MacGyver (aka JohnyFive) LENR experiment

Thanks for those replies @JohnyFive.

I’m also curious about the possibility of Beryllium.

I wonder if you could describe the smell a bit.

I understand from some reports that beryllium has a sweet taste. But is toxic so shouldn’t be tried! Good idea to wear a gas mask.

But compounds of Beryllium could be indicative of some interesting processes. And some of these can generate odours.

beryllium Carbide I think slowly reacts with water to produce beryllium oxide and methane for example... if you are smelling methane this could have all kinds of implications. Methane on Mars for example.

Beryllium Carbide is normally produced at high temperatures. But there is carbon in the paper. So perhaps some more reactive beryllium like pregenorator would be implicated. Or something else that catalysis it’s formation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium_carbide

Beryllium oxide (BeO) [ whilst not quite an odor ] is soluble in water so that might indicate something about why it is removed when wet.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium_oxide

This kind of chemical effects could be true of a Beryllium like pregenorator (some kind of exotic compound LiH) or true Be. Obviously the simplest logical assumption using true Be is the best solution. but If Be appears but then diminish over time especially in line with the long 20 minutes half life then perhaps it could indicate something more exotic. Normal Be8 or stimulated Be9* half-life should be much shorter. And Be9 in ground state is stable. (This long half-life to me could imply a pregenorator making Be).

Beryllium Hydoxide incidentally is only slightly soluble but hydrated on heating to produce soluble BeO and H2O.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium_hydroxide

I wonder if the BeO would precipitate out in an acid?

If something exotic is implicated (I admit it’s a big if) . If an exotic LiH compound entity simulating a Be is implicated maybe certain Be compounds such as Be2C or BeOH stabilize the exotic component from a chemical point of view where as others such as BeO do not. So the compound the compound HLi nucleus remains (until it interacts at nucleus level) but in the other less stable ones the compound lithium and hydrogen separate into their individual entities or more classical ionic bound LiH.

A crazy thought I admit... but I wonder if certain chemical compounds could stabilize an pregenorator entity so it’s nucleus interaction is in hibited too. If so it could form an interesting method of storage.

Good questions.

Also if high energy MeV Alphas can yield Bremsstrahlung from interacting electrons or ions?

Good it’s not methane... some might get suspicious

If you find heavier elements like fluorine or Nickel for example in the paper I guess it’s time to call Bob.

Methane itself is odorless. Natural gas is deliberately doctored with methyl mercaptan to warn folks of the presence of a leak.

Fluorine is the lightest halogen, atomic weight about 19.

Longview.

Hehe good I will tell my wife that next time.... you know 😀

Yup I think if we see only lithium

and hydrogen fusion it’s one thing. understandable in normal terms if hard to explain in energy terms. Even if we would still need to explain how it is sustained after stimulation.

But heavier elements than beryllium would be pretty hard to explain away. Even with proton fusion. If we are in the realms of lithium fusing with carbon or two carbon atoms fusing then we really have no choice but to look at exotic mechanisms.

I know I’m stating the obvious here but it would be really cool if we saw proof.

Oh my goodness is it actually oxygen that’s fusing in my guts? Not just methane after all

Quote from JohnyFive

I tried to measure if a charge is being stored between electrodes and it is. But I think this is quite normal, isnt it?

After disconnecting from power supply there is Voltage between electrodes that is around 2.1V but quickly falls down, then slower and slower until it reach 1.5V.. Even when I short the electrodes for a few seconds the voltage is still over 1V and is rising itself slowly.

Just catching up with the comments written over the past few weeks. Interesting that you tried this. Depending on how much current your power supply allows during this short-circuit condition, there should have been a spark briefly generated when you brought the electrodes in contact together, correct?

When about a month and a half ago I asked you if you could try checking out if anything anomalous occurred on your detectors when shorting the electrodes I actually meant by actively inducing such sparks rather than just allowing a high current to normally flow through the electrodes.

Depending on the contact patch between both electrodes you might be able to cause such sparks to be generated repeatedly for a more or less prolonged period of time. This is easier when either one of the electrodes is made of carbon (which sublimates instead of welding to the other electrode) or if a relatively strong magnet and a large current are used (depending on the orientation of the magnet, when the electrodes are short-circuited the strong magnetic field generated will cause the electrodes to repel from the magnet, breaking the circuit. With some spring tension this process can repeat continuously at a few hundred hertz, from what I measured by audio analysis).

Strong electromagnetic interference (EMI) should be produced when such sparking action occurs (the brighter the plasma, the stronger the EMI), but I wonder if something else also gets produced instead. I couldn't find this out with my very limited equipment when I tried this many months ago (with a very small electrolytic cell), although I observed strange effects which might or might not have been anomalous (no idea).

Quote from JohnyFive

When both electrodes were shorted there was no spark or it was very small. It is weak current supply. Yes. A sparks from current source will produce EMI.

If you quickly bring in contact both electrodes by hand, the spark will be indeed small or nonexistent. However, from what I observed in my own humble experiments using a 5V 30A DC line from a switching power supply (an old ATX PSU), by carefully making them just barely touch a larger one will be produced as a larger amount of current will flow through a smaller area, turning more material into plasma. Once the process starts it can be sort of "self-sustained", even at such a low voltage, as long as the electrodes don't stick (weld) together or full electrical contact is achieved.

I realize this is probably not within the scope of your experiments, but I guess it fits the MacGyver spirit of the thread.

@Director

The equipment mentioned in the synopsis adds to a pretty penny.

Titanium sealed retort inside a stainless steel retort.

38 hours to 20 days per cycle.

Including 2 heating periods between 400 and 1000 degrees Centigrade.

Never say die. Hope springs.

Using

http://www.sciradioactive.com/contact-me/

I described experiment and shared my phone/email.

Reach out to youth.

Imagine the press when a child's science fair project demonstrates energetic particle production at room temperature.

Quote from nickec

Imagine the press when a child's science fair project

Imagine the press when a child's science fair project explodes and glass shards cut up all people in the vicinity...

Are you crazy nickec???

Quote from JohnyFive

UPDATE: I received new Alpha detector today! Performing calibration now. In the following days we will see whether emitted radiation is Alpha or not.

Can you let me know any natural Alpha radiation sources?

Great news mine will be delivered by the end of the month.

I am curious about why you tried titanium foam is there an history that lead you to titanium? Have you tried nickel foam for Battery Cathode Substrate?

Quote from JohnyFive

I don't use any titanium or nickel foam.

I meant Titanium flakes. I apologize for the confusion English is not my first language sometimes I mix words.

I assume you used the Titanium flakes because of the surface area as well. That's why I was wondering if you tried something else before deciding to settle on titanium flakes. As for nickel foam by that I really mean high surface area nickel, I was wondering if you tried it. The reason I ask is to help pinpoint the source of the phenomena. anyway I am about to try those combinations on my experiment.

Good to know that Titanium was your first choice.

Now that Alpha radiation seems to be "ruled out" something that will be very helpful will be to try to laminate the paper and see if it traps the source of radiation longer. That will also help eventually with the cloud chamber.