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Aug. 3, 2012 – By Steven B. Krivit –

New Energy Times has obtained a May 2012 document that reveals that Boeing Research and Technology, in association with NASA, is looking at low-energy nuclear reactions for future green-powered aircraft.

The interest in LENRs by Boeing is an indicator of the field’s growing recognition as a serious area of research that may help bring about carbon-free and waste-free energy.

The document, “Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research Phase-II: N+4 Advanced Concept Development,” was written by Marty K. Bradley and Christopher K. Droney of Boeing Research and Technology and prepared for NASA Langley Research Center.

The document is the result of a team effort by Boeing Research and Technology, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, General Electric and Georgia Institute of Technology’s Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory to identify and analyze advanced concepts and technologies for aircraft that may fly in the 2030-2035 timeframe. Continue reading »

July 21, 2012 – By Steven B. Krivit –

Steven E. Jones, professor emeritus of physics at Brigham Young University, has written critically about NASA’s handling of the Widom-Larsen theory.

On July 16, Jones criticized NASA’s recent LENR videos, which were published on a NASA Web site.

He wrote that the motive for NASA’s renewed interest in LENRs is the Widom-Larsen ultra-low-momentum neutron theory. He posted his analysis on the Mormon “LDS Freedom Forum” Web site. Continue reading »

July 10, 2012 – By Steven B. Krivit –

The following e-mail correspondance took place July 8-9 between me and a science journalist who interviewed me for a story about low-energy nuclear reactions. Our discussion may be helpful to New Energy Times readers.

JOURNALIST: Steve, I have asked you some questions below.

Krivit: Hello, I am happy to help you with answers to your questions.

JOURNALIST: You wrote, “Between 1992 and 1996, two of the most prominent researchers in the field, an experimentalist and a theorist, knew – and stated publicly – that the LENR experimental observations were highly inconsistent with a fusion process. The theorist said that neutron-based processes were far more likely to explain what was going on. But he couldn’t figure out a complete theory to explain the whole thing.”

Question: Which theorist and experimentalist?

KRIVIT: The theorist was Peter Hagelstein. The experimentalist was Michael McKubre. See source references at the bottom of this page. Continue reading »

June 12, 2012 – By Steven B. Krivit –

Stephen K. Ritter, a senior correspondent with Chemical & Engineering News, published an article on low-energy nuclear reactions on May 14. He summarized some of the non-scientific events that took place during 2011. I posted a brief comment about this here.

I also submitted a letter to the editor of Chemical & Engineering News the next day. It published today, and a copy appears below.

**********************************************

Having read the article “Reviving Cold Fusion,” I must respond by saying the field has experienced significant developments, particularly with regard to terminology (C&EN, May 14, page 42).

Edmund Storms wrote the following in his 2007 book “The Science of Low Energy Nuclear Reaction: A Comprehensive Compilation of Evidence and Explanations about Cold Fusion”:

“Because many nuclear reactions besides fusion are observed, the phenomenon is now referred to as Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) or Chemically Assisted Nuclear Reactions (CANR). The entire field is now called Condensed Matter Nuclear Science (CMNS). For the sake of consistency and habit, all of these reactions are called cold fusion in this book even though this is not technically correct. As you will discover later, simple D+D fusion might not make a significant contribution.”

Storms was right that D+D fusion was not a significant part of the picture. I explained why at the 2008 meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia. The first branch of D+D fusion always produces a high flux of neutrons. In LENR, neutrons, typically observed in bursts, have been detected only occasionally. The second branch of D+D fusion always produces tritium. In LENR, tritium has been seen on numerous occasions, but only intermittently. In D+D fusion, tritium is produced at a 1:1 ratio to the neutrons. In LENR, when tritium is found, it is measured at 1 million times more than the number of observed neutrons. In D+D fusion, helium-4 is found at 10 million times less than the number of neutrons. When helium-4 is found in LENR experiments, it is found at 10 million times more than the number of neutrons.

A close study of the nuclear transmutations found in LENR shows that they are inconsistent with fusion. These phenomena are, however, consistent with weak-interaction processes.

Continued use of the “cold fusion” term perpetuates incorrect technical terminology. It also perpetuates a stigma that is appropriately placed with the scientifically unsupported idea of cold fusion but is not appropriately placed with the real science of LENR.

By Steven B. Krivit
Senior Editor, New Energy Times
Editor-in-Chief, Wiley Nuclear Energy
Encyclopedia
San Rafael, Calif

May 24, 2012 – By Steven B. Krivit –

Yesterday, the NASA Langley Future Innovation Department uploaded a short video clip in which NASA said that it wants to test and confirm the Widom-Larsen ultra-low-momentum neutron theory of low-energy nuclear reactions.

New Energy Times made some inquiries, and the inside story suggests a very different picture.

First, let’s review some background information, most of which appears on the main New Energy Times Web site.

For the last 23 years, researchers around the world have attempted to perform LENR experiments to either demonstrate nuclear-scale excess heat or obtain other more-direct nuclear signatures. Most of the researchers who started this inquiry in 1989 thought the underlying process was some kind of “cold fusion.”

But a careful study of the experiments and a comprehensive theory published in 2006 by Allan Widom, a condensed matter physicist with Northeastern University, and Lewis Larsen, chief executive officer of Lattice Energy LLC, showed that LENRs have almost nothing to do with fusion.

Boeing and NASA Look at LENR for Green-Powered Aircraft

Jones Decries NASA’s Handling of Theory

More on the Distinction Between LENRs and “Cold Fusion”

Chemical & Engineering News Letter Published

NASA and Widom-Larsen Theory: Inside Story

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