Exotic scientific discoveries of our era-1

There have been temendous developments in electronics and communication resulting in the development of affordable Personal Computers (P.C), the Internet and the mobile phones which have changed our lives in the last decade. I am presenting to you some other exotic discoveries which have the potential to make sea changes in our day to day life.

1. Cold Fusion:

On March 23, 1989, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann in U.S announced their discovery of "cold fusion." It was the most heavily hyped science story of the decade.

What is cold fusion? To understand this we should see what is fusion?. Present nuclear reactors produce energy by a process called 'fission' in which atoms of a heavy element like uranium-235 is split and the balance of mass in split is converted into energy according to Einstein's famous discovery. The fission has problems of high radiactivity emission, radiation release and waste management. Also, it depends on the fuel element of Uranium which has limited supply.

Similar energy production is possible if two light atoms like Hydrogen are allowed to fuse. But, this fusion reaction requires a very high temperature like that of sun. Almost four stories high, framed in steel beams and tangled in pipes, conduits, cables, and coils, the Joint European Torus (JET) claims to be the largest fusion power experiment in the world. Located near Oxford, England, JET is a monument to big science, its donut-shaped containment vessel dwarfing maintenance workers who enter it in protective suits. Here in this gleaming nuclear cauldron, deuterium gas is energized with 7 million amperes and heated to 300 million degrees Celsius - more than 10 times hotter than the center of the sun. Under these extreme conditions atomic nuclei collide and fuse, liberating energy that could provide virtually limitless power. For a few magic seconds in 1997, JET managed to return 60 percent of the energy it consumed, but that's the best it's ever done, and is typical of fusion experiments worldwide. The US Department of Energy has predicted that we'll have to wait another five decades, minimum, before fusion power becomes practical.

Cold fusion experiment showed that nuclear reactions can take place at room temperature. If low-temperature fusion does exist and can be perfected, power generation could be decentralized. Each home could heat itself and produce its own electricity, probably using a form of water as fuel. Even automobiles might be cold fusion powered. Massive generators and ugly power lines could be eliminated, along with imported oil and our contribution to the greenhouse effect. Moreover, according to some experimental data, low-temperature fusion doesn't create significant hazardous radiation or radioactive waste.

But,the awed excitement of Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann quickly evaporated amid accusations of fraud and incompetence. When it was over, Pons and Fleischmann were humiliated by the scientific establishment; their reputations ruined, they fled from their laboratory and dropped out of sight. "Cold fusion" and "hoax" became synonymous in most people's minds, and today, everyone knows that the idea has been discredited.

Or has it? In fact, despite the scandal, laboratories in at least eight countries are still spending millions on cold fusion research. During the past nine years this work has yielded a huge body of evidence, while remaining virtually unknown - because most academic journals adamantly refuse to publish papers on it. At most, the story of cold fusion represents a colossal conspiracy of denial. At least, it is one of the strangest untold stories in 20th-century science.

I had the opportunity to view a video made by a Canadian Television channel on Cold Fusion in which Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann are shown hiding in a basement cellar in France and are working on a small cold fusion flask which can supply electricity to a house perpetually. The enormous commercial interest in the results of this experiment is creating problems for these scientists.

 

Thanks, Vandana for reading the blog post and posting your comments.

Yes, Cold Fusion was called as 'Confusion' in BARC and at the time it was reported there was a flurry of activity in many Institutes in India like Raman Institute, Bangalore, IITs and many universities. They were dependent on BARC for the supply of heavy water needed for the experiment and at the end a one-day conference was held in BARC where people presented their findings. Unfortunately many were contradictory and did not give any conclusive evidence about Cold Fusison. Japan has pumped billions of dollars in this research and hopefully we will get some results in the coming years.