Jones Beene wrote:
Yes. This is one of many various situations in which D+D fusion CANNOT possibly be the only nuclear reaction.
Ah, well if that is what you meant then of course I agree. Anyone can see that various transmutations, fusion, and fission reactions are occurring. What I meant was, most theorists expect they all have "ONE mechanism," that is to say, they all have the same underlying cause. One theory will eventually explain all of them, and predict which will occur in a given set of circumstances.
To some extent I suppose it is a matter of opinion. Going back to Tinsley's analogy, even today one might argue that combustion and metabolism are not really "the same chemical reaction" just because the starting materials and final state of those materials is the same. The intermediate steps are different. Perhaps the intermediate steps in cold fusion vary from one reaction to another, with some favoring the D-D path and others a transmutation path.
Totally different mechanisms would be something like, for example, Mills' shrinking hydrogen causing some reactions, where other reactions are caused by something similar to conventional nuclear reactions. I think that is extremely unlikely, except, as I said, for a marginal, unimportant and coincidental effects such as fractofusion.
- Jed
