I read over a report regarding a device claiming to be a LENR (Low Energy Nuclear Reactor), which is the new word for Cold Fusion. Nobody is allowed to say they have a Cold Fusion device or they'll get laughed at, but if you say you have a LENR, people say, "hrrmmm, interesting, let me see this LENR." It's kind of like saying you have horse with a single spiraling horn, instead of saying you have a unicorn. Still, nobody believes you, but it's slightly more plausible.
For those that don't know, Cold Fusion is basically the Mr Fusion device that Doc has at the end of Back to the Future Part I. Supposedly Doc brought it back from the year 2015 (which would be incredible foresight if this new device pans out). It's the dream of having virtually endless energy such as that created by the sun, but in an itty-bitty space and much cooler by comparison.
As I understand it, Cold Fusion is theoretically impossible, so maybe this reaction is something else. The authors seem convinced that it can not be a chemical reaction, but it doesn't sound like they are willing to say that it's Cold Fusion either. They leave it as an unknown mystery for now, and they want to do more tinkering to get a better, deeper understanding of what is going on.
No one can believe it but maybe, just maybe, there is some type of unknown E = mc2 conversion happening that we just don't understand right now? That would be fascinating. In Theory, flying was impossible during the time of the Wright Brothers. They figured out how to fly through iterations of trial and error, which sounds also like how this device was created, and other people wrote the theories later to fit the experimental results. The first flying machines were rickety and could barely get off the ground. Now we understand the physics really well and can send over 300 people hurtling through the sky at 30,000 feet. So if this new device is on to something, it could mean an eventual end to dependence on fossil fuels among other things.
All I know is, if I can eventually buy one of these at Bed, Bath and Beyond, I'm going to put a Mr. Fusion logo on it.
The real Mr. Fusion yet to be proven and understood is called the E-Cat, and it's under extra skepticism because the inventor has a questionable past regarding inventions.
The report from scientists who studied it, independent of the inventor, can be found here:
http://www.sifferkoll.se/sifferkoll/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/LuganoReportSubmit.pdf
By contrast, Lockheed Martin just released that they have been working on a small scale nuclear fusion device (a traditional Hot Fusion Reactor if you will) that would be much bigger than a LENR type device, but much smaller than other proposed fusion reactors. That is to say, you can't have one in your house because it's to be about as large as a shipping container, and will require a lot of expertise to manage and run, but the size, scale, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of it makes it much more likely to be bought and adopted by power companies everywhere.
This project by Lockheed is totally believable because this type of Fusion has been done before by ITER, however, the size and scale of the ITER projects have had to be so astronomically large that it has taken several governments pitching in just to build workable prototypes.
Whatever happens in the realm of Fusion Power, we know the potential is there and it will happen sooner or later. Remember the moment when these things are proven and first put in use are the most exciting times. Before that it just seems like science fiction, and shortly after it just becomes "normal." This has happened over and over in history from Submarines to the Apollo Moon landing to 3D printing, biotechnology, etc. Fusion Power though is one of those game changers that can drastically change the world for the better. Let's hope it happens sooner rather than later.
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