Bubble fusion saga – Taleyarkhan misconduct verdict in - July 18, 2008
Purdue University has announced that two allegations of research misconduct made against Rusi Taleyarkhan, a professor of nuclear engineering, have been upheld by an investigative committee. Ten other allegations were not upheld.
This is the latest chapter in a long saga, sparked by Taleyarkhan’s claim that he can produce tabletop fusion reactions in deuterated acetone by bombarding tiny bubbles in the liquid with sound waves. But the scientist has been dogged by controversy ever since.
According to the Purdue University press release, the report has been accepted by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the funding agency that referred several misconduct allegations to Purdue.
Joseph L. Bennett, Purdue vice president for university relations, says that Taleyarkhan has 30 days to appeal. "Any decision on sanctions by the university based on the committee's conclusions will come after the appeal process," Bennett says.
Comments
Cavitation bubble implosion conditions are inversely coupled to solvent vapor pressure. The lower the vapor pressure the more extreme the conditions (e.g., spectroscopy by Suslick). Deuteroacetone bp = 55.5 C is ludicrous for fusion claims. 98% Deuterosulfuric acid + 2% D2O bp = 338 C might have a chance.
Posted by: Uncle Al | July 18, 2008 07:37 PM
The original Purdue press release claimed that there were several investigators and that the experiment was extensively reviewed. One wonders what prompted the charges. 10 of the 12 allegations were not upheld, so the effort to discredit Teleyarkhan here was itself largely discredited. It is proper to investigate the alleged addition of an author to the paper who did not actually contribute. But, please, keep in mind that it is an open secret that it is a widespread practice for professors to put their own name on work their graduate students have done, which is, of course, much worse. So, the charges here are, in my opinion, revealing of something unsightly in the motives of this whole affair.
Posted by: M. Weinstein | August 31, 2008 02:23 PM