An Indictment of the present Scientific Community

"Time, Gentlemen please..." 1985

Andrea Rossi and Defkalion, claiming as much as 20 units of energy created for every one unit of input. Indeed, very interesting subject.

While in process writing about this, one for my blog commentary, the other for the DailyKos.com, I came to realize that this subject needed desperately to segue into a much larger, darker and more insidious story.

During my attempts to collect information on the subject of energy catalyzers, I was somewhat surprised at the distinct lack of interest in scientific quarters, and it has gradually dawned on me to what degree the so-called empirical science forums, such as physicsforums.com and scienceforums.net have ossified. This realization began when I went looking for research information on Andrea Rossi and Defkalion at these forums and found discontinued threads.

Emailing a PhysicsForum.com moderator, I asked him why all LENR posts seem to be abruptly terminated, he responded,

"The current consensus among the Mentors is that Cold Fusion needs to be demonstrated and documented in mainstream peer-reviewed scientific journal articles before it can be discussed on the PF."

"...needs to be demonstrated..."? Isn't the whole point of scientific discovery? If this was 1902, would one not be allowed to discuss the possibility of powered flight? Determining what is possible and what is not, is a messy business, it is the meat of scientific debate. Is a shutting down of discourse not an appeasing abdication to this tenant? Is this turning of the back nothing less than scientific cowardice?

It's almost like watching a replay of the 18th century French Academy of Sciences encouraging collectors to rid themselves of their meteorites, because rocks falling from the sky was 'nonsense'.

Getting back to Andrea Rossi or Defkalion, what piques my curiosity is that here are two entities who were momentarily coordinating, then separate, but both still aggressively pursuing the same purpose. When charlatans and the delusional break up, it usually ends up with one denouncing other as a pursuer of quackery. That is not happening. There is something in this present interaction which amplifies my suspension of disbelief and causes me to sit up and take notice. I want to know more, and see what intelligent people are thinking about the subject of energy catalyzers.

Let's say for a moment that Defkalion's announcement to allow independent scientific institutions to test their generator yields a positive result. What does that say about the present state of our science method?

Forty years of the supposedly 'scientific' approach, using the 'rational' tools of exploration in the pursuance of controlled hot fusion. Other than than the subsidizing of 'scientists' who have been feeding off of the Department of Energy teat to the tune of countless billions of dollars, what has yielded?

The deafening silence on Andrea Rossi and Defkalion is the tip of the iceberg. Try to find information on the electric universe on Wikipedia, or any information that explains the Sun's retarded rotation. The institutionalized censorship of rational debate it is nothing less than a conspiracy of petty, elite arrogance.

It is a common misconception that the Gutenberg Press made its greatest historical impact due to the publishing of the Bible in the common tongue, rather than Latin, and it is true that this caused much upheaval.

However, what is not largely recognized is the thousands of technical pamphlets that started to appear. "How to Thatch a Roof", "How to build a brick wall", "How to make a pair of shoes". All these technical subjects had until that moment been exclusive domain of the many secretive guilds that flourished, creating an artificial scarcity of information and knowledge. Mere decades after the invention of the Gutenberg Press, the dissemination of knowledge had destroyed the bulk of the exclusive guilds. If a graph could demonstrate a timeline of technological innovation, we would observe a rapid incline, a flourishing of innovation that has only started to level off in our century. It is appropriate to say that over the past centuries, the general public was playing catch-up, absorbing the basic technical know-how that was locked away by the secretive elements of society that wished to benefit at the expense of their species.

We have now reached a new paradigm. With the advent of the Web, history is about to repeat itself. This time, rather than a Technical Revolution, it is a the Revolution of the Epiphany, a revolution where empirical realizations and insights are no longer the exclusive domain of the scientific guild, a social institution which has to date managed to hide behind a cloak of costly journals that in essence exclude the general public.

This must come to an end. It must evolve into a system where scientific journals are thrown open to the public, and ideas must stand on their observational merit, rather than the questionable speculations founded upon a false edifice where one long-bankrupt theory totters upon another.

It is foolish not to include the general public for, as the Gutenberg Press has proved, the general public are the source of innovation and discovery.

Such a point of view is presently viewed with much disdain by the science elite, to the great disadvantage of our civilization. This mindset seems to believe that scientists spontaneously generate like magic, as if never having had any interaction with the general public.

Where does such blinkered narrow-mindedness lead? The shunning of Pons and Fleischman Cold Fusion for publishing directly to the public media was a punishable offence. How dare they illuminate their findings to the great unwashed public, this homogeneous mass that is only fixated on sensational fiction and film stars?

The science mindset buried Pons and Fleischman Cold Fusion for twenty years, and anyone pursuing this subject was ostracized and ejected from what can only be described techno-priesthood. Funds for research on cold fusion dried up, research was discouraged.

Is it any wonder then, that any innovation in this realm that might turn up, emerges from shoe-string garage pioneers stumbling upon something they don't quite understand in an almost alchemic fashion?

This is stating the obvious, but if Andrea Rossi and Defkalion's energy generators are for real, the World will never look the same. The impact of unlimited, pollution-free energy cannot be underestimated - the byproduct of which, is a shamed and discredited science community.

