are controlled
	by countrys which are either historic enemies of the "west"
	or immoral entities.

Since I tend to be something of an optimist, I would like to
respond to these negative fears.

As a layman, I had previously heard of two avenues of research
in the search for fusion reactions.  One avenue attempts to create
fusion reaction by subjecting hydrogen isotopes to extremes of heat and/or
pressure in order to force the isotopes close together.

The second approach is muon catalyzed fusion reaction, which "shrinks"
hydrogen isotopes so that it is easier to push the nuclei of the ions close
together.

The current claimed discovery of fusion reactions at room tempature
were produced via a third avenue of research.  In this "new" avenue
of research, chemical methods are used to move hydrogen isotopes close
together.

	From: dietz@cs.rochester.edu (Paul Dietz)
	I believe the discovery might be what is known as "pycnonuclear
	fusion", meaning fusion induced by high densities rather than high
	temperatures.

For me, the important result of the recent claims is not the accuracy
of the claims, but rather the attention that is being focused on a new
line of research.  The idea that a chemical mechanism could be used
to bring hydrogen isotopes together seems quite reasonable to me, now
that I've heard of the idea.  (And, I am, of course, a complete layman
when it comes to physics or chemistry.)

I would be interested in hearing from Paul Dietz or other knowledgeable
people comments on the extent to which "pycnonuclear fusion" has been
researched in the past.

(We note that a nanotechnological fusion reactor would make use of
"pycnonuclear fusion".  A "conveyor belt" would carry hydrogen
atoms to a nanomachine that basically consisted of two "arms".  Each
arm would pick up a hydrogen atom off the conveyer belt.  The two
arms would then press the hydrogen atoms very close together so that
the hydrogen would fuse. :-)


The second point to be raised would be that at this early stage of
research, the fact that Platinum and Paladium are expensive is
relatively immaterial.  If, as I hope, pycnonuclear fusion research is in
its infancy, then researchers stand a good chance of discovering
numerous other materials that can be used to produce fusion reactions.


In summary, if pycnonuclear fusion reactions have not been extensively
researched, then the recent announcement is something to get very
excited about, even if the recent claim of fusion is shown to be
incorrect.  It appears that the number of primary avenues of attack on the
fusion problem has just increased from two to three.

Certainly many years of research will be needed to find an economical
configuration of materials for producing the fusion reaction, to show
that a sustainable reaction which produces more energy than it consumes
is possible, and to produce a prototype fusion reactor.

-- Chuck

[The nanotech arms would very likely be blown apart by the (single) fusion
 and would have to be rebuilt for each pair of deuterons.  This may be
 more trouble than it's worth.  Fusion may remain a bulk process, and the
 role of nanotech may be to produce appropriate crystal structures for it
 to take place in.  On the other hand, *if* it becomes possible to control
 (or even predict) which direction the products will emerge in, nanotech
 wins big, and kilowatt powerpacks the size of a jellybean become a real
 possibility.
 --JoSH]