Rutherford’s Reluctant Role in Nuclear Transmutation

May 182019
 

May 18, 2019 — By Steven B. Krivit —

Second in a Series of Articles on the Rutherford Nitrogen-to-Oxygen Transmutation Myth

Ernest Rutherford, 1908 Photo

Ernest Rutherford, 1908 Photo

Physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) is a legendary figure in science history. Some people consider Rutherford to be among the 10 greatest physicists in history. Some call him the father of modern physics. The world’s first confirmed transmutation of one element into another has been described by many people as among Rutherford’s three greatest accomplishments. The discovery, however, belonged instead to a research fellow named Patrick Blackett, who worked in Rutherford’s lab at Cambridge University. This article discusses in detail Rutherford’s role in the research that preceded Blackett’s discovery.

Although a few historians recorded the discovery correctly, the myth that the discovery belonged to Rutherford ran strong for 70 years. Blackett’s discovery is described in “The World’s First Successful Alchemist (It Wasn’t Rutherford).”

The Dawn of Atomic Science
The dawn of atomic science took place as the late 1800s moved into the early 1900s. Eventually, old ideas yielded to new ones. In 1897, Joseph John Thomson discovered the electron while experimenting with cathode rays. Thomson’s discovery challenged the prevailing view that the atom was the smallest component in nature and thus indivisible. Continue reading »

The World’s First Successful Alchemist (It Wasn’t Rutherford)

May 142019
 

May 14, 2019 — By Steven B. Krivit —

First in a Series of Articles on the Rutherford Nitrogen-to-Oxygen Transmutation Myth

The Myth
For at least 70 years, the near-consensus of the scientific community about the person who discovered the first confirmed artificial nuclear transmutation has been wrong. An illustrated example of the myth appears in a frame of a 1948 comic book produced by the General Electric Co. The book, Adventures Inside the Atom, sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, was propaganda intended to promote the new age of atomic energy.

The book begins in ancient Greece with Aristotle and the concept of the atom. Eventually, the story arrives at the University of Cambridge, in the laboratory of Ernest Rutherford.

Myth of the first artificial nuclear transmutation, 1948, General Electric Co.

Myth of the first artificial nuclear transmutation, 1948, General Electric Co.

Continue reading »

First Light Fusion’s Fake

Feb 122019
 

Feb. 12, 2019 – By Steven B. Krivit –

First Light Fusion's Fraudulent Illusion

Energy research company First Light Fusion has published deceptive fusion power claims in a Feb. 12, 2019, press release.

First Light Fusion, an Oxford University spin-off company, is claiming that, within five years, its experimental reactor, according to its design, will create more power than it will consume. A careful reading of the technical language, however, reveals that the design does not support such a claim. Continue reading »

32. A Decade of False and Exaggerated ITER Power Claims on Wikipedia

Feb 102019
 

ITER Net PowerFeb. 10, 2019 – By Steven B. Krivit –

Complete Series

Wikipedia, although not the most authoritative encyclopedia reference, is almost always a reliable benchmark for public consensus and understanding. It therefore serves as an excellent indicator of how broadly the public was misled about the projected net power output of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). As a result of the impermanent nature of text on any Wikipedia page, in conjunction with the preservation and record of every edit that is made, the online encyclopedia can also serve as a time-correlated reflection of public consensus.

The false and misleading statements on Wikipedia were similar to those found in most news stories about ITER. They were similar to the false and misleading statements that were and still are on many documents and Web sites published by the European Commission, the European Parliament, the International Atomic Energy Association, and many other organizations.

The English, French, and Chinese Wikipedia ITER pages contained false claims that grossly exaggerated the projected net power output of ITER. The other Wikipedia ITER pages had less-significant errors. The most accurate Wikipedia ITER page was the German-language page. After I published “The ITER Power Amplification Myth,” in October 2017, I began making corrections, as shown below, to some of the Wikipedia ITER pages. Continue reading »

31. World Nuclear News Gets Fooled Again by False ITER Power Claim

Jan 302019
 

ITER Net Power Complete List of All Reports in This Series
 Jan. 30, 2019 – By Steven B. Krivit –

World Nuclear News published another news story today with the false ITER power claim: “ITER is a major international project to build a 500 MW tokamak fusion device (requiring an input of 50 MW) designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy.” (Archive Copy)

The reactor is actually designed to consume a minimum of 300 MW of electricity during peak plasma production. World Nuclear News is one of many news and governmental organizations that has been deceived by the misleading communications of fusion representatives for more than a decade.

If all goes according to plan, the ITER rector will produce about zero net power and prove that scientists can take 300 MW of electricity and turn it into 500 MW of fusion particles. (Archive Copy)

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