Wikipedia talk:Requests for mediation/Cold fusion/draft

Cold fusion is a name given to a controversial field of research which investigates the possibility of nuclear reactions at conditions near room temperature and atmospheric pressure.

The first report of such an experiment was published by M. Fleischmann and S. Pons from the University of Utah in 1989. In their publication, Fleischmann and Pons reported the observation of anomalous heating ("excess heat") of an electrolytic cell during electrolysis of heavy water (D2O). Lacking a simple explanation for the source of such anomalous heat, they proposed the hypothesis, without supporting evidence, that the source of the heat is nuclear fusion of deuterium.

Cold fusion gained a reputation as a pathological science after other scientists failed to replicate the results. A review panel organized by the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 1989 did not find the evidence persuasive, and said that such nuclear fusion at room temperature would be contrary to all understanding gained of nuclear reactions in the last half century; it would require the invention of an entirely new nuclear process.

Since then, other reports of anomalous heat and tritium production have been published in peer-reviewed journals, and discussed at scientific conferences. The scientific community, however, has met these reports with skepticism. In 2004 the US DOE organized another review panel. This panel, like the one in 1989, did not recommended a focused federally-funded program. The 2004 panel identified basic research areas that could be helpful in resolving some of the controversies in the field. They stated that the field would benefit from the peer-review processes associated with proposal submission to agencies and paper submission to archival journals.

Excess-heat-by-electrolysis experiments
(Brief overview of general experimental setup, cell types, open cells, closed cells, and calorimetry)

The Fleischmann and Pons open-cell experiment
(showing excess heat)

The ??? closed-cell experiment
(showing no excess heat)

The Faraday-efficiency effect
(showing how excess heat has a simple chemical explanation)