Since April 1989, when Pons and Fleischmann first discovered the amazing effect known as "cold fusion" or "low energy nuclear reaction" (LENR), the world could only speculate on what that discovery might really mean. Is it a new source of cheap energy, or a hoax? Does it offer information about the very structure of matter, or should we continue slamming particles together in expensive high-energy accelerators? Are nuclear reactions ultimately electro-magnetic, or must we invoke other mysterious forces? Long-time cold fusion researcher Dr. Edmund Storms, retired from Los Alamos Labs, was involved from the beginning, through the frantic attempts to reproduce the effect following the announcement, through the despondency after the effect was officially pronounced contemptible, and through the two decades of quietly continued research.
A Ph.D. in radiochemistry and author of over seventy reviewed publications, monographs and books, Dr. Storms conducted basic research at Los Alamos in high temperature chemistry as applied to materials used in nuclear power and propulsion reactors. His background placed him in a ideal position to study the "cold fusion" effect, so that he quickly became an acknowledged authority. Even in retirement, Storms continues to investigate "cold fusion" in his own Sante Fe laboratory, and is now ready to share the findings of his twenty-plus-year study with the NPA.
The NPA is honored to name Dr. Storms' paper, "What is Cold Fusion and Why Should You Care?", for this year's John Chappell Memorial lecture, deemed the most significant to the advancement of science. Though the cold fusion effect has been reproduced hundreds of times since 1989, with increasing predictability and reliability, the search for a satisfying theory to explain the behavior remains elusive, and a great challenge for NPA members. In his paper and corresponding lecture, Dr. Storms will share his views on what's really going on, and what the best theories must explain. More significantly, Storms will share the far-reaching implications of "cold fusion", and its potential to completely alter the fundamentals of physics, as well as offer an incredible array of possible technologies.