The scientific community has become an inflexible institution, and is beginning to cost our species dearly. There must be change. If not the phenomenon of Andrea Rossi and Defkalion, it will only be a matter of time before some other innovation out of the blue will smash this fraying, defunct paradigm.

I do not relish a scenario in which those dark forces of superstition and religious imposition, continuously battering at the door of scientific empiricism were to find entry. Such a pity then, if the breach is effortlessly brought about by the opening of the door from the inside.

"Money for Nothing and your Chicks for free..." A new Energy Era?

* Update

Having monitored this unfolding energy drama, in a reverse for Andrea Rossi, the editor Sterling D. Allan of Pure Energy Systems News, has backed away from the creator of the E-Cat device and labeled him "Buyer Beware"
"Rossi Tells Florida Bureau He Has No U.S. Factory, No Nuclear Reactions"

Also, a summary of Andrea Rossi's somewhat spotty history.

Article
Chances are really good that you've never heard of Andrea Rossi or Defkalion. However, IF what they have to sell turns out to be the real goods, you certainly will get to know who they are.

So for the duration of this article, I ask you to suspend your sense of disbelief, because the content is so outlandishly ludicrous that it borders on the absurd. Nor would I be writing this, were it not for a persistent spike in my techno web tendrils that seems to demand attention. So. Here we go:

An Italian inventor called Andrea Rossi claims to have created a generator that produces six units of energy for every one unit expended. What's more, only 48 hours ago, Defkalion, the company that Andrea Rossi was formerly cooperating with - has announced it is ready to allow independent sources to test their generator, purportedly able to produce twenty units of energy for every one you put in.
These are claims that - if verified - would make nuclear fusion researchers drool uncontrollably, after which they would discover pink slips on their desks. A sad end after having ridden the cash cow for over forty years with little to show for it.

To date poorly controlled demonstrations have been performed before a reasonable amount of scientists. Some walk away convinced, others cry foul, claiming it to be a hoax or the feverish imaginings of the delusional. Obviously both can't be right, so what is the problem? Why can't the inventors/discoverers just hand over the device and let the scientists of reputable universities test these generators independently?

This is why: We are NOT talking science here. From all I have managed to read and piece together, these enterprises can best be described as modern alchemy. I'm not saying the generators do not work, no - what we may be seeing here is an individual that has stumbled upon something that does not fit within the parameters of known science. Sure, Andrea Rossi and his physicist supporter Sergio Focardi have an explanation but it holds no water with the international patent community.

Respectable scientists have been down this road before and have burned their fingers on the Pons and Fleischman Cold Fusion Affair of twenty years ago, which produced mixed to negative results. Simply put, they really don't want to go there again. Even at this juncture, respectable physics forums such as physicsforums.com refuse to even allow the subject to be discussed.

In a very real sense, one could accuse the science community of cowardice, in that they would rather stick with what they know than delve into the messy unknown, which - after all - is what science is really about.

In consequence, little to no research has been funded in this quarter and has therefore been relegated to the realm of garage tinkerers for the past two decades. Is it any wonder then, that if any progress has been made it must invariably hearken from this realm?

The Rossi/Defkalion competitors are in a quandary: If they don't have a patent and scientists nose around in their secretive generator, the cat will out of the box and they won't hold legal rights to their discovery/invention.
From the observations one can make based on videos available from the demonstrations, we are not talking rocket science here. Rossi and Focardi say the device works by infusing heated hydrogen into nickel and transmuting it into copper and producing heat. Hints of sonic oscillation circulate on various websites.
Fusion with no lingering dangerous radiation. If it melts down, you are left with a pool of hot lead. Hardly white overcoat and clip-board kinda stuff.

It is a guess, but my hunch is that a dedicated hobbyist could probably hobble something like this generator together if they knew how. - And if it is that easy, it would not take long before everyone and his monkey's uncle would be churning out energy devices similar to these and patents be damned. For this reason - if the principals for constructing such generators turn out to be sound - I would be very circumspect about investing in any company with a claim. Here today gone tomorrow.

Implications: Should these energy generators turn out to be the real thing, I cannot even begin to stress the mind-boggling impact this will have on the early part of the 21st Century. If the energy output at this early stage of research has increased from 1-6 output to 1-20 energy output in less than a year, well - you can see where I'm going with this. Residences, Industries, vacuum cleaners, computers, autos, aircraft, space ships - all running on clean, decentralized, non-polluting sustainable free energy. In mere years, the world society we knew will be utterly transformed. I don't want to sound like a paranoid conspiracy theorist, but once this stuff hits the main media, you can be sure the bad boys of our energy-starved world will not be sitting idle, twiddling their thumbs. Frankly, I'm surprised various elements of society let it get this far. There are fortunes to be lost, powerful who will become powerless.
However, if the principal for making these generators is as easy as it seems, chances are good the cat is already too far out of the bag for these vested interests to do any long-term harm.

Bottom line, the jury's out. The truth of it all can only be a matter of months away. Rossi/Defkalion are in fierce competition. Both have to put out or close shop. There is no Pons and Fleischman dawdling here, either it works or it doesn't. Exciting times.