Article: Wrongful Rejection of Cold Fusion

I'm not a closed minded skeptic about the E-Cat. I would actually like to believe that it really works, and try to keep an open mind. I tried posting the thermography objection in more detail on what appears to be the best E-Cat blog, E-Cat World, at http://www.e-catworld.com/2014/10/2...the-lugano-hot-cat-test-peter-gluck/#comments . I got these responses, which seem to reasonably resolve the issue. The objection is correct in terms of the science, and alumina is quite transparent over much of the IR spectrum. It's just that the IR camera is sensitive in a far infrared region where alumina is opaque, at least according to the posters. In the last analysis I can't verify the alumina opacity claim, so I guess we have to take these posters at their word. It's too bad this wasn't covered in the paper. Of course this isn't the only apparent problem with the E-Cat, but it does give it more credibility.

"I’m as well not an expert, but this question has already been addressed. In the spectral range that the cameras can detect, the alumina is opaque. Therefore, the measured output should even be somewhat lower than the total amount of emitted energy. Brian Ahern has spoken with a top-notch expert in thermography who confirmed that the setup was appropriate. Therefore, I think that there is no reason to be overly concerned with regard to this."
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and

"This is correct. The alumina is roughly 80% transmissive between 200nm (0.2 microns) & 7microns, everywhere else that matters its opaque, whereas the ir camera only sees between 7.4 microns and 13microns. So you see that shouldn't be a problem. As far as the side winder raydome you mention IR but don't specify swir, nir or fir, so it could be true that the raydome can see ir and that the test is correct since nir, swir, and other ir light is in the 1 to 7micron band."
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Update It looks like there are still some technical issues with dismissing the thermography objection. Another post on the E-Cat World blog came in:

.....I'd (still) want to check:

Was the expert taking into account the varying characteristics of alumina with micro-crystalline structure? Larger crystals make it transparent at longer wavelengths

Was the expert aware of the different filters used for the two cameras used? We presumably have only the high temperature camera (with a lower wavelength filter) used in the active test.

How can we tell what is the thickness of the alumina before some (insulating, emissivity 1) inner tape is reached? Everything is transparent if thin enough, and an expert opinion would need to take the alumina thickness into account.
..............
...... authority from experts is fine, but only if they are asked the right questions, given all the details. it is easy, quite innocently, to get the wrong expert opinion.
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There is also still the apparently simple problem that despite the IR camera temperature measurement/calculation of an overall alumina radiator tempurature close to that of the Inconel resistor (supposedly about 1400 C), in the photographs in the paper the alumina outer tube has a dim red-orange color temperature significantly cooler than the bright yellow glowing Inconel resistor wire coming out of it. This probably has a simple explanation, but I would like to know what it is.

The multiple technical issues this exchange brings up only goes to show how important it is for there to be other tests using different hopefully simpler less problematic power output measurement methods and carried out by different teams of investigators.
 
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Probably nobody else is interested. However, since I am interested in the science and technical issues involved I thought I would at least mention another apparent serious problem that has been pointed out from detailed analysis of the report on the new experimental test, that would seriously affect the credibility of the E-Cat as a revolutionary new source of energy. There are inconsistencies between the data for the separate test runs of the dummy (unfuelled) reactor, and the fuelled E-Cat. A simple possible explanation for this that would account for the discrepancy is that the meter used to measure input power may have been hooked up in reverse. This would apparently underestimate the input power by a factor of 3, making the actual output of the device about equal to the input with no net power gain. This is discussed extensively at http://www.e-catworld.com/2014/10/1...use-measurement-error-in-lugano-test-joniale/ .

It seems to me that these and numerous other problems with the new test as it is reported in the paper make the credibility of E-Cat an unknown at best until either the questions are adequately answered by the investigators, greatly improved tests are carried out, or a practical product is sold to the public.
 
malf said:
BBC Radio 4's (imho, excellent) In Our Time covered nuclear fusion this week. Available as a podcast download.
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Here is an interesting comment on this program from E-Cat World at http://www.e-catworld.com/2014/10/30/fusion-discussed-on-bbc-radio-cold-fusion-mentioned-fortyniner/ . Of course the 'experts' were hot fusion advocates, who are the biggest opponents of LENR primarily because it threatens their research funding.

Fusion power was discussed on the BBC’s ‘In Our Time’ morning chat show today. Much predictable talking up of hot fusion by three ‘experts’, then (to his credit) host Melvyn Bragg asked “But what about cold fusion?”.

Momentary silence, then some tentative comments about how it had looked hopeful at one time, and a brief mention of how muon catalysed fusion might work, but the tone shifted rapidly downward as the consensus was established, until one ‘expert’ came up with “more like a Fleischmann and Ponzi scheme” – at which point I turned the radio off.
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nbtruthman said:
Here is an interesting comment on this program from E-Cat World at http://www.e-catworld.com/2014/10/30/fusion-discussed-on-bbc-radio-cold-fusion-mentioned-fortyniner/ . Of course the 'experts' were hot fusion advocates, who are the biggest opponents of LENR primarily because it threatens their research funding.
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In our time guests:


Philippa Browning, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Manchester

Steve Cowley, Chief Executive of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Justin Wark, Professor of Physics and fellow of Trinity College at the University of Oxford

Not sure that they were all 'advocates' of 'hot fusion'.
 
By golly... I listened to the radio show... it's embarrassing.
"Fleischmann and Ponzi Scheme" ? That's all they've got about LENR?

Oh well, actually nobody mentioned LENR. I get it, it's not mainstream, but these people are physicists right?
MIT has been offering a course on LENR for the past 4 years (it's even in live streaming over the internet!), NASA and the US Army have been active on it and not even very secretive. Replications of excess energy in all countries of the world.

Didn't they get the newsletter?! :eek:
 
So what the heck ever happened to the E-Cat?
The whole issue just fell off the map.

Apparently Rossi sold the rights to some company, and now it's never to be heard from again?
 
I don't really believe Rossi due to his past history, but this thing has popped at least twice this year in another of the pages that I follow, NBF. So I think that it is pretty much alive.
 
E.Flowers said:
I don't really believe Rossi due to his past history, but this thing has popped at least twice this year in another of the pages that I follow, NBF. So I think that it is pretty much alive.
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I'm sorry, Flowers. I don't understand anything after the first comma. What thing has popped? And what do you mean by "popped"? What does NBF stand for? And what is alive? The E-Cat is alive?
 
"Popped" was meant to be popped up, as in "suddenly appeared".

The whole issue, as in all of the drama surrounding the E-Cat, is still alive. That is a figure of speech, as in "racism is still alive at [insert place]".
 
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