Okay, I’m reading the August 2004 issue of Popular Mechanics and it’s claiming that the Feds have taken a renewed interest in cold fusion because it might produce tritium. Wha?
I realize that PM isnt’ exactly Nature, but they do quote DOE documents, and indicate that major publications on the subject are set to appear in Nature and Science.
Is there any current theory which might lead weight to this?
What seems to have happened is that Peter Hagelstein and a few others have managed to persuade Spencer Abraham to authorise a review of the subject. In other words, some long-standing proponents of cold fusion have managed convinced a politician to decide “don’t know about this and it’s a while since it was last reviewed, let’s have some experts look at it”.
No doubt the supporters would disagree, but there doesn’t seem to have been any significant shift in the quality of their evidence in recent years. Frankly, this development therefore seems to have more to do with politics than physics.
There isn’t much about the review on the web - and nothing on the DOE’s site - apart from a typically boosterish press release from Infinite Energy magazine.
[Before anybody drags it in, yes, I am aware of the murder of Eugene Mallove.]