An article by David Hambling titled “Nuclear fusion: Can the stellarator unleash the power?” has been published on the New Scientist magazine website here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2075031-nuclear-fusion-can-the-stellarator-unleash-the-power/ The main focus of the article is the Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator nuclear fusion reactor that has been built at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Germany.
However as a sidebar to the article is a section titled “Don’t Mention Cold Fusion”
So far the article is available only to subscribers, but someone sent me the text of the sidebar section, and below is an excerpt (for copyright reasons) with some of the main points covered.
Far, far away from the galaxy of mainstream nuclear fusion, a small but dedicated band of rebels is still devoted to the heresy of cold fusion . . .
Perhaps the loudest of the mavericks is Italian engineer Andrea Rossi, who says he has been operating his “E-Cat” cold fusion reactors, with a fuel of nickel powder and hydrogen, since 2011. Now in partnership with US company Industrial Heat, Rossi claims to be operating a 1-megawatt reactor producing heat for a secret customer in the US for a one-year trial …
Rossi has just been granted a US patent for the E-Cat technology, and the Japanese government has restarted funding for LENR research, apparently on the basis of work by Toyota and Mitsubishi . . . Airbus is one of the few willing to make a public show of interest, hosting a conference on low energy nuclear reactions in Toulouse, France, last October.
It’s really nothing new, but I see there is some significance that cold fusion is mentioned in a mainstream science magazine as being a serious topic, even though it is clearly labeled as being well outside the mainstream. I think this is probably the first time that the name of Andrea Rossi and the E-Cat has been published in New Scientist.
I’m not sure when the full text will become available openly online, but I believe the access restrictions are lifted after period of time.
