Cold Fusion Is Proven At Long Last

By James Donahue

July 2005

The concept of cold fusion, in contrast to fusion of protons under extreme heat and pressure to create nuclear energy, has been somewhat of a joke in science circles ever since the idea was first tossed around about 15 years ago.

After some excitement and exploration into the concept, it was generally agreed among physicists that cold fusion was impossible. It just couldn’t be done.

But now a team of scientists at University of Los Angeles has discovered a way to generate a fusion reaction using something nobody has thought of since the early days of radio . . . a faint electrical charge from a wire touching a crystal.

The scientists, Brian Naranjo, James Gimzewski and Seth Putterman aren’t playing with the old quartz crystal, however. They found they get the kind of charge they need from a special lithium tantalite crystal. 

To get the reaction they want, that is the fusion of protons to create a nuclear reaction, the team inserts a small crystal inside a chamber filled with hydrogen. By heating the crystal about 100 degrees, they can create a huge 100,000 volt electrical field across the crystal. The metal wire inserted near the crystal then concentrates this charge to one single, powerful point.

It is enough of a charge to force the hydrogen nuclei off in the same direction so that they collide, thus causing fusion, the scientists report.

Once the reaction is started, the team notes that they observe the production of helium nuclei and other tell-tale signs of fusion including free neutrons and high energy radiation.

The reason the crystal works is because the atoms in them line up in a lattice that can create piezoelectricity. In other words, the position of the atoms within the crystal create a difference of positive and negative energy, thus generating an electrical charge at certain points in the crystal. That is why a wire touching a particular point on a quartz crystal made the old crystal radios work.

The heating of the lithium tantalite crystal generates a strong electrical charge, the University of Los Angeles team discovered. Perhaps strong enough to move mountains if utilized in the correct way. 

Since publishing the findings, this experiment with lithium tantalite crystals has been repeated successfully in other laboratories and scientists are concluding that this time, the concept of cold fusion looks very much alive and well.

The problem, however, is that it still takes more energy to start the process than you get back, which means that crystal-fusion probably won’t be a good energy source to replace the burning of fossil fuels. At least not just yet.

Give science a little time, and somebody is going to find a way to do it better, and at less cost. The day may arrive when nuclear fusion will be the way we heat our homes, run our factories, power our cars and generate our electrical energy.