At 12:34 PM 8/7/2011, Jed Rothwell wrote:
Yup. Either Rossi is lying, or Defkalion is. It could not be more clear cut.
Nope. That's just more assumption masquerading as proof. It's entirely possible that Defkalion is testing Hyperions, and Rossi did not provide them. It's possible that they did what was necessary to find what works, not waiting for Rossi, working alone, with very limited funding, to deliver.
Jed, it would have taken chump change compared to what was going to be due to Rossi.
What a damn circus. It is sad that cold fusion keeps ending up in controversy and fiascos.
It's absolutely not surprising, Jed. I warned about allowing this to be associated with the science of cold fusion. None of this met scientific protocols for trusting new discoveries. Skepticism was completely appropriate, hence my odd alliance with Joshua Cude.
I'd say it's time to start averting damage. It's time for people who support cold fusion to jump on the skeptical bandwagon. It's not necessary to claim that Rossi was a fraud, though that's my conclusion. It's not necessary to fall for the pseudo-skeptical argument that Rossi's claims were impossible. They were not impossible.
But they were, indeed, appearing to be stronger and more reliable than anyone else had reported, by far. And skepticism about *that* was very proper. You ridiculed the skepticism, mistaking it for pseudoskepticism. I recommend, highly, acknowledging the error. I guarantee you, it won't hurt, or, at least, it will hurt far less than trying to continue in pretense.
We may still hope that Ni-H reactors will be demonstrated and will go on sale soon. But we should not treat this as something proven and already accomplished, without proof and actual accomplishment, validated and confirmed.
Normal science. Real skepticism is a crucial part of it! (There are other important parts, such as open-mindedness, etc.)
