RE: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
Jed wrote: So many energy problems could have been solved by now, and so many lives saved, if only scientists had done their job. It sure seems that when we most needed science, it failed us, utterly. Well, not the 'institution' of science, but the scientists turned politicians. And what do we expect when humans are administering science? Where is Lt.Cmdr. Data when you need him? :-) Picard/Data in 2012! -Mark -Original Message- From: Jed Rothwell [mailto:jedrothw...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 1:38 PM To: vortex-L@eskimo.com Subject: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect If 60 Minutes has a major effect on public opinion, and helps free up funding for the field, that will not surprise me. But it will be ironic. It will demonstrate that scientists and decision makers in government tend to be more influenced by the mass media than by scientific publications. The tide does seem to be turning. Press coverage is more friendly than it used to be. More facts and fewer rumors are reported. But funding is still dreadfully restricted and I still fear that the researchers will not live long enough to make significant progress. Based on previous press reports favorable toward cold fusion, such as a report of the Arata experiment last year, I predict this event it will increase Internet chatter and traffic to LENR-CANR for a few weeks, and then fade away. But the effect may linger long enough to jog a few decision-makers to allocate a few more dollars, or perhaps a few million more! And that is all we need. We require an end to the beginning, if not the beginning of the end. We do not need Nature and Scientific American to wave a white flag and admit they were wrong. I predict that the present editors and writers at these journals will never do that, unless commercial products are rolled out, which I regard as highly unlikely under the present circumstances. But I could be wrong about them. I never imaged that Robert Park would give an inch. Of course he needs to give a mile, which he will never do. The other day I told Mizuno that Maddox died, and I related the famous quote about cold fusion will remain dead for a long time which is surely an enigmatic thing to say. Did he mean that he hoped it would revive only after he was gone? Mizuno responded: perhaps I should be angry at the man but honestly I pity him. Here was the most important and interesting discovery in his lifetime and he never even looked at it. What a wasted opportunity. That is how I feel about the whole history of cold fusion. So much talent wasted; so many years. So many energy problems could have been solved by now, and so many lives saved, if only scientists had done their job. I do not blame the mass media for this sad history. I blame scientists and scientific administrators at places like the DOE and the APS. The ones who never looked at the experiments. They never did their jobs. Huizenga and the DoE review panels. Of course there is plenty of blame to go around. Even the cold fusion researchers share a small tiny fraction of the blame for this fiasco, but they are more sinned against than sinning. - Jed No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.11.59/2064 - Release Date: 4/17/2009 7:08 AM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.11.59/2064 - Release Date: 4/17/2009 7:08 AM
[Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
If 60 Minutes has a major effect on public opinion, and helps free up funding for the field, that will not surprise me. But it will be ironic. It will demonstrate that scientists and decision makers in government tend to be more influenced by the mass media than by scientific publications. The tide does seem to be turning. Press coverage is more friendly than it used to be. More facts and fewer rumors are reported. But funding is still dreadfully restricted and I still fear that the researchers will not live long enough to make significant progress. Based on previous press reports favorable toward cold fusion, such as a report of the Arata experiment last year, I predict this event it will increase Internet chatter and traffic to LENR-CANR for a few weeks, and then fade away. But the effect may linger long enough to jog a few decision-makers to allocate a few more dollars, or perhaps a few million more! And that is all we need. We require an end to the beginning, if not the beginning of the end. We do not need Nature and Scientific American to wave a white flag and admit they were wrong. I predict that the present editors and writers at these journals will never do that, unless commercial products are rolled out, which I regard as highly unlikely under the present circumstances. But I could be wrong about them. I never imaged that Robert Park would give an inch. Of course he needs to give a mile, which he will never do. The other day I told Mizuno that Maddox died, and I related the famous quote about cold fusion will remain dead for a long time which is surely an enigmatic thing to say. Did he mean that he hoped it would revive only after he was gone? Mizuno responded: