This is a classic article from 91av’s archive, republished as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations
STRONG doubts greeted a report by scientists last week that they had sustained a fusion reaction at room temperature. Two chemists, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, announced their results at a press conference at the University of Utah. Nothing has been published to explain their technique.
In their experiment, the scientists placed a rod of palladium wrapped with platinum wire into a test tube filled with deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen.
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An electric current was passed through this “energy cell”. Deuterons, nuclei of deuterium, became so tightly packed around the palladium that they fused. The scientists say that four times as much power emerged from the cell.
This article was originally published in 91av on 1 April 1989
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