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physorg.com

Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated cold fusion

(PhysOrg.com) -- Few areas of science are more controversial than cold fusion, the hypothetical near-room-temperature reaction in which two smaller nuclei join together to form a single larger nucleus while releasing large amounts of energy. In the 1980s, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleishmann claimed to have demonstrated cold fusion - which could potentially provide the world with a cheap, clean energy source - but their experiment could not be reproduced. Since then, all other claims of cold fusion have been illegitimate, and studies have shown that cold fusion is theoretically implausible, causing mainstream science to become highly speculative of the field in general.

Despite the intense skepticism, a small community of scientists is still investigating near-room-temperature fusion reactions. The latest news occurred last week, when Italian scientists Andrea Rossi and Sergio Focardi of the University of Bologna announced that they developed a cold fusion device capable of producing 12,400 W of heat power with an input of just 400 W. Last Friday, the scientists held a private invitation press conference in Bologna, attended by about 50 people, where they demonstrated what they claim is a nickel-hydrogen fusion reactor. Further, the scientists say that the reactor is well beyond the research phase; they plan to start shipping commercial devices within the next three months and start mass production by the end of 2011.

The claim

Rossi and Focardi say that, when the atomic nuclei of nickel and hydrogen are fused in their reactor, the reaction produces copper and a large amount of energy. The reactor uses less than 1 gram of hydrogen and starts with about 1,000 W of electricity, which is reduced to 400 W after a few minutes. Every minute, the reaction can convert 292 grams of 20°C water into dry steam at about 101°C. Since raising the temperature of water by 80°C and converting it to steam requires about 12,400 W of power, the experiment provides a power gain of 12,400/400 = 31. As for costs, the scientists estimate that electricity can be generated at a cost of less than 1 cent/kWh, which is significantly less than coal or natural gas plants.


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South Carolina scientist works to grow meat in lab

In a small laboratory on an upper floor of the basic science building at the Medical University of South Carolina, Vladimir Mironov, M.D., Ph.D., has been working for a decade to grow meat.

January 31, 2011 | 6
By Harriet McLeod

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - In a small laboratory on an upper floor of the basic science building at the Medical University of South Carolina, Vladimir Mironov, M.D., Ph.D., has been working for a decade to grow meat.

A developmental biologist and tissue engineer, Dr. Mironov, 56, is one of only a few scientists worldwide involved in bioengineering "cultured" meat.

It's a product he believes could help solve future global food crises resulting from shrinking amounts of land available for growing meat the old-fashioned way ... on the hoof.

Growth of "in-vitro" or cultured meat is also under way in the Netherlands, Mironov told Reuters in an interview, but in the United States, it is science in search of funding and demand.

The new National Institute of Food and Agriculture, part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, won't fund it, the National Institutes of Health won't fund it, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration funded it only briefly, Mironov said.

"It's classic disruptive technology," Mironov said. "Bringing any new technology on the market, average, costs $1 billion. We don't even have $1 million."

Director of the Advanced Tissue Biofabrication Center in the Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology at the medical university, Mironov now primarily conducts research on tissue engineering, or growing, of human organs.

"There's a yuck factor when people find out meat is grown in a lab. They don't like to associate technology with food," said Nicholas Genovese, 32, a visiting scholar in cancer cell biology working under a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals three-year grant to run Dr. Mironov's meat-growing lab.

"But there are a lot of products that we eat today that are considered natural that are produced in a similar manner," Genovese said.

"There's yogurt, which is cultured yeast. You have wine production and beer production. These were not produced in laboratories. Society has accepted these products."

If wine is produced in winery, beer in a brewery and bread in a bakery, where are you going to grow cultured meat?

In a "carnery," if Mironov has his way. That is the name he has given future production facilities.

He envisions football field-sized buildings filled with large bioreactors, or bioreactors the size of a coffee machine in grocery stores, to manufacture what he calls "charlem" -- "Charleston engineered meat."


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Asteroid the size of the Titanic caused giant hole on Jupiter spotted by amateur astronomer

By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 8:14 AM on 31st January 2011


The scar left on Jupiter after the July 2009 impact was caused by an asteroid the size of the Titanic, according to research.

A huge rock some 500metres long hit the planet and created a hole the size of the Pacific Ocean, roughly the equivalent of Jupiter’s Little Red Spot.

It was the first time scientists had monitored an asteroid hitting the planet - previously it had only been thought that icy comets hit Jupiter after being sucked in by its gravitational field.
Enlarge
 
 

Point of impact: These infrared Nasa images show particle debris in Jupiter's atmosphere after an asteroid hit the planet on July 19, 2009. The impact and its after-effects can be seen as the bright spot on the lower left of an image taken on July 20 (left), and as the bright smudge on the lower left of an image taken on August 16 (right). By August 2009, the debris had been sheared apart by Jupiter's winds

Researchers said the discovery was ‘intriguing’ and a reminder that the solar system is a ‘complex and violent’ place.

It was shortly after lunchtime on July 19, 2009 that amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley became the first to notice the impact from the observatory in his home in New South Wales, Australia.

He thought it was a dark spot but having got a better angle he could see it was entirely black, meaning an impact had occurred.


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Art of Healing: Illustrations Reveal Old Tibetan Medicine

By Wynne Parry, LiveScience Senior Writer
posted: 28 January 2011 12:35 pm ET


NEW YORK — A drawing of a colorful tree, with the Medicine Buddha wedged above its leaves, seems more art than medicine. But this whimsical diagram provided guidance for Tibetan doctors more than 300 years ago. Its branches and leaves illustrate the humors — bile, wind, phlegm — believed to determine bodily functions and how and where disease can arise. Flowers atop this tree produce two berries that represent not only material health but also spiritual well-being and liberation associated with the attainment of bliss, the caption explains.

