In June 2012, I went to interview Dr. Melvin Miles on his career investigating cold fusion electrolytic cells as both a Professor and a Navy researcher, now retired.
I didn’t know I’d get two interviews that day.
We met in the office of Dr. Iraj Parchamazad, Chairman of the Chemistry Department at the University of LaVerne, in LaVerne, California, who is also studying low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR) using an unusual environment on the nano-scale: zeolites.
I was prepared for Dr. Miles‘ interview, and made two movies about him; one, discussing the early years of cold fusion and Why Cold Fusion Was Rejected and two, Dr. Miles talking about how his cell is put together and showing his calorimeter that measures highly-accurate temperature changes in How to Make a Calorimeter, both of which you can view here.
But, I wasn’t prepared for the discussion on how zeolite crystals host tiny particles of palladium in their unusual geometry, and make anomalous heat when exposed to deuterium gas.
Well, after over five hours of discussion, I knew a whole lot more about this new style of room-temperature, gas-loaded, zero input energy heat production from an expert in that particular application.
In this video, you too can see how LENR research is conducted in one U.S. university lab, complete with all the financial struggles that have characterized the study of new energy for two decades, and learn how scientists are finding new ways to generate useful heat energy that reveals yet another path to ultra-clean, energy-dense, and abundant power for the world.
His grandfather was a farmer who immigrated to America claiming to be a coal miner, but grandpa knew nothing about coal. He did know that the growing nation needed miners to extract the newly discovered cache of carbonaceous fuel, so he did what he had to, and settled in Pennsylvania coal country. His grandson Frank Znidarsic still lives there, working in the Pennsylvania energy industry, a third-generation coal miner whose own father left this world with a bad case of black lung.
When Znidarsic writes about coal mining, and the environmental damage it causes, he does so authoritatively. Now an engineer and author, Znidarsic was the first in his family to go to college, but he labored deep underground in the mines before landing a series of jobs above-ground in the power plants that burn fossil-fuels. The second edition of his book Elementary Anti-Gravity II is almost mistitled, for the first half of the book is a condensed survey of the major sources of energy in use today from the perspective of a miner and engineer who has worked directly in the field.
The world’s current power source is met just about wholly by burning fossil-fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil. Describing each of these fuels by its method of extraction and the processing needed for commercialization, he also shows how these techniques are leaving an ecological disaster for generations to come, though he seems willing to lose the battle in order to win the war. In weighing the consequences of extracting natural gas with the ecological damage it causes, Znidarsic supports the use of natural gas over coal.
Frank Znidarsic monitors smokestack emissions in 2011.If you are interested in what kinds of pollution are emitted by coal-fired power plants, and the complex solutions attempting to make the emissions cleaner, this book gives a concise summary of the current methods applied to this problem. He describes how costly clean coal technologies are not quite the bargain they are advertised as.
Not limited to fossil-fuels, Znidarsic also describes a brief history of nuclear accidents, including the Fukushima-Daichi Reactor #4 explosion. Referencing M. King Hubbert‘s landmark June 1956 thesis of Peak Oil in which he predicted that nuclear power would provide Earth with a technological future, Znidarsic states that cold fusion will supplant any near-future hot-fusion technology, quoting as support Jed Rothwell‘s observation that “the introduction of a new technology often follows major advances within an existing technology”.
Frank Znidarsic and Yuri Potapov at Los AlamosMarshall McLuhan describes this as technological reversal, when one technology “flips” into another through speed-up, the way a series of photographs, brought together in rapid succession form a movie.
William Draper Harkins gives personification to this idea. Born in Titusville, Pennsylvania where the American Oil Age began, he suggested that we might get our energy by the fusion of four hydrogen atoms to make a helium atom, using Albert Einstein‘s mass-to-energy equivalence.
