A fantastic invention or fantasy?

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    Fantasy Invention
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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the claims made by Italian inventor Andrea Rossi regarding a 1000 MW nuclear reactor purportedly utilizing cold fusion technology, which is expected to become operational in October 2011. Participants express skepticism and curiosity about the feasibility and implications of such technology, touching on themes of energy production, pollution, and the credibility of claims in the context of cold fusion.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express skepticism about Rossi's claims, citing the historical context of cold fusion being associated with unreliable or "crackpot" theories.
  • One participant questions the credibility of the "reputable people" supporting Rossi, specifically asking if any are physicists.
  • Another participant suggests that despite skepticism, the outcome remains uncertain and that time will reveal the truth of the claims.
  • A suggestion is made to refer to a skepticism and debunking forum for further discussion on the topic, indicating a lack of engineering content to analyze.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express skepticism regarding Rossi's claims, but there is no consensus on the potential validity of cold fusion technology itself, leaving the discussion unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the historical skepticism surrounding cold fusion and the lack of confirmed repeatable results, which may influence their views on Rossi's claims.

kowalskil
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An Italian inventor, Andrea Rossi, claims that a 1000 MW nuclear reactor, being constructed in Greece, will become operational in October 2011. I hope he is right; how can one not be happy to have electricity which is ten times less expensive than from coal, and without any pollution? But I am skeptical. Why? Read this paper:

http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/cf/rossi.html

But many reputable people take his claim seriously, as illustrated in these two posts:

http://www.rainews24.rai.it/it/video.php?id=23096



How can such optimism be explained?
.
.

Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia)
author of: http://csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/life/intro.html
 
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I didn't watch the vids in the links. Are any of these "reputable people" physicists? Cold fusion has be a staple of crackpots for some time. I don't know that it will never be possible, but if he has done repeatable cold fusion, it would be known all over the world as soon as it was confirmed.
 
We'll just have to wait and see. There are plenty of reasons to be highly skeptical, but in the end we will just have to wait.
 
See our skepticism and debunking forum for recent threads on this. It doesn't qualify for the engineering forums - there is no engineering to discuss.