This and 63 other medical illustrations on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City focus largely on physical disease, its causes, diagnoses and treatments. However, "the spirit and mind and mental state is always part of it," said Laila Williamson, who curated the exhibit, called Body & Spirit.



Returning to health meant restoring balance among the humors, and, as another tree diagram shows, a Tibetan doctor had three tools at his disposal when investigating an imbalance: observation, touch and interviews with the patient. Other charts, with precise illustrations, explain prognoses offered by omens and dreams. There are also charts for pulse and urine analysis, anatomy and treatments.


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[Kris]

Je voudrais juste revenir sur le sujet "E-Cat" (Energy Catalyseur) mis au point, en Italie, par un ingénieur "Andrea Rossi" et un scientifique Sergio Focardi. Comme mentionné brièvement dans la nouvelle citée ci-dessus par difficultnspa, ces deux scientifiques prétendent avoir mis au point un système révolutionnaire de production d'énergie par une réaction nucléaire entre du Nickel (en poudre ou en barre) et de l'hydrogène grâce à un catalyseur tenu secret. Bien que les inventeurs s'en défendent, ce processus est assimilé à celui de la fusion froide lequel a été banni de toute conversation scientifique dite "sérieuse".
Après ue période de recherche et de tests un réacteur industriel supposé fournir une énergie de 1 Mw a été testé devant une trentaine d'invités le 28 Octobre dernier puis livré, selon Andrea Rossi, à l'acquéreur. La presse française est 100 % muette à ce sujet. Le seul site qui y fait référence est le site fusionfroide.com qui publie plusieurs articles à ce sujet (http://fusion-froide.com/category/andrea-rossi). Il convient de citer également un article de Wikipédia qui retrace l'historique de cette découverte (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalyseur_d%27%C3%A9nergie_de_Rossi_et_Focardi).
Par contre il est possible de trouver de très nombreux en anglais qui font référence à ce sujet. parmi les nombreux articles consacrés à ce sujet j'ai sélectionné un article publié par un journaliste de ireport.cnn qui était présent lors de la présentation du réacteur le 28 Octobre dernier. J'ai choisi cet article parce qu'il est suivi par un échange de point de vues sur ce sujet. Le lien est le suivant : http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-696792. Je citerai également un article de CBS nEWS : Cold Fusion is hot again (http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-4952167.html?pageNum=2&tag=contentMain;contentBody).
Vous en doutez que ce genre de réacteur suscite la méfiance de beaucoup de scientifiques ce qui est logique vu l'accueil qui a été réservé aux premières publications faites sur le sujet, en mars 1989,  par deux scientifiques américains Martin Fleischmann et Stanley Pons. Pour l'instant l'énegie produite l'est sous forme de vapeur d'eau et n'aurait pas la pression suffisante pour alimenter une turbine destinée à la production électrique. 
Dans un premier temps il semblait qu'un contrat avait été signé avec une société grecque, Dekfalion Green Technologies, pour la commercialisation du projet. Aux dernières nouvelles ce contrat aurait été rompu et le premier client serait la marine américaine. Il est difficile pour l'instant d'avoir une information claire sur la commercialisation du projet. Selon certaines sources, Dekfalion resterait le premier destinataire du réacteur commercialisé mais n'aurait l'exclusivité de la commercialisation que pour le marché grec. Pour la commercialisation outre atlantique, une société Italienne en aurait la charge. Pour la commercialisation outre atlantique, des contacts auraient été pris avec la société Ampenergo.
Le réacteur testé le 28 Octobre denier était composé de 107 réacteurs élémentaires, montés en parallèle, dont la puissance nominale était de 10 Kw. 

"L'eau était portée de l'état liquide à 18,3 °C vers l'état de vapeur à 104,5 °C (températures moyennes), puis refroidie par ventilation et recyclée. Le générateur a produit 2 635 kWh thermiques en 5h30, soit une puissance thermique moyenne de 479 kW. L'énergie électrique consommée a été de 66 kWh, soit un coefficient de production COP brut de 40. Si l'on tenait compte de la conversion d'énergie thermique vers une production électrique, le COP serait approximativement de 13."

Voilà je laisse chacun se faire une opinion personnelle. Les rendements supposés défient notre compréhension et suscitent donc méfiance. Si ce réacteur E-Cat fonctionne vraiment, et même s'il a certainement besoin d'être largement amélioré, nous serions alors face à une révolution énergétique. Alors patientons encore un peu. Mis à part la France et le Japon, la plupart des pays adeptes de l'énergie nucléaire comme moyen de production électrique font machine arrière, le tremblement de terre du Japon et ses conséquences catastrophiques sur le réacteur de Fukushima étant passé par là. Ne nous attendons donc pas à un quelconque allusion ou commentaire de la part de la presse française qui,  de toutes façons, est toujours très sceptique dès qu'une découverte scientifique défie les lois connues de la science.
Peut-être la date du 28 Octobre 2011 entrera dans l'histoire comme la date du début de la révolution énergétique. Elle permettrait alors d'explorer un nouvel âge.  Mais ne prenons pas trop nos rêves pour des réalités. Nous ne pouvons que croiser les doigts et attendre des rapports plus complets sur ce réacteur.