The second half of Elementary Anti-Gravity II is a modern science lesson, including the associated math to derive the quantum condition for cold fusion to occur. Students of physics will enjoy his algebraic derivations and the unique perspective on quantum mechanics and relativity, as well as the answer to how anti-gravity fits in.
Frank Znidarsic graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1975. He is currently a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Pennsylvania. In the 1980’s, he went on to obtain an A.S in Business Administration at St. Francis College. He studied physics at the University of Indiana in the 1990’s. Frank has been employed as an Engineer in the steel, mining, and utility industries. Frank has been investigating new sources of energy for twenty years. His papers have been published in numerous places including Infinite Energy Magazine and the Journal of New Energy. His work was documented in a series of videos by Seattle4Truth which you can view here.
Q&A with Frank Znidarsic
CFN You have been working in the fossil-fuel industry for years. What is your current position and what kinds of things do you do in your job today?
FZ Today I am retired, however, I am looking for commissioning contracts at power plants.
CFN Can you describe how energy returns from fossil fuels have decreased over the last century?
FZ Yes, the returns on energy were larger when the environmental costs were not considered. We use so much energy today that the environmental costs are paramount. We cannot go back to the old way of doing things, and clean energy is expensive.
CFN Talk a little about the environmental damages caused by mining practices. Is it possible to clean up the damage, and restore habitat to wildlife?
FZ Yes, strip mines can be reclaimed and water can be treated. However, I don’t believe that it is possible to restore lost streams and wells, or to stop the flow of acid water from abandoned mines. And no one really knows what all of the carbon that was released into the atmosphere will eventually do.
CFNFracking pollutes water tables to the degree that some water supplies are combustible, and can be lit on fire right out of the tap. Wildlife has died as a result of poisonous chemicals that the industry has been allowed to keep secret. Yet it’s true that natural gas burns cleaner than coal or oil. Do you really think the benefits of natural gas outweigh the damages?
FZ Yes. Gas produces half the amount of carbon dioxide per kilowatt and the majority of the deep gas wells have caused no problems at all. I am hoping that the new wells remain in production for a long time.
CFN You’ve stated that carbon-capturing systems for coal-fired power plants can use as much as 25% of the power generated by that coal. What do you see is the future of clean coal?
FZ The price of natural gas has been unstable. Unstable prices upset the investment markets. The price of coal has been stable. On this basis, the use of coal must be continued. I don’t know if our economy can sustain the costs associated with carbon capture. I am not sure that the Earth can sustain its environment without it.
CFN Can you describe your idea of cold fusion in layman’s terms? How does this relate to anti-gravity?
FZ Yes, just as soft iron increases the strength of the electromagnetic field, the active areas in a cold fusion cell appear to increase the magnetic component of the strong nuclear force. This force is known as the nuclear spin orbit force. This increased spin orbit component tends to flip nucleons and induce Beta decays. Remarkably the same condition seems to increase the intensity of the gravitomagnetic field. I have found that this condition is fundamental to the quantum jump. I am anxiously awaiting comments on my Amazon book page.
CFN How sure are you that cold fusion will be able to provide power to the planet for a technological human future? What time-frame are we looking at, years or decades?
FZ It hard to say when could fusion technology may emerge. I have been waiting since 1989. In comparison, the production of deep natural gas arrived quickly and surprised many in the energy industry.
As with any revolutionary technology, the result rides on the shoulders of the prior work of others. The technology has now reached a point were experiment, theory, and finance are coming together. I am hoping that Dr. George Miley or Andrea Rossi will surprise us soon with commercial units. I expect commercial cold fusion products within five years.
CFN Thank-you!
FZ My pleasure.
Related Links
Youth keeping the new energy movement alive with constant creations investigating non-conventional science by Ruby Carat October 29, 2010
The graph of the Oil Age shows a thin blip in geological time with an Era of Cold Fusion for the future – and a “little” space between them. The Oil Age is a blip. Cold fusion can take humanity beyond what can be foreseen.
