'Cold Fusion' as a viable source of propulsion?

[Sonjiin]

Not sure if this is in the right spot or not, I apologize if its not:

But in any case, My question is regarding Cold Fusion and its many applications. I came into work this morning and went through all my news feeds and stumbled across an article about a "Navy Chemist may have rediscovered cold fusion". I have read articles on the subject matter and have a certain understanding of its use and what it can do for cheap and limitless power here on Earth. Then I began to think of other applications and one that came to me was space vehicles.

With the power it takes to get into space and the chemicals need to give the propulsion, would a better source of power be Cold fusion?

Granted we are years and years from harnessing this for such use but I would like an opinion on whether or not this would be a great source of energy for something other than Earths power issues. What would the draw backs be to using this kind of power be on a ship?

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510589,00.html

 

[MeteorWayne]

First lets see if the evidence supports Cold Fusion. SO far there are no peer reviewed papaers describing the experiment in more detail. For the time being, I'll leave this thread here, though I think it would be better off in Physics (IOW, let's see if the cold fusion is real) or in The Unexplained (if it's not).
We'll see.

Wayne

 

[silylene]

Not sure if this is in the right spot or not, I apologize if its not:

But in any case, My question is regarding Cold Fusion and its many applications. I came into work this morning and went through all my news feeds and stumbled across an article about a "Navy Chemist may have rediscovered cold fusion".
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510589,00.html

This is yet another one of these papers claming detections using CR-39 plastic as an alpha particle detector:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090323110450.htm

In this case, IMO, this CR-39 detection method has a potential for bogacity. It is a very 'indirect measurement' method for alpha particles. And the materials and methodology are very close to the research area I work within, so I do know this subject in depth.

CR-39 is a polycarbonate. I think that the 'radiation tracks' could be due to acidic impurities and localized heat effects. Polycarbonates degrade in the presence of heat and acid ('chemically amplified' catalysis in fact!), and the degraded part can be developed out in base, like photoresist. In the prior published paper by the same authors, I didn't recall the authors considered the possibility of acidic impurities in the CR-39, or localized heat effects. And, if If it is anything like the prior paper by the same authors, IMO they did not do a proper experimental control for this possibility.

In a pre-Pluck SDC forum threads, I had a big debate both publicly and in PMs with a pro-cold fusion proponent who ran a cold fusion newsletter and website, and via him one of the authors, prior to their first paper being published making these claims and using this methodology. I did not feel that the published paper addressed the concerns I raised with the methodology.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Thanx for your erudite reply silylene/petet. It's nice to get some knowledge from someone with firsthand knowledge.

I'm more inclined to move this thread, just haven't decided on a destination yet.

 

[Sonjiin]

Thank you for your knowledge on the subject matter. I cant wait to see how this develops.