An Italia short documentary on Rossi and his device.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9I_CJti-RU

Now one important point if it’s fusion or not and he’s added no high cost gimmicks, it does not really matter if it’s cold fusion.  If the device can produce a 30x energy multiplier cleanly and cheaply it is indeed a game changer on every conceivable level.   The best part is Rossi says they are building a commercial size application of his device in October at Greece so we should know it’s viability as a clean and cheap energy source very soon.   If the production of these commercial devices are delayed for unexplained reasons or found to be a hoax at least we will not have to wait for years or decades to decide that this device was not viable.

Off the top of my head the only way there could be some fusion going on is through some induced nuclear crowding but even that is hard for me to visualize because in some way naked proton ions from Hydrogen would need to get through the electron clouds of all chemicals in the vessel.   The only way it could be fusion is if the catalysts he uses somehow aligns the Hydrogen nuclei extremely and I mean extremely close to each other on the order of a pictometer (trillionth of a meter) since the Bohr diameter of a proton is 53.9 pictometers.  Hot fusion requires about 45 million ºC to create energy plasma which is a free flowing sea of electron and proton ions.  It’s actually considered a different state of matter.  Hot fusion also requires “heavy water”, Deuterium-Tritium rich water where Deuterium and Tritium has 1 and 2 neutrons added to the Hydrogen’s proton, respectively.   You may be able to visualize how cold nuclear fission would be difficult considering at ambient temperatures atoms and molecules have electron clouds around them so accomplishing a psuedo plasma state which would required for cold fusion would be extremely unlikely.  Even ionized Hydrogen (one positively charged proton) does not exist as a free proton in water it actually exists as a Hydronium ion (H₃O⁺) It’s too bad even if you did have nuclear fussion that the resulting amounts of Helium would be too small to measure to validate the fusion reaction.

My best guess (if the device is validated), what may be happening could be something as simple as leveraging chemical electrolysis to turn water into free Hydrogen and Oxygen, catalyzed by the Nickel.  Then the reaction between Hydrogen and Oxygen which is highly exothermic would create the heat turning the remaining water to steam.  Rossi already uses Hydrogen as a catalyst so this is not far off.  So it could be not a nuclear reaction at all but some kind of super catalytic reaction.

Here is a video of Rossi showing how the device works.

Rossi crunches the numbers on the efficiency of his device.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrTz5Bq6dsA

There are some big questions about this character Rossi who is not a scientist by training but a philosopher even though he has worked with energy technology much of his life.  Rossi has a very checkered past indeed.   Rossi in his past energy ventures has been widely condemned for creating what we would refer to as EPA super fund sites for leaving untreated toxic waste in leaky vessels in Italy.  Rossi is certainly a character and characters like him have proven the scientific community wrong many times in the past.

There is more nuttiness involved because an energy conspiracy website that was formed in 2007 called freeenergytruth.com who claims for 100 years clean energy sources have been withheld from the public, supports the Rossi device and tacitly claims evil big energy interests with the US and other governments are try to squelch the technology.  The only reason I post a video they made about Rossi’s device is because it does give a succinct account of what Rossi claims the device can do (actually they describe the possible gains better than he does and their website has allot of good info on alternated energy technologies too despite their questionable claims).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZJUSG2IO6o

For entertainment purposes only.  Some of Free Energy Truth’s conspiracy theories.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BYb-XIa7qU

Whether this device works or not is not all we should take from Rossi’s efforts. Today there are thousands of scientists around the world that are working on new energy technologies. So if this device does not work it just becomes part of the prior art so scientists know what not to try again. That’s the way science works thousands and thousands of experiments, sometimes more to get one to work.  That’s why when I use to work in R&D we jokingly called it “Remorse and Disappointment”.  However the point is we need to fund these technologies so scientists can do as many experiments as possible because whether it’s one in thousands or one in millions of experiments, game changing technology does happen and the more experiments that scientists can perform the higher likelihood of success.

