Nuclear fusion through collapsing bubbles...?

[Azpod]

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/03/04/science.fusion.reut/index.html

Is this even possible? The pressures and temperatures required for fusion are absolutely insane. Now people are claiming to have done it by exposing acetone to sound and collapsing the bubbles. Is this the next "cold fusion?"

[Jigsaw]

Oh, I hope so--cold fusion was SO much fun. /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

From the link:

An immediate challenge has already come from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which helped conduct the experiment. The lab reviewed the work and said its scientists could find no evidence of the key neutron emissions.
Uh huh. IIRC, folks at various labs tried reproducing cold fusion almost literally within minutes of hearing how it was supposedly done, and THEY couldn't reproduce IT, either.

The experiment was run in a series of beakers that would take up only a corner of any tabletop, using what amounts to souped-up nail polish remover and sound waves.
Um, yeah, cold fusion was supposedly something you could do on the kitchen counter, too.

Great stuff. I look forward to hearing absolutely nothing more about this in the future, as that is what always happens with this sort of "press release" scientific discovery--they all disappear into some sort of media black hole, never to reemerge into the public's eye.

Because they don't work.


Who was the guy (in Florida?) who was going to generate unlimited electrical power with only a couple of electrodes and a beaker of salt water? Can't think of his name, dang...

[David Hall]

Sounds a little bit like a combination of the cold fusion idea and the phenomenon of sonoluminescence which I remember was a pretty big buzzword a while back. (Remember the movie "Chain Reaction?")

They say they are using "acoustic cavitation" though. I wonder what the exact relationship between the two? I suppose cavitation is what causes luminescence, but I'm no expert here.

Sonoluminescence (http://www-phys.llnl.gov/N_Div/sonolum/)

Acoustic Cavitation (http://www.nature.com/nsu/991021/991021-10.html)

[John Kierein]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/generalscience/nuclear_fusion_020304.html
This says they haven't had others repeat it.

[John Kierein]

And here's another link from the American Physical Society
http://www.aps.org/WN/

[Phobos]

I could not the origional link to work, so for those with the same problem here is a link to the story on the BBC website;

BBC Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1855000/1855672.stm)

Phobos

[Azpod]

On 2002-03-05 16:25, Phobos wrote:
I could not the origional link to work, so for those with the same problem here is a link to the story on the BBC website;

BBC Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1855000/1855672.stm)

Phobos


That's not a good sign. Cnn.com tends to keep links to stories active for years, unless they pull them for some reason. The fact that the original link I posted no longer is active doesn't bode well for the authenticity of the experiment in question!

[mallen]

On 2002-03-05 08:21, John Kierein wrote:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/generalscience/nuclear_fusion_020304.html
This says they haven't had others repeat it.


From the article (emphasis mine):

<blockquote>
The device created a bubble that reached 10 million degrees Kelvin -- as hot as the center of the Sun -- and also appears to have emitted high-energy neutrons, similar to neutrinos that are produced by the Sun. These neutrons are the telltale sign of fusion.
</blockquote>

This game me a chuckle. Obviously, since "neutron" and "neutrino" only differ by a letter or so, they are essentially the same thing. /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif