Well-known media outlets confer credibility on new cold-fusion claim

In October, a claimed cold-fusion device is said to have been successfully “demonstrated” in Italy. So far, no hits turn up in a search of “What’s New,” the website of the cold-fusion debunker and University of Maryland physics professor Bob Park. The claimed “demonstration” is drawing press attention that in some cases includes skepticism. Here are snapshot excerpts from online articles:

* In MSNBC’s article “Italian cold fusion machine passes another test: Despite a world of skepticism about E-Cat and other devices, proof is adding up,” the first line enthuses: “Italian physicist and inventor Andrea Rossi has conducted a public demonstration of his ‘cold fusion’ machine, the E-Cat, at the University of Bologna, showing that a small amount of input energy drives an unexplained reaction between atoms of hydrogen and nickel that leads to a large outpouring of energy, more than 10 times what was put in.”

* In CNN’s article “Cold fusion generator works but A.P. sits on its global exclusive,” the first line declares, “If you went to Google tonight and searched for the terms ‘E Cat Rossi Associated Press’ you’d get 1,430,000 results from blogs, Web sites and magazines like Wired.com (UK edition). That number will grow.”

* The Fox News article “Cold fusion experiment: Major success or complex hoax?” seems to want to believe. It says, “Rossi’s claims have confounded the scientific community, many of whom have either dismissed the demonstration outright or have questioned whether the E-Cat really works. Several experts who spoke to FoxNews.com declined to comment or go on the record.” The article’s penultimate line reports, “Rossi says his company will soon start making the E-Cat in the U.S.” The final line muses, “Whether one will power your city soon is an open question.”

* In the UK’s Daily Mail, the article “Italian scientist claims he has achieved ‘cold fusion’ — the only problem is that most physicists think it is impossible” has two subheads: “Andrea Rossi says he can fuse nickel and hydrogen at room temperature creating almost unlimited energy” and “Many scientists simply claim it defies the very laws of physics and cannot be true.”

* In Wired UK, the article “What to make of Andrea Rossi’s apparent cold fusion success” begins, “The apparent success of Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat cold fusion demonstration on 28 October is starting to send ripples into the mainstream press. So what new clues do we have to settle whether it’s the breakthrough of the century or the scam of the decade?”

Steven T. Corneliussen, a media analyst for the American Institute of Physics, monitors three national newspapers, the weeklies Nature and Science, and occasionally other publications. His reports to AIP are collected each Friday for “Science and the media.” He has published op-eds in the Washington Post and other newspapers, has written for NASA’s history program, and is a science writer at a particle-accelerator laboratory.