Category: Reviews

LENR Research Documentation Project

A massive compilation of the experiments, notebooks, papers, presentations, and library of Edmund Storms was conducted by Dr. Thomas Grimshaw of the Energy Institute at University of Texas Austin. The intent was to preserve the earliest data sets of ground-breaking research in cold fusion/LENR for future review.

Since 1989, the field of condensed matter nuclear science has generated a host of experimental results without the benefit of mainstream support. Banned from publishing in science journals, many CMNS data sets have not been archived. Now, after three-decades of work, original LENR scientists are getting older, and there is an effort to preserve and archive their work for future review.

Thomas Grimshaw, Director of the LENR Research Documentation Project says, “Ed and I had been working on an initiative to open a new LENR laboratory in Santa Fe. As I was preparing a proposal for the lab and building a case for its support, I observed the depth and breath of Ed’s research materials. At that time funding was not available for the lab, so I approached Ed about doing a project to document his extensive LENR research record.”

“We both came to consider the initiative a “pilot project” for future efforts for other researchers. That’s the way we presented it at ICCF-21 last June. ”

A poster about the LENR Research Documentation Project was presented at ICCF-21 and a paper describing the process will be published in the Proceedings. See the article 29 Years of Cold Fusion Research

“It was a large effort, given the size of Ed’s research record,” says Grimshaw, “so we approached the task in a stepwise manner. First we collected the information, then we organized it using a LENR career timeline, and finally we documented each piece with memos and reports. “

The results became both historical record, and active research material.

” Well it was a revelation to me!” says Edmund Storms, a co-archivist in the project. “Tom made me realize that there may be some nuggets of gold in these mill tailings I’ve left behind.”

For many independent researchers in the CMNS field, the three-decades of work was conducted with little, if any, support. Research assistants and secretaries are still a rarity. Thus career-long experiments are often in scattered forms, some written files, data stored in old program formats – the digital revolution has changed data storage technologies several times over since 1989.

All of that disconnected media becomes intelligible when coalesced, and pictures can become patterns when seen with new eyes.

“It’s always true that when you’re doing research, you’re doing it in the the context of what you know at the time,” says Edmund Storms, “but over a period of time, your understanding changes, and it improves. “

“If you don’t go back and look at what you’ve gotten from nature in the past, and re-evaluate it, that new knowledge is not really being put to good use.”

“So the idea was, based upon what we understand today, go back through, and see if something that I saw in the past and ignored because I didn’t understand it, might be understandable today.”

Cold Fusion Research: Experiments, Explanations, and Related Scientific Contributions Draft Summary by Dr. Thomas Grimshaw Energy Institute The University of Texas at Austin and Dr. Edmund Storms Kiva Labs are listed in .pdfs here (minus primary data sets):

Storms_LRDP_Summary_180502Download
Storms_Stage1_2ndDraft_170418Download
Storms_Stage2_2ndDraft_170603Download
Storms_Stage3_2ndDraft_180218Download

Projects such as these bring old data to the light of new perspective, but they also preserve a historical timeline in a unique field of science that might have easily disappeared before ever getting started, and Edmund Storms’ LENR work is just the first record to be made.

Thomas Grimshaw says, “I realized while working with Ed that he was perhaps the most knowledgeable and creative researcher in the field. It was also easy to see that if Ed left the field, the loss of this large research record would be a major blow not only to the field, but also potentially for humankind, given the importance of realizing the benefits of LENR as a clean, abundant, and cheap energy source.”

“Similar documentation projects are now underway with four other LENR investigators. And a generous grant has been received to support the effort with other researchers in the future.”

Dr. Thomas Grimshaw of LENR Research Documentation Project at ICCF-21. Photo: Ruby Carat

Now, as breakthrough nears, the story of cold fusion will be re-written with the words and record of the scientists who lived it, and projects like this one will provide the authoritative and irrefutable proof of their success.

