Science / Medicine : Cold Fusion Fails at Yale

Researchers at Yale University have been unable to produce cold fusion in an experiment conducted with one of the scientists who claimed to have discovered the phenomenon. Yale physicist Moshe Gai said the experiment conducted over 10 days in August at Yale’s Nuclear Structure Laboratory, which has one of the two most sensitive neutron-detectors in the world, failed to produce any bursts of neutrons that would have indicated cold fusion.

“All I can tell you is we have tried to reproduce the cold fusion and failed,” Gai said. Gai said the team, including Brigham Young University physicist Steven E. Jones and scientists from Yale and Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island were continuing to study data to determine if there were any random emissions of neutrons.

Gai said the results of the collaboration were given to a panel of the Department of Energy in time to be considered for a final report scheduled to be issued Nov. 15 on whether to pursue cold fusion.