A WHIP-ROUND on the Internet has raised enough money to send an expert to investigate the claims made for a cold fusion machine. The cash will pay for Tom Droege, an engineer and physicist, to fly to Georgia to inspect the machine, known as Griggs鈥� pump. The pump鈥檚 maker says the device generates more energy as heat than is needed to keep it running.
Droege鈥檚 services will be paid for by physicists who contribute to a forum on the Internet called Sci.Physics.Fusion, which is dedicated to discussing all types of fusion. They decided to hire Droege after Jed Rothwell from a pressure group called Cold Fusion Advocates began promoting the company鈥檚 claims for the Griggs鈥� pump.
鈥淚n the end people got tired of extravagant claims without full information,鈥� says Douglas Morrison of CERN, the European centre for particle physics, and a leading critic of cold fusion. 鈥淪teve Jones of Brigham Young University proposed that Droege should be sent to Georgia to investigate the pump and offered some money.鈥� This immediately triggered others to make donations, mostly of $20. 鈥淎 treasurer was appointed and soon more than $1000 was raised,鈥� says Morrison.
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Droege was chosen to investigate the pump because he is an expert in building complex apparatus. He designed most of the electronics for CDF, the detector on the end of the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab, which has been hunting the top quark. 鈥淭om is an incredible expert in electronic and mechanical systems,鈥� says Morrison.
With the help of his brother, who is a chemist, Droege has also built several cold fusion experiments in the basement of his home. He publishes the results of his experiments on the Internet. 鈥淪everal times he thought he had found some cold fusion effect, but each time he checked carefully and found another explanation,鈥� says Morrison.
Droege, who lives near Chicago, intends to fly to Georgia in January and to spend a day inspecting the Griggs鈥� pump. 鈥淚 must admit I never thought they鈥檇 raise the money,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut it looks like I鈥檒l have to go now.鈥�
The device, which has been patented, turns water into steam. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an interesting device in its own right, irrespective of any cold fusion claims,鈥� says Droege.
But he does not want to raise people鈥檚 hopes too much. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 a flaw, I may not be able to spot it,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat I hope to do is size up the people involved, and see what it feels like.鈥� When his investigations are complete, Droege intends to publish his conclusions on the Internet.