The most recent issue of Muse magazine is all about failure and mistakes. When I was thinking about a topic to pitch for a story in this issue, I had recently completed a book about fusion energy. I had included a brief sidebar about cold fusion, a “discovery” that became infamous as one of the biggest blunders in science. I thought this topic would be perfect for the issue, and so did the editor.
As I read more about the phenomenon, I had to wade my way through conspiracies, hype, and myth. The dark cloud of pseudoscience surrounding cold fusion and LENR seemed to keep many real scientists away from the field. Gradually, though, it became clear that reasonable, respectable scientists have shown that low energy nuclear reactions (LENR) can occur. They just don’t know how or why yet, so the reactions are not particularly useful for anything like energy production. But it would still be fascinating to better understand what’s going on.
This turned out to be one of my most favorite articles I’ve ever written. And it foreshadows the book I’m working on now – a look at compelling mysteries along with the real history and science behind them.