29 Years of Cold Fusion Research

ICCF-21 Poster 9 180530

Documentation of Dr. Edmund Storms’ 29 Years of CF Research: Lessons Learned for Long-Term LENR Researchers by Thomas Grimshaw University of Texas at Austin and Edmund Storms Kiva Labs
[.pdf]

Excerpt:

Dr. Edmund Storms was one of the first researchers to follow up on the cold fusion claims of Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons in March 1989. He has continued his cold fusion (now widely referred to as low-energy nuclear reactions, LENR) research in the years since, first in his position at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and then in his home laboratory in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His work has included both laboratory experiments and development of explanations of the LENR phenomenon.

During his 29 years of investigations, he has developed one of the most extensive LENR research records in existence. Much of this work is available in the public realm through his publication of papers and presentations at conferences. There is in addition an extensive body of research results that are in his private files. A project, termed the “Storms LENR Research Documentation Project”, has been undertaken to compile the publicly available documents and to capture, organize, store, and document the private records.

Dr. Storms had enjoyed a 35-year career at LANL, primarily in advanced materials research, when LENR was announced. His pre-LENR investigations were mostly in refractory materials, such as the carbides and nitrides, for hightemperature nuclear energy applications (nuclear rocket, nuclear power source for space). This highly relevant foundation enabled him to quickly become established as a premier investigator in the LENR field. He has conducted many types of LENR experiments, utilizing most of the methods for achieving the effect, including the Fleishman-Pons approach (electrolytic cells) and the gas discharge and gas loading methods. He has also designed and constructed many kinds of calorimeters for measuring excess heat.

As a consequence of his many years of LENR research, Dr. Storms has developed a large body of experimental data along with many publications and unpublished reports. The records collected for the Project have been organized into Components based primarily on the source of information: publications, unpublished progress reports, work history (lab notebook entries), electronic files, hard-copy materials, LENR library holdings, interviews of Dr. Storms, and ICCF conferences.

The principal objectives of the LENR Research Documentation Project are to secure and archive the public and private collection of hard-copy and electronic LENR files and to make the materials more accessible for Dr. Storms and others who are interested in the LENR field to conduct more enhanced review for additional insights. The Project scope is from March 1989 through December 2015. It began in August 2015, when Dr. Grimshaw made his first onsite visit. Eleven more trips were made to collect information, interview Dr. Storms, and prepare documents.

An incremental approach was used to collect information because the full scope of the research materials was not known in advance. The first steps were to prepare memos describing each element as it was found. More than 80 memos were prepared. The Project was conducted in three stages. Reports were prepared for each stage. The Stage 1 report documented the information obtained. The Stage 2 objective was to organize the Stage 1 information. The organization was accomplished by developing timelines for each Component. The Stage 3 (Final) report includes appendices with timelines for each Component. Annexes with the publications and progress reports, Dr. Storms’ interviews, and copies of the memos prepared for the Project were also included.

There are a number of opportunities for additional development and analysis of Dr. Storms’ LENR research record. Almost all of the Project Components could be documented in greater detail, and the associated timelines could be further refined, leading to a more complete Integrated Timeline. In particular, the relationship among the Components could be further analyzed and a more complete picture developed for the research and results. Since the cutoff date for the Project is December 31, 2015, the effort could also be extended for 2016 to 2018.

Technical analysis and interpretation could be another fruitful area for further development. Dr. Storms is currently conducting additional review and analysis for new insights or discoveries. A permanent location for the hard-copy and electronic records will be advisable, such as a repository at a qualified and interested university.

Documentation of Dr. Edmund Storms’ 29 Years of CF Research: Lessons Learned for Long-Term LENR Researchers by Thomas Grimshaw University of Texas at Austin and Edmund Storms Kiva Labs
[.pdf]

PULSE Magazine #3 features The Explanation of LENR

PULSE-3-coverThe Global Breakthrough Energy Movement is a collective of artists, activists, and technologists creating events and forums for new energy researchers in order to power a revolution in human living arrangements, and they have published another edition of their flagship magazine.

