Re: flying saucer

> > On March 23, 1989, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announced their
> discovery of "cold fusion." This would imply that nuclear reactions can
> occur without high temperatures, that is, low-energy nuclear transformations
> can - and do - exist. It occurred to me at that time that if nature needed a
> sun to create nuclear transformations then who are we to consider the
> feasibility of cold fusion. Fallen man cannot improve the design that exists
> in nature and thus reverse the consequences of his fall.

Technical comment: The existence of cold fusion is an established fact. The problem as far as practical applications go is that all proven examples of cold fusion require greater energy input than their yield.

Another difficulty with the claim that we cannot improve on the design that exists in nature is that we rarely have the same goal as the natural analogs that inspire engineering. For example, we can make bigger, stronger dams than beavers can. However, we're trying to create reservoirs whereas the beaver wants a pond and has only sticks and mud to work with.

    Dr. David Campbell
    Old Seashells
    University of Alabama
    Biodiversity & Systematics
    Dept. Biological Sciences
    Box 870345
    Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
    bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com

That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
Received on Fri Sep 17 18:10:54 2004