The transition from dirty fossil fuels and today’s dangerous nuclear power plants into clean cold fusion will entail the dismantling of an entire infrastructure core to the economy and culture of the world, and particularly for the Western nations.
The scale and reach are staggering.
What would a transition narrative look like? Edmund Storms, LENR researcher and author of The Science of Low Energy Nuclear Reaction has thought about these issues for two decades, and has some compelling scenarios.
We spoke with Dr. Storms this past August and this is what he had to say on “Transition”.
Our Top Five reasons to support cold fusion technology are listed as:
1. Cold fusion energy technology is ultra-clean.
2. The fuel is abundant.
3. The reaction has a high energy density.
4. New energy technology accompanies new economic paradigm.
5. Cold fusion technology empowers local communities.
Learning about these effects of cold fusion/LENR/LANR/CANR/”nickel-hydrogen exothermic reactions” technology, and describing each effect above with a short sentence and an example, is a good way to start talking about this technology with your friends and local officials.
As the economic and ecological state of our world deteriorates, we the people need to find the words that describe a path forward, words that we are not used to saying, or thinking.
If we are to discover our power as human beings, and flip this civilization into a positive, harmonic component of Earth’s biosphere, a new vocabulary for our life, and a way to communicate that vocabulary, is critical.
It is in this spirit that we continue forward, groping for a framework, a model, that can allow all humanity a chance to live in peace and harmony with all life on Earth, and beyond.
Ruby Carat wrote and recorded the audio back in June, before her cross-country tour to South Florida. Eli Eliott put images to that audio.
Douglas R. McAllister is the Mayor Pro-tem of Murrieta, California, but he’s also the author of a novel with cold fusion technology at the center of the plot.
“In a world desperately in need of new energy sources, this fascinating scientific thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat. In 1989, two scientists announce they have created a cold fusion reaction. The public is thrilled at the prospect of a better option than oil. Mysteriously, the success could not be duplicated. A disappointed world deemed the project a failure. But was it?”
We may know the answer to that question, but we contacted the author to find out more about this elected official who’s explored a vision of the future where cold fusion is a reality.
The Sovereign Principles by Douglas R.McAllisterQ&A with Douglas R.McAllister
CFN What prompted you to start writing this novel?
DM I have always loved to write. Twenty years ago I decided to ‘just do it’ if only for the fun of it. Though I published 20 years later, it took only approximately a couple of years of actual working on the manuscript.
CFN Without giving it all away, can you tell us a little about the story? How does cold fusion fit in?
DM If there was a sub-title, it would be “The Consequence of Compromise.” The book is centered on domestic terrorism. In this case, a billionaire with a score to settle with America infiltrates a top secret effort to create a commercially viable form of cold fusion. Once he has control, he intends to use that technology as leverage to have his way with the world in general, and America in particular. The sub plots center around the complicated Dr. James Sovereign, his personal and professional life…not to mention hints of a life very few know about…and the mistake the billionaire makes when he attacks Sovereign’s family. Jim has learned first hand the consequence of compromise and has two children that hate him for it. In the end, it is that relationship that is the billionaire’s undoing…
CFN How did your idea of the story develop?
DM I like to start with real historical events and then ‘fill in the blanks,’ fictionalizing them under the category of ‘what if.’ In this case, it was all the hooplah over the claim in Utah in 1989 that a room temperature reaction of fusion had been achieved. It was reported to be false…but what if it really wasn’t….? From there I pulled upon areas of personal interest and created the plot that would highlight how the world would be changed with such an energy source…and why that was important. It was important to me to keep it authentic without getting so far down into the weeds to muddy the pace of the story. For this work, the plot seemed to develop as I wrote. It has multiple story lines that seem unrelated but all prove to be interrelated…so pay attention :0).
CFN Who did you write this book for? Who is your audience?
