Abd ul-Rahman Lomax wrote:
And the reason is obvious. Almost all known fusion is plasma,
thermonuclear fusion.
A.k.a. the brute force method. In the ACS press briefing, Peter
Hagelstein called this kind of fusion "vacuum reactions" which I
think is a good term.
Regarding words and the definition of "cold fusion," I would like to
remind readers that Humpty Dumpty was fundamentally right:
`I don't know what you mean by "glory,"' Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. `Of course you don't -- till I
tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'
`But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument,"' Alice objected.
`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone,
`it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'
`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so
many different things.'
`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master - - that's all.'
Seriously, words come to mean whatever we use them to mean. The
definitions evolve and change constantly. The root or origin of many
words such as "meteorology" reflect initial misunderstandings. Many
words are based on previous versions of technology used as analogies;
you cannot fold a computer disk folder, and a solid-state disk is not
disk-shaped.
Arguing about such things is like arguing whether Pluto is a planet
or not. It is what it is, and it will remain what it is, regardless
of what we call it.
Words such as "LENR" are partly an attempt to be more technically
accurate, which is unnecessary, because no one is confused by
inaccurate terms such as meteorology. They are partly euphemisms,
coined by people hoping to avoid the stigma of the original term
"cold fusion." Euphemisms never last for long. They quickly take on
whatever was embarrassing or objectionable about the original
word, so people have to keep coming up with new ones. Look at the
words for "bathroom" or "special needs children" for example. Most
euphemisms -- unlike "LENR" -- are deliberately inaccurate or vague,
but that never fools anyone. Everyone knows that you seldom ask where
the bathroom is in order to take a bath.
- Jed
