15) Another Phys-L Message (December 2002)
Ludwik Kowalski
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ, 07043.
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Let me also refer to the Technical ONR Report 1696, September 1995, coauthored by S. J. Szpak. The ONR stands for the Office of Naval Research. The report can be downloaded, as a very long pdf file, from
http://lenr-canr.org/Features.htm
In fact it is set of many documents that only chemists and material scientists will be able to comprehend completely. Browsing through this 146-pages file I made some notes, such as:
1) Back in 1991 ONR proposed a collaborative effort between NRAB, NWC and NRL (its research labs) to set up a coordinated CF experiment. The purpose was to investigate the anomalous effects associated with the prolonged charging of the Pd/D system. But this did not happen and each lab continued to investigate CF independently. The authors wrote: "In retrospect, imposing the condition of confirmation, rather than in-depth discussions, was unfortunate in view of what was known then and is known today, i.e. that the enormous complexity of the system and the unknown triggering mechanism make the reproducibility uncertain even if the procedure is followed rigorously."
2) Reproducibility became the focus of NRAB work. They invented the so-called "codeposition" process by which the FP effect (generation of excess heat) could be always observed. Instead of loading deuterium into preexisting Pd rods, they used an electrochemical process by which Palladium ions and D ions were simultaneously deposited in the form of a layer on a metal like copper or nickel.
3) They confirmed generation of tritium. The amount accumulated, together with generation of 2500 J of excess heat, turned out to be ten times higher than the background before.
4) Generation of soft x-rays was observed during the process.
5) Scanning electron micrographs of electrodes were made and correlated with other aspects.
6) X-ray crystallography was used during the FP process in a specially designed cell. The results were described in a report submitted on February 19, 1993.
7) The effect of current density on the rate at which heat was generated was investigated. Why should this kind of systematic work be called pseudo science? What does all this have in common with homeopathy or with N rays?