__ Rants & Raves __
__ Brand-New Heretics __
When cold fusion becomes a reality and changes every aspect of our lives ("What If Cold Fusion Is Real?" Wired 6.11, page 170), I hope that Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons finally receive the vindication they deserve. Unfortunately, they probably will not see that day, since the technology is still buried under a quagmire of self-righteous disbelief and petty infighting. I cannot begin to imagine their dismay at being branded heretics for their discovery - much like Newton, Darwin, and others were condemned when they challenged the scientific community.
__ Greg Clapp
greg@sitewerks.com __
__ Catalytic Converter __
"What If Cold Fusion Is Real?" was perceptive, well written, fair, and timely. I offer a few technical insights, for those wishing to look deeper into the matter.
My contribution to the field was to find a small class of commercially available palladium catalysts, which, reliably and reproducibly, yield heat and helium from deuterium. The effect, while not large, allows scale-up to potentially useful devices. Indeed, I am very close to obtaining self-sustaining heating of over 100 watts in my current scale-up. And that promises to lead in turn to immediate small-scale commercial applications.
I disfavor the term "cold fusion." My process seems clearly catalytic (as envisioned some years ago by Edward Teller). I operate at about 200 degrees Celsius - moderate, but not cold. And there is not a clear, single phenomenon encompassed by that term. Numerous other investigators have reported tritium production, which I did not find. They must have operated under at least a variant, or possibly entirely different, régime.
Catalytic fusion - it will fundamentally change the world in much less than 50 years!
__ Les Case
lescase@yahoo.com __
__ Balance of Power __
I read Charles Platt's "What If Cold Fusion Is Real?" with great interest. I've always believed that something happened in that lab with Pons and Fleischmann - it just wasn't reproducible. That's no reason to give up.
There was one serious flaw with the article, though. Why didn't Platt interview the most prominent physicists at MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, or Caltech? I want to hear them say, "Yes, it may be feasible," or, "No, it's impossible." I want to hear them refute, on the record, the work being done by the likes of Les Case. I want to hear them defend their blackballing of the cold fusionists.
__ David Marlin
dmarlin@ix.netcom.com __
__ I Want to Believe __
Please keep running articles like "What If Cold Fusion Is Real?" and make Wired a weekly magazine. I won't need to watch The X-Files anymore.
__ Marcus Andree da Silva Magalhaes
andree@nics.unicamp.br __
__ Sterling Vision __
One word for Bruce Sterling ("Hardware for Hard Time," Wired 6.11, page 136): outstanding!
I have been a correction officer for 18 years now in a facility for 154 (currently holding 250), and the story really hit home. Real life in print. I cut out the article, faxed it to work, and had quite a conference call with my staff. Whew!
My family read it and was amazed. I normally don't talk much about jail except to tell some of the funnier incidents, so it really opened their eyes - and brought a bit of concern to their faces.
Bruce Sterling is a visionary. My staff and I applaud him for his article.
__ Bill Laik
putercop@yahoo.com __
__ Savage Conversion __
Juxtaposed with Amnesty International's ad for its campaign against torture, injustice, and oppression is Bruce Sterling's "Hardware for Hard Time," an article about the entrepreneurial potential of the hardware of torture, injustice, and oppression. High tech protectors of law and order arrayed against tribal savages - this is the myth behind America's exploding carceral complex and the proliferation of techno toys that our shock troops "need" for amusement during service. How ironic: US prisons are now the object of Amnesty's wrath.
__ Kevin McHale
Seagoville, Texas __
__ You Do the Math __
As an avid reader, I was offended by your choices in "The Wired 25" (Wired 6.11, page 109). While I am sure Wired worked hard to find strong dreamers, inventors, mavericks, and leaders related to technology, your choices resulted in nearly as many women (3, or 12 percent) as robots (1, or 4 percent).
While I know the work of Alan Lomax and find it interesting, one person who has had dramatically more impact and vision is Nora Sabelli of the National Science Foundation, who funded Alan's original work (and the work of many other innovators in technology). Other women leaders in technology include Yasmin Kafai, formerly of MIT, now at UCLA, and Marcia Linn of UC Berkeley.
__ Nancy Butler Songer
songer@umich.edu __
__ Macho Mac __
I predict roughly 99 percent of your subscribers will want one of the Electrotex see-through televisions mentioned in "Hardware for Hard Time." A see-through PC monitor would be even cooler! (Much more macho than the cuddly iMac.)
__ Fran Fruit
fran_fruit@3com.com __
__ Cell Phonephiles __
I understand that "The Wired World Atlas" (Wired 6.11, page 162) is more focused on trends than on exact evaluation of every situation. But I think that the tiny orange rectangle measuring cell phones in Italy is a sort of oversight, as a full yellow mark would have been well deserved.
Despite expensive rates, Italians are intensive talkers. Cell phones are a sort of social presence - they are given to teenagers so mama can control where are you going tonight, and used for the infamous butta la pasta call (darling, begin to prepare spaghetti, I'm arriving). I have noticed that it is no longer possible to attend a concert or stage play without a cell phone interruption. During a concert in Milan, the Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer even improvised a cadenza imitating a cell phone ringing in the audience.
__ Luca Logi
llogi@dada.net __
__ Wrestling With Temptation __
I'll never understand this widespread assumption - trotted out again in Nicholas Negroponte's "Pricing the Future" (Wired 6.11, page 248) - that access to the Internet equals better education (or any at all). I've taught years of middle school, and all my students ever got out of personal Internet access - with very few exceptions - was pornography, someone else's term paper, and a teen chat room full of 50-year-old men posing as "Sally." Sure, exposure to deviant adult behavior is broadening, but quality education?
Television has always afforded kids unbridled access to PBS, and instead they watch professional wrestling. But once we've guaranteed kids flat-rate access to the Web, they're suddenly going to rush out and surf the Library of Congress site? Am I missing something?
__ Curt Cloninger
broken@acan.net __
__ Tube Tied __
Yet another inventor predicting the end of tube amps ("Reliving the Past," Wired 6.11, page 102). Even if you could perfectly emulate the warmth and tonal beauty of tubes with some digital device, there would still be enough people out there suspicious of this technology and wanting to stick with conventional tube amps to at least keep a cottage industry alive. Tube amps will never be dead. Fer cryin' out loud, you can still buy vinyl records!
__ Pete Dickerson
pete_d@ix.netcom.com __
__ AOL in the Family __
Netscape has its work cut out for it if it wants to emerge as a leading Web portal ("Mike Homer's Guide to Professional Success," Wired 6.11, page 158). The problem for Netscape in the advertising and media-driven portal wars is that it has never thought like, acted like, or sounded like a media company. I still wonder if Netscape gets it.
__ Robert Kadar
rgk@mail.com __
__ Undo __
Confusion: The seven sisters mentioned by Martin Fleischmann in "What If Cold Fusion Is Real?" (Wired 6.11, page 178) are the world's top oil companies. ... Boxer Rebellion: BoxerJam can be found at www.boxerjam.com ("Gal Gamer," Wired 6.11, page 88). ... You Will Be Affiliated: ImagicTV ("Your TV Is Calling," Wired 6.11, page 82) is affiliated with New Brunswick Telephone. ... Incompatible: The three coms in 3Com are computer, communication, and compatibility ("Geekspeak for the Masses," Wired 6.11, page 193). ... Safety Net: Free climbing ("The Wired 25," Wired 6.11, page 122) involves safety gear but none to pull oneself up.
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