The LENR Research Documentation Initiative
When cold fusion was rejected by mainstream science within a year or so after it was announced in 1989, a significant number of highly qualified researchers continued to pursue the phenomenon. Because it had become a pariah science, cold fusion (now broadly referred to as Low Energy Nuclear Reaction, LENR) attracted relatively few new scientists. The dedicated investigators who continued their work are now 35 years later leaving the field because of retirement, declining health, or death. The records of their research in the field are at risk of being lost, which would be a tragedy not only for the LENR field, but also for all of humanity (see the Sidenote below).
The LENR Research Documentation Initiative (LRDI) is underway by Thomas Grimshaw ,President of LENRGY, LLC, to mitigate the risk of loss of LENR research records. Its objectives are to collect, organize, document, and archive these records while they are still available. Since it began in 2015, more than 30 projects have been performed or are under way, of which 19 are far enough along for presenting on this website.
Organization of the LRDI Website
The primary content of this website is the collection of LRDI reports, which may be viewed or downloaded. They are listed on the Participants and Projects webpage, and subsidiary pages are provided for each one. These pages contain not only the citation and link to the LRDI report, but also a summary of the report prepared with ChatGPT. Photos relevant to the participant and report are also included.
During the years that the LRDI has been under way, progress has been reported to the LENR community in various LENR venues. Links to copies of these 17 items are provided in a Publications and Presentations web page. The methodology used in the LRDI is generally consistent with consulting processes – arrange for the project with the participant, gather the relevant information prior to and during site visits, conduct and transcribe interviews, and analyze and report the results. Details are provided on the Methodology web page.
As each project was concluded, an extensive body of electronic and hard copy files was assembled. The electronic files have been archived for possible access in the future on Google Drive storage space available from the International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Science, ISCMNS. The hard copy material is destined for the ISCMNS hard copy archive at some time in the future. More information on the LRDI and it’s host, LENRGY, LLC is provided under About.
The Cold Fusion Videos Project
In recent years, the LRDI has expanded to collecting and presenting videos of conferences and other significant events in the field. The 1989 press conference where Fleischmann and Pons announced cold fusion was recorded with VHS (for Video Home System) technology. Many other events in the early years of the cold field were recorded in VHS format. These VHS-based videos are a rich source of information on what was taking place in the early years of the field.
The Cold Fusion Videos (CFV) project is an offshoot of the LRDI. It was initiated when some of the participants, particularly Mel Miles and Tom Passell, were found to have collections of these historical videos. The primary product of the CFV is a dedicated website with the same name. It now includes more than 300 videos. They have been categorized in seven classes: conferences, documentaries, events, interviews, newscasts, presentations, and “other”.
Acknowledgments
The author of the LRDI and this webpage, Thomas Grimshaw, is deeply grateful to all of the many participants who have not only consented to do their projects, but also gave their permission to make their LRDI reports public.
Thanks go to Carl Page and the Anthropocene Institute for financial assistance for making LRDI site visits and attending ICCF and other conferences. Rob Christian and Seamus Lonergan helped with many aspects of the program, particularly the Cold Fusion Videos corollary website.
Sidenote: GCC and LENR – Serendipity Lost
Global Climate Change (GCC) first emerged from scientific research into worldwide concern for human welfare on June 23, 1988. That’s the date that U.S. NASA scientist James Hansen gave testimony to the U.S. Senate about the GCC threat, including its huge consequences, its cause in carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, and the fact that it was already underway.
Just nine months later (to the day) an announcement came of a potential new energy source that could displace fossil fuels and eliminate the GCC threat. Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons made their announcement of the discovery of cold fusion at a press conference on March 23, 1989. Unfortunately, cold fusion was rejected by mainstream science within a year or so after the announcement.
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