Well, we interns are finally nearing the end of our research phase, we're about to actually do stuff! Real stuff! With our hands! We're currently in the planning phase of the experiments are here to solicit whatever information you can give us that you think will help us along the way; papers to read, places we can buy stuff, pointers on experimental procedure, concerns, comments... anything helps.

Nuclear Particle Emission During Electrolysis

The first experiment that we are going to attempt is essentially a replication of work done by Oriani, modified with elements from both Aizawa and Kowalski's experiments. The experiment involves low current electrolysis between a Pt wire anode and a Ni wire (or film) cathode in a lithium sulfate solution electrolyte. The electrolysis cell will be outfitted with a CR-39 detector on the bottom in contact with the cathode. CR-39 is a plastic commonly used in eyeglasses that detects penetration from high energy charged particles. When a particle penetrates into the CR-39, it leaves a track of radiation damage in its wake that can be etched out via a NaOH solution and observed with a microscope. If all goes according plan, we should see clusters of these tracks on the CR-39 that originate from a hypothesized nuclear reaction occurring in the cathode (or electrolyte).

The Google doc embedded below contains a detailed description of the experiment and the materials we need.

 Any help you can offer on the questions posted at the end will be hugely appreciated!

Piezonuclear Reactions

This experiment is less traditional and will be going off of research performed by Italian professor Alberto Carpinteri.  In his research he applied a force until failure to pieces of rock using a hydraulic press and observed neutrons and transmutations on the surface of the rock samples. Carpinteri used samples of Green Luserna Stone, Carrara Marble, and Magnetite of different geometries and sizes.  For a neutron detector he used a BTI bubble detector. To make things a bit more interesting, we have come across a paper analyzing Carpinteri's data that claims his data is too correlated. While this may be discouraging if it is true, we will use our test to to acquire more data and compare our results. The basic setup of the experiment will utilize the 50 ton (445 kN) hydraulic press we have on site, a wall surrounding the rock to shield and contain, a neutron detector, rock samples, and cameras to monitor the experiment. By testing a variety of rock samples we are hoping to see a variation in neutron counts above background levels. 

The Google doc posted below further explains the experiment and will be continually updated as the procedure is refined. It would be a large help if anyone could provide suggestions for sources of rock samples and the neutron bubble detectors!  

UPDATE #1 - Progress and Purchases

First of all, thank you for your input here on the blog.  All comments are taken into consideration and the protocol is continuously updated to reflect these observations.

Piezonuclear Reactions

Progress is being made! After a couple phone calls, a source for scrap granite in the area has been found and I will be picking up some of the stone this afternoon. Wes and Malachi brought in a few rocks containing quartz that could be interesting samples or at least good for practice. The scrap granite and rocks will likely need some work before they are ready to be crushed, but we have a wet saw on site that we can use to try shape up the stone. After receiving a price quote from BTI about the bubble detectors we are making a decision regarding ordering.

We are looking for suggestions for a supplier of magnetite samples (as well as any type of rock you would like to see us crush) and a software program that would allow us to record using multiple webcams connected to the same computer.

CR-39 Electrolysis

Well, I'm a little late in adding my update, but update I will. 

First of all, the decision has been made to skip the Ni film portion of the procedure. Unfortunately Ni film is far too expensive to be a worthwhile investment for us. Other than that, most of the materials are being ordered, I'm still having a little trouble getting a hold of the company where I'm going to get the CR-39 (a company called Track Analysis Systems) and acquiring the Mylar film is a bit troublesome, but I just got off the phone with DuPont and hopefully they'll be sending me some small sheet samples... fingers crossed.

A slight change has been made in the control procedure, as can be noted in the Google Doc (I removed the "Stuff I Need" portion because most of the links I had have been changed. If you are curious about my ordered supplies, I have a new purchasing list I can post). Essentially, the new plan is no longer to perform a live dummy electrolysis cell, as we are not certain that Cu or Fe won't give positive results, so instead we are going to stir the control cell with either Ar or nitrogen gas. This will create bubbles in the solution that simulate bubbles created during electrolysis that could possibly attract radon and radon daughters to the Mylar film or Ni cathode, which would otherwise result in a false positive. Also, it has been suggested to us that in order to account for the fact that CR-39 chips can have an inconsistent amount of track marks before they're used, chips will be etched and counted before they are ever used, and then the data that we use will be the difference in the number of tracks before and after. I personally believe this is a great way to isolate the results as much as we can to something weird going on during electrolysis.

I welcome any other suggestions you guys have on possible control tests. Also, if anyone knows exactly to what degree the Mylar film will block other energetic particles, like neutrons, tritons, or ³He, that information would be extremely helpful.