Postscripts: Cold fusion’s potential sustains the memory of its slain advocate | Guest Columns

In the latest issue of The New Yorker is a long and, to me, confounding story titled: “Can Nuclear Fusion Put the Brakes on Climate Change?” The subtitle is: “Amid an escalating crisis, the power source offers a dream — or a pipe dream — of limitless clean energy.” No scientist, never mind physicist, I do understand a part of the story because it keenly evokes perhaps the eeriest episode in my career as a journalist: the brutal murder in May 2004 of Eugene Mallove, a childhood friend and high school classmate in Norwich, who, at the time of his death, was a leading exponent of cold fusion, a complicated and still highly controversial form of… Source link

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Breakthrough in fusion energy: Is abundant low carbon energy within reach?

The recent technological advancement in the energy front could translate into abundant low carbon energy supply; however, there are multiple problems associated with it that need to be addressed first. This article is part of the series Comprehensive Energy Monitor: India and the World Recent developments    Recent news reports suggest that fusion energy is close to a technological breakthrough. The National Ignition Facility in the US is reportedly on the verge of achieving a longstanding goal in nuclear fusion research which is to generate more energy than what is consumed. A pioneering reactor in Britain is gearing up to start pivotal tests of a fuel mix that will eventually power ITER, (International thermonuclear experimental reactor or “the way” in Latin), the world’s… Source link

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Believe in science, but not all scientists – Chico Enterprise-Record

I laughed at Jorge Smirnoff’s acknowledgment of my book gift. I set a simple trap for him, and he predictably fell in. He avoided stating the title of the book I gave him “A Disgrace to the Profession: The world’s scientists, in their own words, on Michael Mann, his hockey stick, and the damage to science.” Science is objective and factual. Scientists, less so. Nothing could be truer about self-declared Nobel Prize winner, climatologist Dr. Michael Mann. Mann’s hubris precedes him. Smirnoff confuses “following the science” with “following the scientists,” such as Mann. If science was never questioned, you’d still be believing Earth was the center of the universe, drinking cocaine (Coca-Cola) and giving kids heroin infused cough syrup was a good idea, using… Source link

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Believe in science, but not all scientists – Chico Enterprise-Record

I laughed at Jorge Smirnoff’s acknowledgment of my book gift. I set a simple trap for him, and he predictably fell in. He avoided stating the title of the book I gave him “A Disgrace to the Profession: The world’s scientists, in their own words, on Michael Mann, his hockey stick, and the damage to science.” Science is objective and factual. Scientists, less so. Nothing could be truer about self-declared Nobel Prize winner, climatologist Dr. Michael Mann. Mann’s hubris precedes him. Smirnoff confuses “following the science” with “following the scientists,” such as Mann. If science was never questioned, you’d still be believing Earth was the center of the universe, drinking cocaine (Coca-Cola) and giving kids heroin infused cough syrup was a good idea, using… Source link

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ONLINE: Cold Fusion – Isthmus

press release: Join Audio for the Arts online Thursday, October 14, for another edition of Acoustic Moose! We are excited to be hosting the Madison based jazz/blues/funk/fusion project, Cold Fusion. Our awesome partners over at 98.7 WVMO are co-sponsors, and we air the shows the 3rd Friday of every month at 10pm. See you here: https://audioforthearts.com/afa-live.html or at https://www.facebook.com/events/304539281552691 Source link

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A few comments for the editor’s page | Letters to the Editor

I wish to add some comments to the editor’s page an article/letters in The News the past few Sundays. 1)      Letter – Science is about reproducible results, (or irreproducible results, see Pons & Fleishmann “cold fusion”) however, it involves peer review as well.   So, I would add that to the definition/conversation.  Although that was not directly stated I believe implied.   2)      Letter – As for ghosts, there are millions of people whose religious beliefs involve spirits/ghosts.  Let me use the example of Catholicism as I was raised in the Catholic Church.  In nomina Partris et Filii et Spirtitus Santos – In the name of the… Source link

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Start-up fusion | Nature Physics

Publicly funded nuclear fusion laboratories are experiencing competition from the private sector, giving new energy to the field. A large part of the academic research undertaken by physicists is, in one way or another, driven by the pursuit of practical applications. But actual, sellable products based on ideas explored in academia are rarely designed, let alone produced, in universities or research institutes. Rather, this typically happens, as soon as a proof of concept has been demonstrated, in start-up companies spun off from research organizations or completely independent ones. In certain technological sectors — electronics and biotechnology are good… Source link

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Ransomware operator Cring attacks Adobe’s ColdFusion 9 software

Sophos, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, has revealed an attack by the Cring ransomware operators against a target after hacking a server running an unpatched, 11-year-old version of Adobe’s ColdFusion 9 software.The target used the server to collect timesheet and accounting data for payroll and to host multiple virtual machines. The attackers breached the internet-facing server in minutes and executed the ransomware 79 hours later. “Devices running vulnerable, outdated software are low-hanging-fruit for cyberattackers looking for an easy way into a target,” said Andrew Brandt, principal researcher at Sophos. “In the incident we researched, the target was a services company, and all it took to break in was one… Source link

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Adding a lane in California is good for Nevada | STEVE SEBELIUS

As a native Southern Californian, I’ve made the drive between Las Vegas and my hometown of Huntington Beach dozens of times over the years. When traffic is light on Interstate 15, it’s heaven, especially for a leadfoot like me. I’ve set personal land speed records, but not always without incident. It was on the 15 that I received two traffic citations on the same day, less than 30 minutes apart, traveling faster the second time, in a friend’s wife’s minivan. But when there’s an accident or traffic is heavy, the drive can be a hellishly long, 275-mile slog through the desert. And with just two lanes for the 113 miles between Primm and Barstow, nearly anything can clog traffic, from ill-mannered, slow-moving drivers hogging the left lane to big-rig truckers trying to… Source link

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