265 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
265 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
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(word processor parameters LM=8, RM=75, TM=2, BM=2)
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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
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Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
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PO BOX 1031
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Mesquite, TX 75150
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There are ABSOLUTELY NO RESTRICTIONS
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on duplicating, publishing or distributing the
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files on KeelyNet!
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June 28, 1991
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DEADCOLD.ASC
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VANGARD NOTE...
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This is an article that was in The Dallas Times Herald Sunday,
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June 23, 1991. This article speaks for itself, by showing that
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some of our scientists, who don't care to understand new
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technology or research it, would rather just call it foo foo
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and pack their bags and run.
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It is a shame, that we of the U. S. can start new projects and
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then give them up to other countries to continue with the
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development. SOME DAY WE WILL LEARN!
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Ron Barker
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COLD FUSION NO LONGER HOT TOPIC
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UTAH SHUTTING DOWN RESEARCH FACILITY
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By Steve Wiegand
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from McClatahy News Service
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SALT LAKE CITY - Some day this month, workers will take down the
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impressive lettering on the signs outside the building.
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The last microscope will be packed and the last guy out the door
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will turn off the lights.
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America will no longer have a National Cold Fusion Institute. And
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Utah will have erased the last visible reminder of a 27 month
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roller-coaster ride that took the state from the top of the
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scientific world to the bottom and stunted the growth of an entire
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area of research.
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"It was more than a little embarrassing for all of us," said Allan
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Witt, executive director of the Utah Foundation, a privately funded
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think tank that studies social and economic issues. "It's one of
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those things we'd like to put behind us."
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They were singing a different tune in these parts on March 23, 1989,
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when two scientists at the University of Utah announced they had
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achieved nuclear fusion in the scientific equivalent of a teacup.
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The researchers, chemistry department chairman Stanley Pons and
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Page 1
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chemistry professor Martin Fleischmann, claimed they filled a beaker
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with hydrogen-rich "heavy" water, stuck in an electrode made of the
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metal palladium and wrapped in platinum wire, shot some electric
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current through it and produced nuclear fusion - the energy process
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the sun uses - at room temperatures.
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It was tantamount to finding a virtually inexhaustible and clean
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energy source, and it set off a paroxysm of pie-in-the-sky rhetoric
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and test-tube rattling from Tokyo to Texas.
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Scientists in Japan, Switzerland, Texas, Brazil and the Soviet Union
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rushed to replicate the research. Pons and Fleischmann appeared
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before Congress to seek funding for further research. World
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palladium prices soared.
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The Utah Legislature agreed to spend $4.5 million to finance a cold
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fusion institute in a sleek new research park near the university.
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State attorneys spent another $500,000 scrambling to protect patent
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rights.
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"Fusion Buster" sweat shirts, coffee mugs and key rings went on sale
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at the university book store. A Mexican restaurant put together a
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rum-and-tequila drink, called it the Cold Fusion and despite Utah's
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arcane liquor laws sold five dozen of them in two hours.
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"If this thing is what they think it is," Gov. Norman Bangerter said
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at the time, "It's better than the gold rush."
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JOKES AND RIDICULE
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Only it wasn't. Almost simultaneous with the rush of enthusiasm came
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a wave of doubt from much of the world's scientific community, which
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tried in vain to validate the experiment.
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"It was never a science story," said Robert Park, director of the
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American Physical Society. "It was voodoo."
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As evidence mounted that there were problems with the two
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scientists' research, the pair became more reclusive, refusing to
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discuss their work or share specifics with other scientists. Pons
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eventually declined to speak publicly, communicating through his
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lawyer or via a fax machine.
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And as the "gee-whiz" aspects of the issue wore off, they were
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replaced by jokes and ridicule.
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"Cold fusion in Utah?" observed comedian Mark Russell. "You can't
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even get cold beer in Utah."
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Utahans, stung by the criticisms, said the sniping was just so much
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scientific sour grapes from "the Eastern establishment."
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Within a few months, however, the bloom was off the cold fusion rose
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nearly everywhere. Anticipated financial help from the federal
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government and from private companies that expressed early
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enthusiasm never materialized, and a spokesman for the institute
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said there are no prospects of a last-minute bailout to keep the
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place going when state funds run out June 30.
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Page 2
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"I don't think there would be any more grants from anywhere even if
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they came up with a way to turn tap water into gold dust." said
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university news director Larry Weist. "It's over."
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Which explains why there were plenty of parking places at the
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institute last week, and why the last entry in the visitor log was
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dated March 23.
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"No one comes up here unless they're from the university and looking
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to get some equipment," said a staff member who declined to give his
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name.
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A review released last month of the institute's work by a panel of
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independent scientists praised the institute's work ethic but
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concluded it had failed to prove the existence of a cold fusion
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process.
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"We could have accomplished something with more support and more
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time and less controversy," the staff member said, walking past the
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lobby's pictorial display of a then-triumphant Pons and Fleischmann
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and an announcement of the staff's farewell banquet featuring crab
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legs and prime rib.
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"It's a damned shame," he said as he loaded boxes into a car truck.
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"Sometimes I think the whole thing may have done more harm then
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good."
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A CRIMP IN RESEARCH
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He's not alone in that assessment. Scientists and energy industry
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officials say that in the wake of the controversy, funding sources
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for cold fusion research have dried up in this country, even though
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work is continuing on a relatively large scale in Japan and the
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Soviet Union.
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"I think it's fair to say that the Utah experience has really put a
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crimp in the image of cold fusion research." said David Worledge of
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the Palo Alto, Calif. based Electric Power Research Institute, a
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group financed by the nation's electric power industry. "Utah
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generated a lot of skepticism, and that's difficult to overcome,
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especially in tough economic times."
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Worledge said EPRI will spend about $3 million to finance cold
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fusion research this year. But the Department of Energy, according
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to a spokesman, has no plans to spend anything in the area.
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"Until there is a convincing argument made by someone that such
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research is a valid endeavor," said department spokesman Jeff
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Sherwood, "it's doubtful there will be much [financial] support from
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here."
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But researchers aren't alone in bearing scars from the cold fusion
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fallout.
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Dominated by the Mormon church's theology and saddled with a sagging
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economy, cold fusion was viewed as a means of serving both church
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and state.
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"The church believes that it has a mission to save the world in
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Page 3
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practical as well as religious terms," said Thane Robson, an
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economics professor at the University of Utah. "This [cold fusion]
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held out the hope of an energy supply that would benefit the entire
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world."
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Robson and others said there was also the hope that out of the
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research would come a "Fusion Valley" that would invigorate the
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economy and put Utah on the map as something other than the West's
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most out-of-step state.
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"Utah for a long time has had an insecurity complex," said political
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scientist J.D. Williams. "To be a world leader in something as
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important as this would have gone a long way toward dealing with
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that. It's too bad it didn't work out."
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Submitted by: Ronald Barker
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Vangard Sciences
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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If you have comments or other information relating to such topics
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as this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the
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Vangard Sciences address as listed on the first page.
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Thank you for your consideration, interest and support.
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Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson
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Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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If we can be of service, you may contact
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Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 242-9346
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Page 4
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