Against the Current: Unorthodox Energy for an Accelerating World

Crazy Wisdom Show Notes:

Episode Guest: Jonah Messinger, PhD student of physics at Cambridge and writer for The Breakthrough Institute (check out his article here)

Topics Covered:

1. Fusion Developments: Recent developments in the fusion sector. The last 3-4 years have seen significant investment in plasma-based fusion technology from private startups, amounting to around 5 billion dollars. 

2. Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR): An overview of LENR or cold fusion, a sector of nuclear physics that has been castigated for 30 years but is now undergoing a resurgence. Jonah is part of an MIT research team awarded an ARPA-E research grant in this field.

3. Physics Fundamentals: Explanation of plasma-based fusion and how it differs from LENR. Discussion includes protons, neutrons, and electrons, the strong nuclear force, and the relationship between mass and energy. 

4. Controversies around Cold Fusion: Delving into why cold fusion is considered heretical, including its inconsistencies with conventional theories and unexpected reaction pathways. Jonah outlines why despite its challenges, it still holds potential. 

5. In-depth Look at Cold Fusion Experiments: Discussion on various cold fusion experiments, highlighting experiments with unambiguous results. Jonah recalls his entrance into the field after reading a Nature article in February 2022 and how it influenced his research. 

6. Radiation and Cold Fusion: Conversation about nuclear energy outputs with chemical inputs, the theoretical framework of LENR, and how one can potentially engineer nuclear pathways. A discussion on radiation types and the relative low radiation of cold fusion also unfolds.

7. Quantum Coherence and Fusion: Exploration of the role of quantum coherence in LENR, with reference to a quote challenging traditional assumptions about nuclear interactions. 

8. Commercialization and Future of LENR: Discussing the potential future of LENR commercialization, using the transistor's history as an analogy. Jonah emphasizes the importance of more people and resources coming into the field for LENR's progress. 

Additional References:

• Jonah Messinger's article on The Breakthrough Institute: https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/fusion-runs-hot-and-cold
• Jonah Messinger's Twitter:

People Mentioned:

• Fleischman and Ponns, prominent researchers in the field of cold fusion.