editorially /peaking The Implications of "Cold Fusion" On March 23 of this year a very sketchy public report surfaced describing a process that has been subsequently named cold fusion-the fusion of deuterium nuclei in a palladium metal matrix at room temperature, the deuterium being formed electrochemically at a palladium electrode. The report suggested, strongly, that data were available indicating that fusion processes, which have been intensely studied in very high energy plasmas as possible sources of clean energy, can occur a t room temperature. Since the initial report, a number of groups-as many as 60-have duplicated at least parts of the original ohservations. In some instances, there are discrepancies concerningcertain details; other investigators, perhaps more than we know because "negative results" are not generally published, have indicated a lack of success. Indeed, some positive results may not have been published as well because the investigators chose to remain silent owing to patent claim implications. At this writing, the validity of the ohservations is in a highly volatile state, mostly because the detailed evidence is not available to many interested scientists. Pertinent information, albeit of questionable quality, is funnelled through local and national newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. These publications, which are higNy respected newspapers from a puhlic information point of view, are not generally known to publish the raw, experimental data necessary for critical evaluation by the reader. That is not their mission. Yet, their reports are the only current source of information on these experiments. At this point in time, a neutral observer would have to conclude that a new, reproducible effect probably has been discovered. Whether it is a "cold fusion" process, a modification of it, or some other new process is yet to be determined. It may take a very long time to decide what is really happening in a palladium cathode at which deuterium oxide is electrically decomposed. Good science takes time, and we still do not have good science in this matter, that is, that collection of facts, verified and re-verified, that stem from experiments designed to define "exactly what is going on" and "why it is happening". Yet, we can begin to learn, perhaps once again, certain important characteristics of our science (chemistry), of the processes of science, and of the critical importance of science in our society. Perhaps the most obvious observation is that good science does not benefit from being conducted through the public press. The ambience that surrounds the cold fusion discussion in the public press is almost at the level of a group seminar; links to previous, (at the time) apparently unrelated work are posed as rhetorical questions to test momentary hypotheses; apparently conflicting data, which, perhaps, are unverified, are put forward to answer questions yet unasked; and theories are created to explain (or rationalize) unverified data. The virtually instant response through the puhlic press-which is really uninterested in the specific detailscreates a frenzied atmosphere. Perhaps this is not all had. Although the interested puhlic might not gain much understanding of the nature of science from this kind of reporting, it can gain insight into the intense personal efforts expended to acbieve an objective. Reports of 24-hour days that consist of living in the labs, skipping meals and sleep; extraordinary
efforts .---to a d a ~ laree t instruments designed for different purposes to aii in understanding the r e p k e d phenomena; and the use of ~ersonalresources to keep experiments going reflect on the intensity and dedication of the humans we call scientists to the task of doing science. A cynic could argue that sich extraordinary efforts are the result ofanattempt to"cash inwonthe economic benefits to be reaped if cold fusion actually exists and can be engineered into a source of "limitless power". Indeed, the great leap from the early Pons/Fleishmann report to what has been collectively described as "a whole new world in which the course of mankind is altered by the revolution of industry, warfare, space flight and the balance of power between energy-rich and energy-poor nations" is what draws most of the puhlic to the cold fusion process-not the science involved. Science is viewed as a tool by which perceived public needs are fulfdled. In general, the public is not interested in the nature of the tool, only the results that are obtained. The entrepreneurs (not nec&sarily a derogatory term) probably began to collect around cold fusion before the fist public announcement was made. Recall that a university spokesman justified the early announcement without details as an attempt to protect legal rights to the process. A number of persons at the cold fusion seminar held at the April Dallas ACS meeting were clearly more interested in the real-world implications of cold fusion than in the science. One private investor was heard to comment on how a profit could be made by speculating in palladium. None of these ohservations are made in a negative sense. Rather, they illustrate how tightly the doing of science has been tied to Droness in the human condition. The doing of science is a h & activity and, hence, will be generslly affected by that human idiosyncrasy that requires recognition of human effort. A m ~ n ~ t h otrained se to he scientists, recognition may he satisfied by making (what's perceived at the moment to he) a major discovery. In some sense, discovery incorporates an element of luck; recallPasture's observation that chance favors the prepared mind. Verifying an observation is a reflection of a scientist's training, i.e., the attention to detail..the level of dedication. and the extent of laboratory skills. It's not easy to reprod&e a masterwork, whether it be a work of art or a scientific experiment, as a number of groups involved with the cold fusion process have discovered. At the other extreme, human recognition is sometimes expressed in terms of accumulation of wealth and all that follows it. Those trained as scientists do not lose their human characteristics; despite their interest in the rewards of science, they are susceptible to the human pressures of being engaged in aprocess that "has been promised" to deliver vast human benefits. So it's not surprising that some scientists stand with one foot in each camo. Doing science in the public press is not necessarily bad science. but it is slow science because it is an undiscidined process. If cold fusion actually exists, it may not matte; from a science stand~ointif it is slow being engineered into a useful energy source. In the long run, 'the; may be more important implications to the cold fusion process, both scientifically and practically. That's the charm of doing science-we simply don't know. JJL Volume 66 Number 5 May 1989
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