PULSE presents science and technology in the field of breakthrough energy. The gorgeous PULSE #3 is a sensory banquet of full-page, beautifully-printed art, and has articles on topics such as The Agonizingly Long Wait for Breakthrough of Breakthrough Energy by Fred Teunisson, who laments the lack of progress in commercial development of new energy technology, and ultimately takes a hard look in the mirror for why.

This issue also features an article by Christy Frazier on The Explanation of Low Energy Nuclear Reaction by Dr. Edmund Storms, a book that compares the observational data from cold fusion experiments with the many theories of LENR.

Subscribe to PULSE and support the work of GlobalBEM.

See a free peek inside PULSE #3 online!

OR

help to make forums and conferences for breakthrough energy science and technology researchers to share:

Subscribe to PULSE!

“It just might be that the discovery of vacuum energy as a limitless energy source, is to be synchronized with a spiritual renaissance for all of humanity“
—Moray B. King from PULSE #3

Storms Book Review by Nikita Alexandrov

Book Review of The Explanation of Low Energy Nuclear Reaction by Nikita Alexandrov, President of Permanetix Corporation, was originally published in Infinite Energy Magazine issue #117 September/October 2014 and is reproduced here.

Dr. Edmund Storms, one of the foremost experts in cold fusion/LENR research has recently published a new book titled The Explanation of Low Energy Nuclear Reaction: An Examination of the Relationship Between Observation and Explanation. Dr. Storms worked at Los Alamos labs for 34 years studying energy related chemistry, specifically advanced nuclear projects. This book is currently the most up-to-date compilation of LENR research and contains over 900 references, but is written in such a way that it is organized and conducive to a well rounded understanding. According to the preface by Dr. Mike McKubre of Stanford Research Institute, “There is no better synthesis of knowledge and understanding presently available to us and I know of no other person capable of making an evaluation at this level.” While this could be considered a reference material for experimental results, it differs from Dr. Storms’ previous books in that it introduces his theory of the mechanism behind the LENR effect, an oscillating linear cluster of two or more hydrogen or deuterium atoms called the Hydroton.

The first half of the book contains a wealth of knowledge regarding the experimental results obtained in the field. This includes the physics of the various experimental systems as well as an overview of instrumentation and general trends in the collective data. There are a large amount of pictures and graphs which really help to mentally process some of the complex relationships in the data. This section of the book is critical for anyone interested in LENR because it organizes and condenses the experimental procedures and results in a way which makes the huge amount of seemingly contradictory research much simpler to understand. Dr. Storms takes a first-principles approach and imposes certain limits on the parameters of LENR theory based on what has been observed and basic chemical and physical principles. The experimental techniques used in the field are explained as well as the limitations and some reasons all of the facets of the LENR effect have eluded researchers. An overview of the physics of radiation from various nuclear reactions which may be present is very helpful in explaining the odd experimental results of the field. It is proposed that only a few types of radiation are produced directly from the LENR reaction but secondary radiation is produced from either the interaction of radiation with other matter in the system, traditional nuclear effects such as fractofusion (example: Ti-D experiments) or combination fusion-fission reactions (very unique part of the Hydroton theory). Dr. Storms goes into detail about how he believes various triggering methods initiate or improve the production of the LENR effect.

