Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated cold fusion (w/ Video)

I am sure thishas been posted, however my searches only showed an article from Novemeber 2010, so as always Mods please remove / file if already posted.

Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated cold fusion (w/ Video)

Despite the intense skepticism, a small community of scientists is still investigating near-room-temperature fusion reactions. The latest news occurred last week, when Italian scientists Andrea Rossi and Sergio Focardi of the University of Bologna announced that they developed a cold fusion device capable of producing 12,400 W of heat power with an input of just 400 W. Last Friday, the scientists held a private invitation press conference in Bologna, attended by about 50 people, where they demonstrated what they claim is a nickel-hydrogen fusion reactor. Further, the scientists say that the reactor is well beyond the research phase; they plan to start shipping commercial devices within the next three months and start mass production by the end of 2011.

The claim

Rossi and Focardi say that, when the atomic nuclei of nickel and hydrogen are fused in their reactor, the reaction produces copper and a large amount of energy. The reactor uses less than 1 gram of hydrogen and starts with about 1,000 W of electricity, which is reduced to 400 W after a few minutes. Every minute, the reaction can convert 292 grams of 20°C water into dry steam at about 101°C. Since raising the temperature of water by 80°C and converting it to steam requires about 12,400 W of power, the experiment provides a power gain of 12,400/400 = 31. As for costs, the scientists estimate that electricity can be generated at a cost of less than 1 cent/kWh, which is significantly less than coal or natural gas plants.

“The magnitude of this result suggests that there is a viable energy technology that uses commonly available materials, that does not produce carbon dioxide, and that does not produce radioactive waste and will be economical to build,” according to this description of the demonstration.

Rossi and Focardi explain that the reaction produces radiation, providing evidence that the reaction is indeed a nuclear reaction and does not work by some other method. They note that no radiation escapes due to lead shielding, and no radioactivity is left in the cell after it is turned off, so there is no nuclear waste.

Hopefully this is not another chase of an untamed ornathoid.... This article was posted Jan 24th, so if its been posted already this might contain updated information. The procedure used looks promising, and the fact its open to scrutiny is also encouraging, since if they were selling snake oil they would want to keep it to themselves.

A previous paper they submitted was rejected by peers, but apparently they are not letting that stop them.

/crosses fingers.

Already posted. Unfortunately the chances of this being/becoming real is slim. For one, Rossi was supposedly a scammer at one point. Also, I've heard nothing of this story apart the article; I fear it;ll just die out really fast and never be heard of again...like usual.

Originally posted by Raelsatu
Already posted. Unfortunately the chances of this being/becoming real is slim. For one, Rossi was supposedly a scammer at one point. Also, I've heard nothing of this story apart the article; I fear it;ll just die out really fast and never be heard of again...like usual.

Yeah Its been one of those all around posting fail days for me. I hate the wsearch feature on this site. I wish there was a way to require the topic of the article, and have the system check any later posts to the headline, and if they match, let the person know.

I know its supposedly been discovered once before by 2 US Navy scientists if I remeber right. They stumbeled into it, but could not replicate it.

MODS - Please lock and move.