
Scientists revisit the cold case of cold fusion - dnetesn
https://phys.org/news/2019-05-scientists-revisit-cold-case-fusion.html
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sctb
Most comments moved to
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20027943](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20027943).

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modzu
in all seriousness, this just seems to be grad students having fun...

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modzu
note the "unknown probability of success". why can't the probability be
calculated? because based on known assumptions, it's 0. that means for the
probability to be above 0, some of our assumptions have to be wrong (ie new
physics). is it possible? are genies real? could be. we'd have to rub all the
lamps to check. despite the fact that genies have not been "disproven", nobody
seriously considers systematically rubbing lamps because of the cost:benefit.
similarly, serious physicists don't even consider exploring cold fusion. but i
see no problem at all with research going on at this level and any good
scientist should be equally curious and skeptical

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mordant
Where are the dead grad students?

Oh, there aren't any? Then there's no 'cold fusion' taking place.

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foxyv
Grad students are remarkably hard to kill. Deprive them of sleep, food, and
water. Expose them to high radiation levels and dangerous chemicals. They even
survive brief periods of vacuum. Grad students are like academic tardigrades.

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thechao
Tardigrades get paid better.

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Skunkleton
Tardigrades are generalized grad students.