Dr. Storms’ theory revolves around a linear oscillating cluster of two or more hydrogen or deuterium atoms called a Hydroton. Under certain conditions this structure forms in the nano-cracks of metallic substrates. This differs significantly from the early theories of LENR in that it does not take place in the metallic lattice. Many theories are based on the fact that hydrogen or deuterium loaded into a metallic lattice inherently become pushed very close together, a shortcut towards fusion. These same theories require that the nuclear energy be communicated directly from the nucleus to the electrons (lattice) which is not unheard of but is not a traditional nuclear pathway and requires a complex explanation. Dr. Storms examines the lattice vs. nano-crack argument from a chemical, thermodynamic and transport standpoint, pulling from what we know of nuclear product production in LENR and the physics and chemistry of hydride/deuteride systems. Dr. Storms insists that it is simply not possible to both produce fusion and dissipate the energy inside of a lattice. His model does not rely on energy dissipation via the lattice but through a steady release of bursts of low energy photons as the Hydroton oscillates and fusion occurs. Another significant difference compared to most theories is that it explains the different results obtained using deuterium vs. using hydrogen via two different mechanisms. This is important because many early theories only focused on deuterium fusion ignoring hydrogen all together, but modern experiments show that hydrogen does indeed participate in the LENR effect. Lastly, Dr. Storms explains the various methods of producing transmutation products, either via a fusion-fission reaction of a hydrogen containing Hydroton or by the substrate atoms becoming part of the Hydroton in deuterium containing Hydrotons. The mechanism producing tritium and helium is explained in detail as well, but will not be explained here. Dr. Storms’ theory explains all known aspects of LENR in a very new way, not requiring the limitations of the mechanism taking place directly in the substrate lattice.

This theory is testable in various manners. Dr. Storms makes some suggestions in the book including the confirmation of predicted transmutation products as well as the detection of soft radiation such as low energy photons, betas, alphas and energetic ions. Dr. Storms points out that the reason radiation is not often detected is that the expected types and energies of radiation can simply not be detected outside of the experiment, requiring in-situ soft radiation detectors. So far it seems that experimental results line up with Dr. Storms’ theory but since his theory was built around this data it is important that future experiments be compared to what is expected using his model. Single or multiple deuterium addition to the substrate in deuterium containing Hydrotons, or fusion-fission products in hydrogen containing Hydrotons, would be expected and a good place to examine the theory experimentally.

Overall this is an excellent theory which can make some predictions; it will not allow us a complete mastery of LENR but is a large step in the right direction. Most of Dr. Storms’ theory is based on traditional physics and chemistry but there are certain aspects which are not fully understood, specifically how a Hydroton releases controlled bursts of photons at very low energies before the completion of the fusion process. This is the sticking point of LENR theory—it is not so hard to explain how two atoms fuse, but how they release their huge amount of energy without creating standard hot fusion products and detectable radiation as well as destroying the lattice local where the event took place.

By investigating experimental results and applying his physics and chemistry understanding, Dr. Storms is able to produce some basic equations which explain the power produced by LENR systems and show optimal operating conditions. Like everything else Dr. Storms produces, these equations are created using first principles and basic science; a Ph.D. is not required to wrap your head around this book as well as his theory in general.

Dr. Storms’ book contains a chapter of modern theories of LENR including limitations and possible shortcomings. This inventory of theories is great because it provides an excellent balanced overview of the field from a theoretical standpoint. This combined with the overview of the field from an experimental standpoint makes this the best reference book in the field of LENR. This book is highly recommended for anyone from the student interested in learning about LENR for the first time to highly trained scientists working in the field of LENR. There will be no disappointment in the level of detail and with over 900 references it provides an incredibly organized wealth of information regarding LENR experiments and theory.

The final chapter “Future of LENR” provides a road-map forward, listing the requirements for mastering the LENR effect as well as what needs to be done experimentally to get there. One thing the book does not mention is that Dr. Storms is ready and willing to put his LENR skill-set and understanding to the ultimate test—along with other researchers Dr. Storms has proposed an experimental research program to further the understanding of LENR. Dr. Storms is currently in the process of raising money for this research program and at millions of dollars per year, this could be the Manhattan project of LENR. The only thing standing between mankind and a guaranteed increased understanding of LENR is research funding and public awareness. I urge anyone interested in LENR to inform others about this book and the field in general and those which are financially independent to contact Dr. Storms about his research proposal.

Read the original article published on Infinite Energy.

Related Links

The Explanation of LENR Homepage https://lenrexplained.com/

Nikita Alexandrov Advanced analytic and highly parallel Cold Fusion Experimentation [.pdf] presented at the 2014 CF/LANR Colloquium at MIT.