Failure to replicate
Pons-Fleischmann 'sustained fire' claim*
Recently [1],
[2], Pons
and Fleischmann claimed to
have
elicited a sustained form of the 'fire' phenomenon, normally observed only following lightning
strikes or prolonged periods of high temperature, by artificial means.
Attempts to replicate this process in our laboratory have produced no
evidence
for the existence of a sustained 'fire' process. Alternative
explanations for the observed 'fires' are discussed.
We built six 'bonfires' using twigs and branches of mixed sizes
according to the recipe of Pons and Fleischmann, from the precise type of tree specified in their paper (platanus occidentalis), and to each structure applied an
activated MATCH device in the manner indicated.
In no case was a sustained thermal process observed.
The maximum period before the flames that appeared upon
ignition died away was 67.4 seconds, while in two cases the flames died
out in less than 10 seconds.
We suspect that the 'sustained fire' observation of Pons and
Fleischmann was the result of contamination of their 'bonfire' by stray
MATCH devices, whose ignition would help sustain the process in a chain
reaction. Alternatively, they may have failed to notice a
lightning strike, a well-known alternative cause of the 'fire'
phenomenon.
Our conclusion is that
the results obtained by Pons and Fleischmann (and by others claiming
positive results) are almost certainly the consequence of careless
experimentation, or even in some cases fraud. The claim that 'bonfires', ignited according to some special prescription using MATCH devices, can be used as a continuing source of heat, is a delusion.
Editorial note:
following circulation of a preprint of this paper,
and reports of failure by others to replicate bonfire
ignition, the authors retreated to the English Lake District where they
spent much of their time observing sheep. In
a paper accepted for publication, they demonstrate that the behaviour
of sheep shows remarkable similarities to the behaviour of scientists. [Video of typical behaviour]
*This imaginary research report closely parallels what happened following the real Pons-Fleischman
'cold fusion' announcement of 1989. As in the satire, people who
failed to replicate the results, not appreciating the fact that the
phenomenon might be very sensitive to fine details, tried to suggest
that it was the original experiment, not the failed replication, that was at fault.
Brash rhetoric, in the style of the paragraph in bold in the above, combined with the adoption of phrases such as 'fiasco of the
century', had powerful effects on the minds of the scientific community, and cold fusion was erroneously declared non-existent.
The confirmation over time, by many researchers, of the reality of 'cold
fusion', also known as 'low energy nuclear reactions' (LENR), (see
refs. [1] and [2] above) was accordingly ignored. Some relevant issues are
discussed in this
interview.
As for 'sheep behaving like scientists' in the imaginary 'editorial
note', the sheep in the video seem remarkably intelligent and nimble,
so perhaps such a comparison is a slur on sheep!
© B D Josephson 2007