What makes this situation even more intolerable is that I hate waking up too. For me, waking up involves roughly the same amount of willpower as it does to climb Mt. Everest. A slow, sluggish journey through the hellish terrain of semi-conciousness, occasionally accompanied by a sharp, short headache and blurred vision.

Another aspect of sleep that gets on my nerves is the sheer waste of time involved. Those 6-9 hours? I could be doing something with them! Something important, something fun, something interesting. Well, as a serial procrastinator, perhaps not. I’d probably end up bouncing from website to website, cursing my luck for having nothing to do. So, it’d be more accurate to say that I hate that sleep gets in the way of me possibly doing something worthwhile, rather than it actually getting in the way of me doing something worthwhile. Despite this, it still gets on my nerves.

Well, what if we could reduce our need for sleep or even eliminate it completely? The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. Thai Ngoc, a 68 year old Vietnamese farmer, has gone without sleep for nearly 40 years. He gained this strange ability in 1973, following a bout of fever. Even more remarkable is that he has apparently suffered no detrimental mental or physical effects from his sleepless hours. What if we could replicate these conditions in others? What if we could create people that need no sleep? What of we could create a society that needs no sleep?

As in turns out, we can… To an extent. Recently, there has been a lot of time and effort put into researching a class of drugs known as eugeroics. These nifty chemicals have become known as wakefullness-promoting agents due to their ability to stave off sleep in those that use them. More importantly, these drugs, unlike other stimulants such as caffeine, are virtually non-addicting and do not result in the formation of a sleep debt. This means that with eugeroics you can go without sleep for two days and then sleep for your normal 6-9 hours and feel fine, whereas with caffeine you may spend 16 hours slumped over the side of a couch and feel terrible after it too. Of course, these drugs are mostly used to treat disorders such as narcolepsy. However, as I’m sure you can see, they have other applications as well.

Military usage is one of the more obvious applications. A soldier that never sleeps? I think that was the basis of an X-Files episode. Another application is for work. I mean, who wouldn’t want to reduce the hours that they sleep to put in a few extra hours to impress the boss? Who wouldn’t want to earn more commission? The problem is that once this starts there’s no going back. Pretty soon you could be frowned at for only working 20 hours a day. What are you? Lazy? Don’t tell me that you need to sleep. The potential abuses of these drugs, especially in a corporate centred culture, are immense.

Another problem with these drugs is that they don’t replace sleep. They trick your brain into thinking it has slept. The subtle effects of sleep deprivation, such as immune dysfunction, metabolism issues and potentially depression, will still be present. To be precise, eugeroics have allowed for the future possibility of a world populated by sickly, fat, depressive workaholics. Great job, science!

The truth, as much as I hate to admit it, is that sleep is important. As long as we do not fully understand the human brain and body, then we are stuck with sleep. So when the logo-emblazoned mountebank on the street corner tries to sell me their miracle cure, I’ll declare my opposition, pull out a pillow and try to will myself to sleep.

Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer’s horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
- Auden

St Francis of Assissi had, to be sure, an odd relationship with his body. As a strict ascetic, he considered it of utmost importance not to give in to its cravings for pleasure and leisure. He dubbed his own body “brother ass” and felt that it should be treated as any other domestic beast of the time. Beaten when in need of discipline, and given only coarse food upon which to subsist. He was known to curb his temptations by hurling his body into snow, or even on one occasion a briar patch which he tossed himself about in until his flesh was ripped and bleeding. However, by the time of his death, the great man had reconsidered his ill treatment of his body – his earthly vehicle – and asked the Lord to pardon him for having treated Brother Ass so cruelly. He realized that he had been indulging a fascination; an attempt to conquer that which his Creator had given him. Finally, it seems, that he who loved life and all its manifestations, had finally learned to love, or at least honor, his own organism.

