Local News. Pons resurfaces in SLC.
Patrick J. Smith
On Wednesday, Pons reappeared in Salt Lake City to attend the meeting
of the F/EAC. TV news cameras caught him in the back row holding a
newspaper up in front of his face.
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PANEL, PONS MEET AS COLD FUSION REVIEW HEATS UP. Salt Lake Trib;
Thursday, November 8, 1990. by Tim FitzPatrick.
Four scientists met with U of U researchers, including Stanley Pons,
Wednesday in a review that will likely decide the fate of the
university's National Cold Fusion Institute.
The scientists, three Americans and one Canadian, met briefly with
reporters before spending an all day, closed door session at the
Research Park institute. They are expected to issue their report by
mid December.
"I think we'll do the best we possibly can," said Dale F Stein, a
materials scientist and president of Michigan Technological
University. He described the review as a "technical evaluation" that
would not attempt to address the stigma of shabby science that has
dogged cold fusion. "It really has nothing to do with integrity; we
assume integrity in people, " he said.
Dr. Pons, back in Utah from what was reportedly a trip overseas,
declined to talk to reporters before the review began. He did say he
would be at the Capitol thursday for a meeting of the state F/EAC.
"Now that I've been notified I'll be there," he said.
Council members two weeks ago criticized Dr. Pons and his British
colleague Martin Fleischmann for failing to show at their meeting.
The scientists maintain they were never told to be there, but
institute director Fritz Will has disputed that. Dr. Fleischmann is
at his home in Tisbury England undergoing treatment for an undisclosed
medical condition.
Karen Morse, USU Provost and fusion council member who said the
council had "coddled" the two chemists, was among the scientists
sitting in on Wednesday's review.
The review is considered by Dr. Will and others to be crucial to the
future credibility of the institute. After the initial $5 million
investment by the Utah State Legislature, the institute has raised
less than $100,000 in outside funding, and the remaining $1.3 million
in state funds will be spent by next June.
The review was prompted by U. Colledge of Science faculty members who
were concerned about the scientific integrity of the cold fusion work,
particularly that of Drs. Pons and Fleischmann. They have published
no papers on their work from the past year despite more than $1
million in funding from the state.
Hugo Rossi, Dean of the College of Science, said he met with his
physics and chemistry chairs and they were pleased with the review
panel. "We feel it's a good group of people with high national
standing. We think it will be a careful review."
In addition to Dr. Stein, reviewers are electrochemist Stanley
Bruckenstein, A. Conger, Goodyear Professor of Chemistry at State
University of New York at Buffalo; calorimetrist Loren G. Hepler,
professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at the University of
Alberta; Dale F. Stein, and Robert Kemp Adair, Sterling professor of
Physics at Yale University.
John Huizenga, professor of nuclear chemistry at the University of
Rochester and co-chairman of the DOE's committee on cold fusion,
praised tyhe inclusion of Dr. Adair, a member of the National Academy
of Sciences and former editor of the prestigious journal, Physical
Review Letters.
"He is a high energy particle physicist, and I think a very competent
person," Dr. Huizenga said in a telephone interview. "From his
scientific stature I would certainly say that Bob would do a good job."
Dr. Adair said he has followed the cold fusion saga casually in the
past. "Since I've been invited to be on the panel, I've paid a little
more attention."
Compliments for bringing in Dr. Adair also came from onew of his
colleagues at Yale, associate professor of Physics Moshe Gai, who has
been a vocal skeptic of cold fusion.
"I couldn't think of anybody better than Bob Adair to be on that
committee," Dr. Gai said in a telephone interview. "From his
judgment, his openess to new ideas, he is a true scientist and I think
he will do a perfect job."
Dr. Adair is also the author of "The Physics of Baseball." He was
appointed "physicist to the National League" by A. Bartlett Giamatti,
former Yale president and Basebball Commissioner who died in 1989.
The visiting scientists were reluctant to discuss specifics of the
review with reporters, but Dr. Stein minimized the effects that news
coverage would have on their effort. "The pressure from the media is
not nearly as intense as the pressure we feel from our colleagues who
will pass on the merit of what we do."
Dr. Stein was a member of Dr. Huizenga's DOE panel, which recommended
against major funding a year ago because, the panel's report said, the
data "do not present convincing evidence that useful sources of energy
will result."