perhaps I should be angry at the man but honestly I pity him. Here was the most important and interesting discovery in his lifetime and he never even looked at it. What a wasted opportunity. That is how I feel about the whole history of cold fusion. So much talent wasted; so many years. So many energy problems could have been solved by now, and so many lives saved, if only scientists had done their job. I do not blame the mass media for this sad history. I blame scientists and scientific administrators at places like the DOE and the APS. The ones who never looked at the experiments. They never did their jobs. Huizenga and the DoE review panels. Of course there is plenty of blame to go around. Even the cold fusion researchers share a small tiny fraction of the blame for this fiasco, but they are more sinned against than sinning. - Jed
Re: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 3:37 PM, Jed Rothwell jedrothw...@gmail.com wrote: So many energy problems could have been solved by now, and so many lives saved, if only scientists had done their job. But the need was not as great as it is now. We have always said, on this list, that $5/gal oil would make a difference. IMO, it has. Terry
Re: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
Note that Google Trends shows a gradual decline in interest in the subject: http://www.google.com/trends?q=cold+fusion This does not surprise me. If I were not increasing the number of papers at LENR-CANR, download traffic would probably decline there. - Jed
Re: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
Terry Blanton wrote: But the need was not as great as it is now. We have always said, on this list, that $5/gal oil would make a difference. IMO, it has. In that sense it is unfortunate that the price is back to $2. The Obama administration may be the best thing that has happened to energy policy in the last 40 years. We'll see. He may not follow through. Congress may derail him. He should tax gasoline to keep the price above $3 to $4 per gallon, but I doubt he has the guts or the support in Congress to do that. It is possible that Obama or someone in the administration will watch 60 Minutes and start asking questions, or even take action. It will not take much to help the researchers. A few million -- heck, a few hundred thousand -- would be manna from heaven. I wrote to the administration, and so did many other people, but the voice of CBS is probably 5 to 6 orders of magnitude louder than mine. That's the trouble with mass media in a high population nation. If this were Iceland I could probably get a message through to someone in government. - Jed
Re: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
Jed Rothwell wrote: Terry Blanton wrote: But the need was not as great as it is now. We have always said, on this list, that $5/gal oil would make a difference. IMO, it has. In that sense it is unfortunate that the price is back to $2. Don't worry, $5 / gallon gas will be back. --- Get FREE High Speed Internet from USFamily.Net! -- http://www.usfamily.net/mkt-freepromo.html ---
Re: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
In reply to Jed Rothwell's message of Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:37:43 -0400: Hi, [snip] That is how I feel about the whole history of cold fusion. So much talent wasted; so many years. So many energy problems could have been solved by now, and so many lives saved, if only scientists had done their job. [snip] That's exactly how I feel when I try to communicate to people that my invention is a hundred times better than CF. It's a quantum leap beyond current cold fusion experiments. Sort of like comparing a modern fission reactor to Fermi's first pile in Chicago. ...and no one will give me the time of day. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/Project.html
Re: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
thomas malloy wrote: Don't worry, $5 / gallon gas will be back. What makes you think so? Do you expect the economy will recover soon, and the price will rebound? I think the price reached $4 before the recession. - Jed
Re: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
Jed Rothwell wrote: thomas malloy wrote: Don't worry, $5 / gallon gas will be back. What makes you think so? Do you expect the economy will recover soon, and the price will rebound? The great inflation has just begun. However I think that the economy will rebound. --- Get FREE High Speed Internet from USFamily.Net! -- http://www.usfamily.net/mkt-freepromo.html ---
Re: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect
The decline in interest appears to have leveled off. If the graph represented a stock price, would it be a good time to buy in? ;-) Harry - Original Message - From: Jed Rothwell jedrothw...@gmail.com Date: Friday, April 17, 2009 5:30 pm Subject: Re: [Vo]:It will be ironic if 60 Minutes has a major effect Note that Google Trends shows a gradual decline in interest in the subject: http://www.google.com/trends?q=cold+fusion This does not surprise me. If I were not increasing the number of papers at LENR-CANR, download traffic would probably decline there. - Jed