Although many may feel that Francis’ relationship to his body was downright bizarre, I think it is difficult to escape the conclusion that we, in our modern age, relate to our own bodies in even more dysfunctional ways, or at least are encouraged to. We obsess over its skin layer, its most superficial aspect. Say the word “body” to a teenage male, and no doubt the image that will result is a female with Playboy-approved proportions. Or perhaps his own body, “ripped” and sculpted. It is doubtful that he will think of the intricate, mechanical wonder he inhabits, the magnificence that goes far beyond the skin layer. I’m reminded of a scuba diver, who, seated next to a friend who looked out at the ocean at sunrise and remarked at how beautiful it was, replied, “yes, and that’s only the roof!”

We indulge our bodies in exactly the way that St. Francis frowned upon, as we load up on ice cream, tortilla chips, cola, coffee and red wine. We then scan it for signs of resultant flab, and hold it up for critique alongside the impossible ideals that mass media relentlessly parades before our eyes. In magazine articles and website pages we are asked to consider which Hollywood hunk or starlet has “the best body”, when presumably the correct answer should be the one that functions best – the one that digests, eliminates, breathes, repairs, etc. most efficiently.

No greater indication of our dysfunctional relationship to our bodies can there be than the fact that we have created a trillion dollar industry that has as its sole purpose the manufacture of machines and devices that destroy and disfigure it by the millions. Our so-callled “defense industry” would perhaps be looked upon less favorably by its supporters if it were referred to, more honestly, as “the body destroying industry”. Although it has numerous competitors, perhaps the most atrocious and obscene example of this in all our sad history was the Treblinka II Death Camp in Nazi Germany. This was the Industrial Revolution meets Dante’s Inferno. For the first and only time in history an actual factory was built, with train lines leading up to it, that served no purpose other than the destruction of human bodies as quickly and “efficiently” as possible. People were carted in by the train car-load, and few lived more than 24 hours after arriving.

And these bodies that we waste and destroy so casually are near miraculous machines that are far beyond the capabilities of our greatest scientific geniuses to create or even imitate. Each cell, when it is first birthed in us, is like any other cell in our bodies, yet each knows how to evolve through exactly the right iterations so that it becomes part of our hair, our eyes, our lungs, our genitals, etc. How do the cells do this? Nobody knows, but it is likely the answer will someday be found in the portion of our DNA that biologists have lovingly referred to as “junk”.

We punish bodies mercilessly, and yet throughout the history of our species they have never sinned in any way. They serve us faithfully to the fullest extent they are capable at any given moment, until they can no longer. When they long for sleep we deprive them of it. When they need healthy natural food to stay strong, we insist that they make do on starchy, sugary, salty substances they have little use for. We keep them chained to chairs when they long to move about in the open air, as they were evolved to do. If we treated our pets the same way we treat our bodies we would be considered negligent, at best. And we punish bodies for the transgressions of the mind. I am opposed to the death penalty because I believe it is always a miscarriage of justice, as the body merely did what it was told, no matter how heinous the crime. To the body, slicing a cucumber or slicing into a human finger is essentially the same act, insofar as it merely follows the instructions of a healthy, or deranged, mind. An eye for an eye is thus two outrages, not one.

I am only writing to say that human bodies are innocent. We have yet, as a species, to demonstrate our worthiness to inhabit them. We should never harm them in any way.

There comes a time when the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge but can never prove how it got there.
Albert Einstein

How much do you know about how your brain works? How much does anyone know? How certain are you that your thoughts are yours? Would you believe your brain often intentionally deceives you to either promote or prevent a desired outcome? Think about that. “Process it”. Even when you are absolutely sure your thoughts and actions are your own, it may in fact just be your brain letting you believe you are in charge.

