Talk-Polywell.org

_________________
"Courage is not just a virtue, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis

Well it should not be published as it stands. It breaks the first rule of academic work, it makes claims which are neither referenced nor substantiated by the experimental description. In fact there is so little experimental description you cannot deduce anything from the writeup here. And there are no references, which is highly unusual and normally the sign of poor work. But maybe there is a better writeup elsewhere.

I think probably the opposite. This looks to me more like a pre-publication presentation.

_________________
"Courage is not just a virtue, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis

I did a bit of digging around, and this appears to be a presentation for an upcoming conference: NETS 2012 (Nuclear and Emerging Technology for Space).

Conference website: http://anstd.ans.org/NETS2012/NETS2012Home.html
On the expected format for papers: "The papers for NETS 2012 are essentially extended abstracts", no more than 2 pages long.

Note that one of the presentation's authors is Dr. George H. Miley, who seems to have a fairly deep background in nuclear research...

It has a Lunar Planetary Society address so could be from their recent schedule.

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/

In any case, I agree with Tom, this is nothing like a peer reviewed presentation and I'm surprised at the lack of references from Miley. Miley is pretty legendary for his very reputable work at Urbana for many years--I'd say on par with Bussard. I'd expect a more substantive publication sometime soon.

_________________
"Courage is not just a virtue, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis

I just happened to see this the other day - Dr Miley is presenting at a conference - here is where I saw the info originally
http://www.e-catworld.com/2012/03/dr-george-miley-to-present-on-lenr-at-march-23-conference-will-awareness-of-new-energy-source-spread/
““A Game-Changing Power Source Based on Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENRs)” on March 23 at the Emerging Technologies for Space conference in The Woodlands, Texas.

Apparently the two conferences are held "in conjunction with each other" at two places across TX and just a few days apart?

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/events ... odlands-tx

In any case, responses to Miley have been pretty critical all based on the lack of information in the presentation. One defender posted a decent biography copied here:

"LOL! Miley is not “lessor known” in the scientific community. Who is he?

Professor Miley is internationally recognized for his innovative work on advanced fuel ICF target physics, and for contributions to innovative plasma devices, including the first direct electron-beam-pumped laser, and first visible nuclear-pumped laser, a flowing plasma focus, and the STAR mode IEC as a fusion neutron source for NAA. He and his students performed one of the first series of target compression experiments at the U of Rochester Laser Laboratory. Professor Miley has also made important research contributions to the field of nuclear engineering, ranging from fission reactor kinetics to direct radiation energy conversion and fusion technology. As a result of his seminal book, “ Fusion Energy Conversion” (1976), he is known as the “father” of advanced fuel fusion. His pioneering work on Nuclear Pumped Lasers opened up that field in the 1980s and gained international recognition.

Professor Miley is one of the most prolific researchers in the University of Illinois College of Engineering. Among his published works have been six books, over 230 articles in journals, and another 550 articles in conference proceedings. As a Director of NPRE’s Fusion Studies Laboratory, Professor Miley’s interests have ranged from fusion science and technology to direct radiation energy conversion. He is considered a pioneer in nuclear-pumped laser research and is widely recognized for innovative research in fusion. Professor Miley holds 19 patents.
Professor Miley is the author of over 190-refereed technical papers and is the editor or co-editor of a dozen books and proceedings. He is a Guggenheim Fellow, Fellow of four professional societies (ANS, IEEE, AAIA and APS), and holds the prestigious Preparata and Edward Teller Medals."

_________________
"Courage is not just a virtue, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis

Here's what one of his detractors wrote:

"Strange paper, did you read it?

The first thing that strikes me is that 50% of the paper is about the possible application in case the thing works.
Of the half describing his experiment, there is 50% about the setup and only a few lines are dedicated to the result: a very modest temperature buildup of 20C to 60C to 140C.

Lets focus on what is NOT in this paper:

Miley claims to use Deuterium but H2 also works. So why use deuterium at all? It’s not like it’s easier to come by. Also he measures heat output and claims that it is more than can be explained by chemistry. Really? He is using pressured gas which also causes temperature changes. The measured energy is modest at best, leaving much margin for error.

The whole paper is about a bit (1439J is not a lot – it’s 24 seconds of a standard lightbulb) of heat he claims he cannot explain.
And he even admits that one of his thermocouples is not fixed right. Pretty sloppy, since the measurement of temperature is really the ONLY thing he has to report.

What is missing:

- No measurement of radioactivity (gamma, neutrons) would irrifutably prove nuclear reactions. He’s in a lab. He can get deuterium and nano-particles. So, why no geiger counter?

- No mention of output materials – transmutation of elements would be irrifutable proof of nuclear reactions.

- No attempt of an explanation of a reaction mechanism.

Miley has no idea what’s going on, nor does he even try to find an explanation.
Instead, he can’t wait to jump to a possible use of his new technology: A replacement of the RadioThermic Generator.
There is even a room for a drawing of an RTG, but no scematic of his experiment.

Without proof of nuclear reactions, radioactivity, transmutation, this really is no more than an anomalous heat claim – and not a very big one."

_________________
"Courage is not just a virtue, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis

Miley is marketing for funding. Remember, he is old, and he just retired from the University.

_________________
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

Any news (or even better, witnesses) concerning the Miley presentation scheduled for the 23rd? The net is devoid of information.

P. March (Paul March?) was scheduled to present directly afterward and so was likely a party to the session.

Not a witness, but I can't seem to find any news about the NETS 2012 meeting post-conference apart from a couple of videos here and here. (I looked briefly through both clips but didn't recognize Dr. Miley in either of them.) It's a pity, because I thought this paper looked interesting.

_________________
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.” —attr. to Andy Finkel, among others

An interview of Dr. Miley can be found here. Of note: he is forming a company called LENUCO to commercialize his LENR technology.

_________________
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.” —attr. to Andy Finkel, among others