Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 96: Nov-Dec 1994 Issue Contents

Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects .

Cold fission?

That's right: "fission" not "fusion." A recent number of Science News carries an intriguing suggestion from J. Brind:

"Has anyone considered the possibility that the anomaly of "cold fusion" experiments -- high energy yields with few neutrons or tritium nuclei -- might result from a case of mistaken identity? There are a number of nuclear fission reactions that produce neither neutrons nor tritium, yet yield large quantities of energy."

One such reaction is:

⁷Li + ¹H = 2(⁴He) + 17.3 MeV.

This is a very clean nuclear reaction that might one day be harnessed for everyday use, given lithium's low cost and abundance. The "cold fusion" effects could well come from captures of deuterons by ⁶Li, which is present in natural lithium.

(Brind, Joel; "Cold Fission?" Science News, 137:163, 1994.)

From Science Frontiers #96, NOV-DEC 1994. © 1994-2000 William R. Corliss

---

Science Frontiers Sourcebook Project Reviewed in: Icarus: Volume 41, Issue 3, p. 470-470 1984, Vol.56:3, P.615 1983, Vol.58:3 June 1984, Vol.60:3 Dec 1984, Vol.72:3 Dec 1987 Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 81, no. 1 1987 American Journal of Physics, Volume 52, Issue 8, p. 764 August 1984 Quotes "Before opening the book, I set certain standards that a volume which treads into dangerous grounds grounds like this must meet. The author scrupulously met, or even exceeded those standards. Each phenomenon is exhaustively documented, with references to scientific journals [..] and extensive quotations" -- "Book Review: The moon and planets: a catalog of astronomical anomalies", The Sourcebook Project, 1985., Corliss, W. R., Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada>, Vol. 81, no. 1 (1987), p. 24., 02/1987