Have you ever said or done something and immediately wondered why? They say that people sometimes let slip what they really mean, what they really feel. But is it really what they feel or is it what their brain prompted them to do at that particular moment? Possibly to avoid danger or alleviate stress. People feel comfortable in their “routines”. When pulled out of them they become aggravated, maybe even disoriented or unable to momentarily grasp the basics of a simple task. Your brain is fighting you. Your brain dictated your “routine”, and regulates your day. Challenges to it’s control are not taken lightly. A good example of this is what we call “muscle memory”. Eventually, after repetition, your brain  may subconsciously assume control of a task. This is highly prevalent in athletes  who often perform actions without any sign of forethought. Once a channel is set, the brain handles it for them.

We can also look at people in high stress or dangerous situations who often speak of “time slowing down” or accomplishing incredible physical feats without fully realizing just what is going on. These are all instances of your brain shutting you down and taking over. There is little hard science on whether people exhibit a sense of time dilation in these moments but closed, regimented studies are rarely a substitute for the real thing. Most often no one ever feels like they are in real danger. It’s a scientific study after all. It’s that essential fear of danger that makes study so difficult. Who wants to intentionally panic people for a graduate thesis?

Some scientists go a little further and suggest that sometimes our brain tells us what to say. You may be wanting to tell someone something you know will be problematic. Perhaps an insult or a bit of bad news you have no business telling them. At the last moment you decide against it. Or did you? Perhaps YOU were going to say just what you wanted to say but your brain “persuaded” you not to. After all, it has access to all your thoughts since it is the one producing them. Remember that. It is a part of an old philosophy pertaining to the mind and human conciseness.Does human conciseness exist independently of the mind? Do you create your thoughts or does your brain? You may think “I create my thoughts WITH my brain”, but if the brain can push you aside in certain situations why can it not tailor the thoughts you think you have created? It’s like people who wonder if something doesn’t exist just because no one is there to see it. And even if you do see it is it really what you’re looking at or what your brain is saying you are looking at?

Of course your brain only operates with what you give it. And even then it may not be what you think. There are NO independent thinkers. Only independent reactions. Every thought or idea you will ever have is influenced by someone or something you experienced previously. A parent, a friend, Harry Potter, a guy on TV. This happens consciously and subconsciously. You may develop a conscious thought free of outside influence but there is still influence in your mind.  Your subconscious mind is still affecting everything you do and say. I’ve never put any thought into what my favorite color is. I just don’t care. Yet I am always drawn to red. This could be something subconscious. I was a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan as a kid. My favorite character, Raphael, had a red bandana. Maybe it’s that. My favorite stuffed animal as a toddler was a red dog. Maybe it’s that. All meaningless at the time but, when it comes time to choose a color for something,  perhaps my brain is subtly reminding me of that stuffed dog I loved so much.

Anyways, do you see what I’m trying to say? It’s not just you up there. Well, it is you but it’s two sides of you. Your conscious mind and your subconscious mind. So can you blame your subconscious mind for all your mistakes? Well, yes and no. True, our subconscious minds sometimes hold us back with vague fears and anxieties e can’t quite control, but our conscious mind also has a large say in this matter. Your subconscious mind overrides you sometimes but the conscious mind is the dominant state. It’s the state we “live” in. When you read  a story online and then go to comment, how much thought do you really put into the comment? How much of it is already keyed up in your mind just waiting for your fingers to hit the keyboard? Is it really you typing that comment or your brain?  Is there even a difference?

Let’s take a moment to address a myth about the mind. Have you ever heard the saying,  “Humans only use 10% of their brain”? That’s actually not true. People in comas are using more than 10% of their brain. You use all of your brain. Every nook and cranny.  maybe they mean we use only “10% of our brain’s potential”  but that’s not true either. Most everyone uses 100% of their potential everyday. It’s what they put those energies toward that defines their “wisdom”. Ah, wisdom. The state of knowing. The ability to actively use knowledge to create understanding. But wisdom is not free from the machinations of our subconscious either. Just look at the history of science and physics. Look at the trash bin of wisdom.  It’s quite full. If reality is perception and everyone perceives reality differently, then what is reality? I can touch my desk. I feel the wood, the density, the realness of it.  But I can’t doubt the possibility that it is just my brain telling me that. When I drop acid, this desk looks MUCH different.

