New results on cold nuclear fusion

The conference summed up results of the 1-1/2 yr of the cold fusion era that passed after the first reports in March 1989 that excited the whole world. During that time, Cold Nuclear Fusion survived a period of popularity, associated with hopes for a solution to the problems confronting humanity. Later on, the earlier enthusiasm changed to skepticism, irritation, and disbelief not only in energetics, but also in the reality of the phenomenon itself. According to the authors, the reason for this was an overwhelming flow of negative results obtained by different groups and the irreproducibility of almost all of the results, which became a real curse for experiments on CNF. Another important reason for disbelief in CNF was the absence of any clear understanding of a possible mechanism for this phenomenon. It did not fit the conceptual framework of standard nuclear and solid-state physics. This paper reports on the situation in CNF now, after the conference in Provo