Discussion on Cold Fusion Starts the Day Pretty Early

I have three meetings tomorrow, starting with a book interview about 140 miles from here with my old friend Wally Rippel.  Wally’s been following the controversy on cold fusion pretty much since its inception 20+ years ago, and there is no one whose judgement I trust more to help me navigate this tricky subject.

Of course, whenever I write something like this I get comments to the effect that cold fusion is theoretically impossible, a hoax, a rip-off, etc.  Guess what: I’ve heard that. J

But before you write, please recall that this is what they were saying about heavier-than-air flight a few months before the Wright Brothers made a bit of news in Kitty Hawk.

And even its learned opponents know that there is nothing “theoretically impossible” about cold fusion.  So will it come to fruition as a workable technology on this planet? I’m not sure. But the upside potential is so large and the cost of paying attention to the many hundreds of serious scientists pursuing the matter so small, I really can’t imagine the reason for all the animus on the subject.  

In any case, more on this later.

From Wally’s office, it’s on to a mid-afternoon meeting at the Huntington Library.  I’m often shocked at how frequently people meet their guests at the neighborhood Starbucks, when they could have chosen places that would have been more meaningful.  My advice: enjoy the moment.  Seen enough of conference rooms?  I’m sure I have.  Take your business guest to places that inspire creative conversations. 

Then, it’s on to dinner in Orange County, if I can get across town at that hour, for a talk with an entrepreneur in the electric vehicle space.  He’s an inventor I’ve met before, whose development may make a meaningful contribution to the penetration of  EVs in the next few years. 

If my mother is reading this, I know she’ll be thinking, “I hope he gets a good breakfast in the morning.”  Thanks, Mom.  I promise. I’ll do that.