Hallucinogenic drugs, for all their bad press, have been a great doorway into the mind. A window to the subconscious and a chance to merge it with “reality”. Like a vivid dream. I had a dream once that my house was on fire. I could “feel” the heat of the flames. “Hear” the shouts of bystanders. But none of it was there. I KNOW it was a dream and my mind was “playing tricks on me” but I can’t discount the fact that I would have thought it all very real if I didn’t know it was a dream. My mind is telling me it is real. The only difference when I’m awake is that I KNOW I’m awake. My mind is still telling me what is real and what isn’t.

So, next time you engage in a “thoughtful discussion” or promote “your views”, ask yourself; “Is this me or my image of me?”. Are these my words or the words of others coming through without thought? Remember, no matter how certain you are, you can’t be certain. That is the mystery of the mind and why you don’t know what you’re talking about.

One of my favorite segments in the series is “Through the Wormhole, Is There a Creator?”  The whole series is really a cannot miss if you are curious about the universe around you.

One theorist who claims he knows where  the concept of God comes from was proposed by neurologist Dr. Michael Persinger.   He claims he can demonstrate God is created in the human mind, actually he claims to know particularly where in the human brain.  He uses a devise called the “God Helmet” which stimulates parts of the brain using electro-magnatism no more powerful than a blow drier.  He theorizes that if you stimulate an area on the right side of the brain in the mesiobasal temporal lobes that it creates a sense of God.  According to his studies subjects wear the helmet under sensory deprivation conditions and they frequently reports  ”mystical experiences and altered states”.

Dr. Persinger demonstrated this devise on a college student on the show.  When the student’s EEG appeared to exhibit psuedo-delta waves she started to fell a presence in the room and reported different several out of body experiences.  She claimed that there were five entities floating around her.  She had an sesation where she was floating above her body and looking down on herself.  An experience she did not like was the appearance of flames around her.  After the experience she was really quite awed and relaxed after looking nervous going into the experiment.

Her experiences made me think of two cases I had heard about before in my experience.  Anyone who has heard people talking about near death experiences has heard them relate similar out of body experience.  Was Moses burning bush literally a figment of his unconscious imagination?  Was the first question that came to my mind.

Being a chemist by training I also wonder if psychotropic drugs like peyote can interact with this portion of the brain and that’s the source of their halucinagenic effects.

Dr. Persinger claims 80% of subjects experience some kind of “presence” in the room and about 1% of patients say they saw God herself.

Dr. Persinger hypothesizes that this presence most subjects experience is our sense of God, similar to our conscious feelings of self as sentient beings.  He thinks since we are the one species on the planet who really knows what the consequences of death are that activity in this part of the brain is a sort of a survival mechanism that helps us deal emotionally with our own demise.

Michelle Bachmann must have her own personal “God Helmet” or possible uses a blow drier far too frequently to form that perfect “Helmet Head” hairdo.  I really don’t know.  But on Friday June 1st she received a calling from God to run for the GOP nomination.

Michele Bachmann: “God Calling on Me to Run”

The Minnesota congresswoman said she received a “calling” to enter the 2012 presidential race. She spoke in an interview with Iowa Public Television on Friday.

“Well, every decision that I make, I pray about, as does my husband, and I can tell you, yes, I’ve had that calling and that tugging on my heart that this is the right thing to do,” Bachmann said.

Bachmann says she experienced a similar type of spiritual guidance in 2006 when she ran for Congress from Minnesota.

“God then called me to run for the United States Congress. And I thought, what in the world would that be for? And my husband said, “You need to do this,” Bachmann said at The Living Word Christian Center, a megachurch in Minnesota, during her campaign.

Personally if Michelle Bachmann’s God is so cruel that they want to take away affordable healthcare.  I don’t have much time for that God.