NASA gone off the deep end?

[jm211]

NASA made some announcements regarding LENR/cold fusion. To my knowledge they haven't demonstrated anything. From what I have read they seem to be promoting the Widom Larsen theory which isn't accepted by the mainstream scientific community. Hope they don't embarrass themselves the way Utah did in 1989 ...

 

http://coldfusion3.com/blog/nasa-publicly-reveals-lenr-research

 

http://nickelenergy.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/chief-scientist-at-nasa-langley-acknowledges-andrea-rossi-e-cat/

[Fuzzwood]

If they can make it work, why not? If they can't; no harm done. It's the way science works: keep trying stuff.

[jm211]

The issue isn't so much that they are working on it - it is publicly promoting this as the answer to the world's energy problems with no evidence and promoting a theory to explain it that on one accepts. These guys are supposed to be scientists and science doesn't work that way. You first provide evidence to the scientific community and they either accept it or they don't. If they had a working system that would be a different story but they don't.

[Moontanman]

It is exciting news that this is promising enough for NASA to look into it but before I get completely erect over this I'll wait for the results from NASA.

[mississippichem]

It is exciting news that this is promising enough for NASA to look into it but before I get completely erect over this I'll wait for the results from NASA.

 

Don't hold your breath. Remember the "arsenic bacteria" findings by NASA. Once again they've blown it early by making a premature media announcement concerning a less that reputable project.

 

This is what happens when people get desperate for funding. Shameless public opinion pandering.

[jm211]

Rossi claims NASA is copying his work ...

 

http://www.e-catworl...s-to-beat-them/

[D H]

This is what happens when people get desperate for funding. Shameless public opinion pandering.

More likely it's the NASA technical transfer office not knowing that they stepped in a quagmire.

 

Apparently Zawodny's day job is designing remote sensors. Lots of NASA civil servants have on-the-side avocations that they pursue mostly on their own time and mostly with equipment requisitioned on the ultra cheap. NASA encourages this behavior so long as it doesn't interfere with a civil servant's day job because on occasion it pays off, sometimes big time.

 

Even when such work is done completely on their own time, civil servants must still report any innovations as NASA's intellectual property. That's not so different from the IP agreements one has to sign to gain employment with a private company. "Any idea you come up with is ours, even that ultra-zany idea you came up with at 3AM during a bad night's sleep from eating a bad batch of seafood."

Edited January 24, 2012 by D H

[CharonY]

More likely it's the NASA technical transfer office not knowing that they stepped in a quagmire."

 

Quite possible. It is typical for NASA as well as other organizations to make interesting stuff public as fast as possible. I cannot even blame them as they have to justify why they spend tax payer's money for projects that are hard to explain to laymen or policy makers. That is why they pounce on anything sexy such as alternate life.

 

[jm211]

In this case it was the chief scientist Bushnell who put him up to it and is one of the reasons it has gone this far. Bushnell's background is in aerodynamics and fluid mechanics. I saw a website where he advocates blowing up the Yellowstone caldera to prevent global warming. There is a 2010 presentation by Zawodny where he advocates things like zero point energy generators, etc.

 

Here is a link to a NASA site where they appear to be looking for people to develop software for LENR/cold fusion.

 

http://open.nasa.gov...software-model/

[D H]

http://open.nasa.gov...software-model/

That is an idea submitted to NASA from the outside that passed some minimal baloney filter. You too can submit an idea.

[jm211]

I see. I didn't notice that before.

 

I don't know if you noticed but Zawodny filed a patent or should I say NASA did on his behalf. They have some pretty strict rules in place on what gets filed - at least at Langley. It first has to pass a marketing test. They hire an outside firm who contacts various companies to see if there is a commercial interest. Then a committee has to vote on it. Due to the small resources that are devoted to patents only about 5 out of 100 disclosures ever get filed with the US patent office but this one seems to have made it. I suspect Bushnell's support had something to do with it getting through.

 

http://www.freepaten...11/0255645.html

[jm211]

Looks like there is already some reaction to this:

 

http://nasawatch.com...-science-w.html

 

http://nasawatch.com...s-nasa-lan.html