DM Originally I wrote it for me. I have always enjoyed writing and about 20 years ago I found myself in Australia with some time on my hands after a very nasty divorce. I guess you could say the project started out as therapy, but in the process it developed into a work of its own completely divorced (pardon the pun) from its original inspiration. Over the years it has taken on various iterations. It wasn’t until about two years ago, though, that I decided to see if I could get a publisher.
CFN What does the title of the book mean to you?
DM It is a bit of a play on words. The main character’s name is Jim Sovereign. The principles are those that his father, Richard Sovereign, taught him before he died. However, the principles themselves, in real life, are fairly ‘sovereign’ in that they apply pretty much universally.
CFN What is the significance of the gold sovereign on the front of the book?
DM The Gold Sovereign on the cover is meant to represent several things. The most obvious is the name of the main character. However, the ‘value’ of the coin speaks to the financial impact Cold Fusion could have on the world. It sits in a sea of oil representing the ‘context’ out of which successful Cold Fusion technology would proceed to change the world. Using the coin to represent both the financial side and the main character is indicative of how the two issues cross paths in the process of the story.
CFN It was reported that you are currently writing a sequel. How is that progressing?
DM Yes, I am. It is called The Sovereign Politic. It is a sequel, picking up where Principles lets off. Principles was set primarily in Australia, but Politic will be set in the States, specifically Murrieta, CA. The sub-title is “All Politics is Local.” In this work I will wrap around the main plot authentic discussions of issues that government on ‘the Hill’ deal with theoretically that we on the local level deal with in real time. The primary plot will center around North Korea and a terrorist attack. I have the story mapped out in detail and while I am still doing research, I have started writing. This one is going to be a lot of fun, but I hope will also be important.
CFN Do you actively talk with people about cold fusion? How do people react when you talk to them about cold fusion?
DM Yes, I do…for the most part they don’t know the difference between fusion and fission. I try to educate and hope that my book will be an entertaining enough read that it will once again get folks focused in the direction of cold fusion for the future.
CFN What are some of the biggest impacts that you see coming from this technology?
DM Other than change the world as we know it, including the balance of economic power…you’ll need to read my book… :0)
CFN Are you aware of the new upcoming documentary The Believers? Do you feel that the public is becoming more aware of this despite the mainstream media’s lack of coverage?
DM No, I’m not, but now that I know about it, I look forward to it. I am investigating a plot line that would continue the discussion of cold fusion in the sequel, so any information I can find would be helpful.
CFN What is your opinion of the investment made in this technology so far? What are your thoughts on the recent developments involving the first commercial device invented by Andrea A. Rossi?
DM Any investment is money well spent, given the potential and positive impacts of success. I am not aware of this device, but I will ‘study up’ as per my answer to the previous question. I will definitely look into the recent developments as that will play into the next installment.
CFN How does being an author and an elected official for a city like Murrieta combine together in your life? When do you find time to write?
DM The combination makes for a very interesting calendar. I actually have two very compatible but separate full time jobs on top of my writing: Elected official and an executive with a multi-national telecommunications company. Finding the time to write is a challenge. Early mornings. Late at night. On planes… wherever and whenever I can find a chunk of time long enough to get into the mode. Working on the second installment, The Sovereign Politic that picks up where Principles leaves off, may take a while, but I am confident it will be a very satisfying sequel. I know I’m having a blast writing it! And as for the elected office and writing, for this second book I am able to do research 24/7 as I go about my day. And believe me, I see the best and the worst of politics. So there are intriguing plot lines to be explored…
I think one of the most enjoyable parts of creating new worlds and vision through writing is the research. I learn so much in the process of my efforts to make sure the story is authentic. To that end, I am looking forward to taking advantage of the resources I’ve discovered from your site to further expand on the future of Cold Fusion in a way that will get the attention of the reader. Perhaps through your work and my books we can get Cold Fusion back on the front page again…
CFN As Mayor Pro-tem, do you think Murrieta, California will be one of the first cities in the US to purchase a cold fusion device?
