Perspective
Pinnow and Miller’s Paper offers experimental confirmation that solid-state fusion is a credible effect, not to be ignored. Their paper should be viewed as a report on the discovery of an important triggering mechanism for solid-state fusion. However, it should not be viewed as either exclusive or the final word on this subject. Quite the contrary. Since the initial report by Fleischmann and Pons in 1989, a huge body of evidence has been produced by many dedicated scientists that supports the reality of the Fleischmann-Pons Heat Effect (FPHE). Over the years, different names have been ascribed to this effect including Cold Fusion, Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR), Anomalous Heat Production, and Solid-State Fusion. Pinnow and Miller prefer the latter. The problem experienced by these scientists no longer relates to the reality of the FPHE, but to its initiation and reproducibility. Triggering solves this problem.
Michael McKubre, one of the pioneers in this field (who recently passed away) made a prophetic statement in a 2009 paper:
I predict that once explained, the underlying effect will not appear strange at all. It will seem, in retrospect, that it was quite clear that we should have understood it all along. It is a heat producing reaction, consistent with nuclear but not chemical effects, both temporally and quantitatively accompanied by 4He. This new effect, the Fleischmann Pons Effect, can be accompanied by nuclear “ash”, 3H and 3He being important. Strong evidence for other isotopes exists; more may follow.
Pinnow and Miller support McKubre’s perspective. They further believe that the field of solid-state fusion, after surviving a troubling infancy, is still at an early stage. They expect that eventually most university physics departments will offer semester-long courses in SOLID-STATE FUSION. The curriculum will explore topics such as the Nuclear Active Environment introduced by Edmund Storms, models based on conventional physics such as the current work by Lynn Bowen and Frank Gordon, models based on advance physics such as those introduced by Peter Hagelstein, and even models based on non-conventional physics such as the possibility of Electron Deep Orbits that may mitigate the effects of nuclear Coulomb repulsion (as proposed by J. L. Pullet and A. Muelenberg).