The Mother of all Science Scandals

You can't believe everything you see on the news. This is a compilation of a series on cold fusion originally released in 3 parts. Patreon: Patreon: bobbybroccoli Twitter profile: https://x.com/BobbyBroccole Research assistant: Chris Pepin Assistant editor: Charlie Arsenault Script Feedback: Chris Pepin, Charlie Arsenault, Boundo Thumbnail by Hotcyder (‪@hotcyder‬ ) Data for publication rate by year compiled by Daniel Jarabek Blender assistance from Chris Hanel (‪@ChrisHanel‬ ) Music from the Youtube Audio Library, Epidemic Sound, and White bat Audio (‪@WhiteBatAudio‬ ) 3D Models (TV, whiteboard, phone, office supplies) licensed from CGTrader. Additional imagery licensed from Getty Images and the Associated Press. Sources: Fleischmann, M., and S. Pons. 1989. Electrochemically induced nuclear fusion of deuterium. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 261:301–308. Fleischmann, M., and S. Pons et. al. 1990. Calorimetry of the palladium-deuterium-heavy water system. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 287:293–348. Jones, S.E, E.P Palmer, J.B Czirr, D.L Decker, G.L Jensen, J.M Thorne, S.F Taylor, and J Rafelski. 1989. Observation of cold nuclear fusion in condensed matter. Nature 388:737–740. Newspaper coverage from a wide variety of sources, but a large amount from the Salt Lake City Tribune and the Deseret News. Televised March 23rd 1989 Press Conference at the University of Utah announcing cold fusion. Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion (Book) by Gary Taubes, 1993. Authoritative account of the cold fusion saga, has by far that most details about behind the scenes events, especially anything relating to Steven Jones and Marvin Hawkins. Taubes is also notable for his reporting on the Texas A&M tritium spiking allegations. Cold Fusion: The Scientific Fiasco of the Century (Book) by John Huizenga, 1992. Written by the co-chair of the Department of Energy Panel that investigated cold fusion, this book is very in depth when it comes to the science. Cold Fusion Research – A report of the Energy Advisory Board to the United States Department of Energy. November 1989. Too Hot to Handle: The Race for Cold Fusion (Book) by Frank Close, 1991. The first major book written about cold fusion written from the perspective of a physicist following the story as an outside observer. Has particularly good info on the gamma ray peak dispute. Close also gave a public talk on the contents of his book in 1991 which was recorded. Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud (Book) by Robert Park, 2000. Cold fusion is mentioned as one of several examples of 'Voodoo Science' throughout the book, which generally has a focus on Washington and science funding. The Cornell Cold Fusion Archive (originally curated by Bruce Lewenstein). Has an extensive copy of many original documents, news coverage, etc. They also provided me with a digitized video copy of the Baltimore APS meeting. Truth and Consequences: How Colleges and Universities Meet Public Crises (Book) by Jerrold Footlick, 1997. A chapter of this book is dedicated to assessing how the University of Utah administration handled the cold fusion controversy. The Believers (Documentary) by Clayton Brown and Monica Long Ross, 2012. This film catalogues the diminished state of cold fusion research two decades later, interviewing many of its remaining proponents. Cold Fusion: A case study for scientific behavior, an educational resource produced by the University of California, Berkeley. 2012. Berlinguette et. al. Revisiting the cold case of cold fusion. Nature 570:45-51 Guffey et. al. Experimental Lessons in Replication of ‘Low Energy Nuclear Reactions’. Audio recording from the ACS Dallas meeting from April 1989. CSPAN recording of the Science Space and Technology committee hearing on Cold Fusion on April 28th 1989. CSPAN recording of Utah Rep. Wayne Owens advocating for cold fusion funding on January 25th 1990. CSPAN audience call-in segment on cold fusion on May 4th 1989. Video recording of the ECS Los Angeles meeting from May 8th 1989. 10+ hours of assorted local Utah TV news coverage archived by the University of Utah Library. BBC Horizon – Too Close to the Sun, 1994. CBC – The Secret Life of Cold Fusion, 1994. Tomorrow’s World (TV Programme), March 28th 1989. 60 Minutes – Cold fusion is hot again, 2009. Fusion Fiasco (Book) by Steven Krivit, 2016. Book 2 of 3 in a series about cold fusion and LENR. Krivit heavily editorializes in favour of Pons and Fleischmann and is an advocate of LENR. With that caveat, he has done extensive independent research including interviews with many of those involved and cites documents not widely published anywhere else. Fire from Ice: Searching for the Truth Behind the Cold Fusion Furor (Book) by Eugene Mallove, 1991. Fire from Ice (Documentary) directed by Eugene Mallove, 1998. Excess Heat: Why Cold Fusion Research Prevailed (Book) by Charles Beaudette, 2000. 0:00 Part 1 1:03:16 Part 2 2:11:58 Part 3