In March of 1989, a discovery was made that rocked the scientific world. Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischman had announced that they were able to create and sustain a cold fusion process. After intense media attention, and corresponding interest in future test, the subject seemed to have faded away. Future tests proved inconclusive, and when the quick promise of easy energy didn't materialize, most quickly forgot the subject. Little is said about the continuing research in the scientific community to further our understanding of the free energy enigma. Is it science fiction, on the border of legitamete science, or is it a practical field worthy of serious attention?

Cold Fusion is the merging of two dissimilar metal hydrides. The process is exothermic, and can generate energy in one of two ways. Energy can be input in to a system and multiplied, or energy alone can be generated although in a much smaller amount. For example, one watt of energy can be input and 3 watts recovered. Some systems are capable of producing hundreds of watts per individual watt. The actual physics of the reaction is not completely understood. Some claim it is merely a chemical reaction not yet understo

od, while others are convinced it is a nuclear reaction.

Numerous labs across the country are still conducting cold fusion research. Among the most noticeable are Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, The Naval Research Laboratory, and a large Japanese energy consortium. Cold fusion is only produced three out of ten times under the best conditions, but this is enough to justify continued research. The first transitors were only successful one out of a hundred times until the mechanisms were completely understood. The science of the reaction taking place in cold fusion is still not clear. When pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together better, the success rate will increase, and yields will go up.

The actual set up of a cold fusion cell is an electrolyte such as hydrogen or deuterium in which a electrode made of specially treated and prepared steel is immersed. The lattice structure of the metal is filled with the hydrogen, where the fusion occurs. The problem is most metals fracture when subjected to these conditions. High loading is the state in which the metal survives, and begins to produce energy. There are numerous different methods and materials that are used to accomplish this goal. The original was a Heavy water solution with an electrolyte, in which a current is passed between a palladium alloy electrode. Several other new methods are in use today but the most promising is the Ceramic Proton Conductor. In this case, a low current is passed through a strontium-cerium-oxide i

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