Dear Kevin, FQXI and its yearly contest have rather strict rules, inspired in part from the prize of the John Templeton Society. They ask for a more general answer not for authors coming with their pet subjects or ideas. In my essay I am also speaking about CF, actually Deeply Metamorphised Cold Fusion. I think we must accept than no bright theory will and no small scale lab experiment can trigger the rebirth of the field- just a working commercial process can save us. Peter
On Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 3:07 AM, Kevin O'Malley <[email protected]> wrote: > As noted in a previous article, Jed Rothwell entered into an essay contest > for the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi). I submitted my own Cold > Fusion related essay, and didn't hear anything back from FQXi. Then Peter > Gluck had his essay published, so I asked FQXi why mine was not published > or declined. > > They say it is because of an objection being raised to the "commercial" > content in it--specifically the promotion of techshop. > > Perhaps there is some other educational institution I could propose as a > baseline minimum that would give people access to machine shop tools > relatively quickly? > > > thanks > > Kevin O > > > ------------------------------ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Jed Rothwell's Essay: > http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/2000 > > > Peter Gluck's Essay > http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/2015 > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > "How Should Humanity Steer the Future? > With The LENR Techshop Y Prize Incentive Proposal > > > My proposal is to set up a prize similar to the X Prize to reward and > encourage Techshop (http://techshop.ws/) teams who replicate the recent > Cold Fusion experiment at the Martin Fleischmann Memorial Project wherein > Gamma Rays were detected after an excess heat event. Let's call it the Y > Prize. The Gamma Ray finding was replicated by Hans Biberian within 48 > hours. Measuring Gamma Rays would be the smoking gun to prove that it is a > nuclear process taking place within these cold fusion experiments. > MFMP Report Detection of Unusual Gamma Rays [Updated: Biberian Replicates] > > http://www.e-catworld.com/2013/11/mfmp-report-detection-of-unusual-gamma-rays/ > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > What is the Martin Fleischmann Memorial Project (MFMP)? > In essence, they are a grassroots, open-source scientific group trying to > replicate Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR). It is named after Martin > Fleischmann because he was one of the 2 original electrochemists who found > this anomalous heat effect in 1989, and he passed away recently. His > partner, Dr. Pons, is still alive and could therefore still win a Nobel > Prize. > > http://www.quantumheat.org/index.php/en/ > If one simply follows their latest recipe, a LENR device can be built and > tested by anyone who has the means. They are currently using a wire that > Dr. Celani, a prominent LENR researcher, gave to them in furtherance of > their effort. They also plan to test a NANOR device which Dr. Hagelstein at > Massachussetts Institute of Technology helped to develop. > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Why Techshop? http://techshop.ws/ > They are the right people to encourage for a grass roots energy effort; > and the interest in a Y Prize would help that worthy organization grow; if > they can do it, almost anyone can do it and the generated excitement would > turn the world upside down. Bootstrapping Techshop would help many other > people who would like to do some kind of experiment on physics or simply to > be creative. > > From their website, http://techshop.ws/ > TechShop is a vibrant, creative community that provides access to tools, > software and space. You can make virtually anything at TechShop. Come and > build your dreams! > TechShop is a playground for creativity. Part fabrication and prototyping > studio, part hackerspace and part learning center, TechShop provides access > to over $1 million worth of professional equipment and software. We offer > comprehensive instruction and expert staff to ensure you have a safe, > meaningful and rewarding experience. Most importantly, at TechShop you can > explore the world of making in a collaborative and creative environment. > > It is not known whether Techshop really has the equipment and resources to > support this kind of an effort. However, the excitement generated towards > such a replication effort would encourage Techshops around the country to > acquire such equipment, working with National Instruments and others. For > instance, Burt Rutan did not have the equipment to build devices that could > go into space. But the Ansari X Prize spurred on his creative juices, > bootstrapping his effort and focusing his vision. I been a fan of his since > high school, when he independently came out with the VariEZ canard > airplane. > > If an Italian High School Teacher (Hugo Abundo) could build a LENR device, > then TechShop could. And I think National Instruments (NI) would help. NI > has supported cold fusion research for years, offering LabView software > free to all researchers in the field. Perhaps they are eager to sell their > measurement devices into this market space the way Levi wanted to sell > Jeans to miners in California in 1849 and Apple wanted to get kids hooked > on computers at school. But it does not matter - they are eager to help. > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > What would success look like? > An Open Source LENR device generates more heat than can be accounted for > by chemical means. My suggestion is to set a threshold that the heat > generated should have an energy density at least 10X that of any known > chemical source for at least one hour so that measurement error is not a > factor. An additional test would be the presence of Gamma Rays well above > background. > Measurements would be done by a team of Y Prize's choosing. The team > should include at least one person trained to look for deception; > basically, a magician. In reality all they would be measuring is Voltage, > Current (for Input power) and Heat (for Output Power) plus using a Geiger > counter for Gamma rays. Precision isn't all that necessary, when you think > of it. It doesn't matter if the energy density exceeds 10X that of > gasoline that you can measure it to 13.25X. > I would suggest that there should be multiple replications for this prize > to be claimed. Perhaps 3 separate Techshop teams need to have their > projects tested independently and the 3 teams would share the prize. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Where would the money come from? > > If I won this essay contest, I would expend my passion pursuing money for > this prize. > > Recently, there was $5Million donated to University of Missouri for LENR > research by billionaire Sidney Kimmel. Perhaps he would be generous with > another $1Million for this effort. > > Australian Entrepreneur Dick Smith recently offered over $1Million for a > convincing demo. He seemed focused on generating 1.5MW as the threshold to > be met. Perhaps he can be persuaded to focus on an open-source science > effort rather than using his money to sniff out a shyster. > > Crowdsourcing. There is a pent up interest in this technology. Here is > an example: Dennis Cravens used crowdfunding to finance a LENR powered car. > http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fusion-powered-car-part-2 > > Scientific Instruments. This multi$billion company offered to give free > measuring hardware and software to anyone working in LENR. They may enjoy > getting some publicity in exchange for a donation. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > In conclusion, I hope that you will see that the time has come to give > this technology the nudge it deserves. > > > Eventually when the critical mass of believability is attained (like what > happened with the Wright brothers), the world experiences a precipitating > realization. That is what the Y Prize can do to effect billions of lives > over the next few short years for relatively small investment of effort. > -- Dr. Peter Gluck Cluj, Romania http://egooutpeters.blogspot.com
