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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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5

Discovery Revives Hopes for Cold Fusion

Researcher believes limitless energy source may be on horizon

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(Newser) – A new lab discovery holds promise that cold fusion could become a reality, according to a US Navy researcher. The chemist—whose report was greeted with skepticism in the scientific world—says her new process created highly energized neutrons in a reaction that could someday provide almost limitless amounts of cheap energy from seawater, reports the Houston Chronicle.

Nuclear fusion at low temperatures has long been a holy grail for scientists seeking clean energy sources, but a surge of interest in the field 20 years ago has waned as researchers' claims to have created cold fusion proved impossible to replicate.

A claim that fusion has been created at room temperatures could open the door to almost limitless supplies of cheap energy if it can be verified.
A claim that fusion has been created at room temperatures could open the door to almost limitless supplies of cheap energy if it can be verified.   (Shutterstock)
The energy produced by stars comes from fusion rather than splitting atoms, an effect some scientists have been trying to reproduce on Earth.
The energy produced by stars comes from fusion rather than splitting atoms, an effect some scientists have been trying to reproduce on Earth.   (©judy_breck)
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Fusion could produce the effect they see, but there's no plausible explanation of how fusion could occur in these conditions.
- Paul Padley, a physicist at Rice University who reviewed the Navy scientist's work

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5 comments
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Altoecko
Mar 24, 09 5:32 AM CDT
Sweet. Reply
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Derni
Mar 24, 09 8:42 AM CDT
And the discovery-if real and tests work out-couldn't have come at a better time! Reply
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Rob
Mar 24, 09 2:32 PM CDT
There is so much more to the cold fusion story. Pons and Fleischmann were ridiculed out of the country but the US Navy continued to fund research into cold fusion. Reply
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airron14
Mar 24, 09 3:07 PM CDT
It's probably not true Reply
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radnip
Mar 26, 09 5:33 AM CDT
Considering how much fraud there has been in this area, I'll wait for reproduction. Reply
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