A. De Ninno

Evidence of Emission of Neutrons from a Titanium-Deuterium System

The interaction of deuterium gas with titanium has produced a flow of neutrons in two experiments reported here. This seems to show that it is not necessary to use electrolysis in order to obtain a low-temperature fusion reaction between deuterium nuclei. The experiment confirms also that nonequilibrium conditions are necessary in order to produce such a phenomenon.

Deformations induced by high loading ratios in palladium–deuterium compounds

Abstract The strong concentration gradients produced during the loading process in palladium hydride are responsible for the well known difficulty in obtaining high loading ratios (H(D)/Pd≈1). Experiments on electrolytic loading of palladium with deuterium have been carried out in which the loading ratio was monitored through a four wire resistance technique. Preliminary results show that dynamic loading strongly affects the maximum ratio achievable.

Balloon-borne 3He cryostat for millimetre bolometric photometry

Abstract A cryostat including a 3 He refrigerator has been designed, built, coupled to a multiband far infrared (FIR) photometer and successfully operated on a balloon flight. Here the cryostat, which is able to cool three bolometers to 0.3 K and one to 1.5 K, is described. The total holding time of the cryostat exceeds 5 days, being limited by exhaustion of the main 4 He and N 2 baths. The autonomy of the 3 He cryostat is more than 50 h, and the recycling time is ≈3 h. The performance of the system in the ARGO 1993 flight is also reported.

On the Effect of Weak Magnetic Field on Solutions of Glutamic Acid: the Function of Water

Even though a wide literature is available on the effects of weak Extremely Low Frequency ElectroMagnetic Fields (ELF-EMF) on the biochemical reactions, nevertheless the physical nature of these effects is largely unknown. The main challenge is the mismatch between the infinitesimal amount of the energy carried by the perturbation and the entity of the response of the system. More than 10 years ago, it was claimed that a weak current can be induced in a aqueous solution of Glutamic acid exposed to a weak magnetic field having a certain frequency. We have checked the influence of ELF-EMF on Glutamic acid using the FTIR-ATR spectroscopy in order to observe structural changes induced by the exposure. Samples have been exposed for 10, 20 or 30 minutes to a magnetic field generated by Helmoltz coils and then placed into the spectrometer. After the exposure solutions having different pH values always shown a shift toward the de-protonated species. The effect lasts for minutes after the exposure before the native configuration is restored.

Deprotonation of glutamic acid induced by weak magnetic field: An FTIR-ATR study

It has been claimed that weak extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) can affect biochemical reactions and a wide-ranging body of literature is available on this topic. Nevertheless, the physical nature of these effects remains largely unknown. We investigated the influence of ELF-EMF on glutamic acid solutions using Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectra. Samples were exposed for 10, 20, or 30 min to a weak EMF generated by Helmoltz coils, and then placed in a spectrometer. After exposure, those solutions that had a pH lower than the isoelectric point tended to show a shift toward the deprotonation of the carboxylic group, while solutions having a pH greater than the isoelectric point showed the deprotonation of the residual amine group. Moreover, at low pH values, we also detected a shift of the δ(antisym) band of the amine. The effects lasted a few minutes after exposure before the native configuration was restored. The spectral modifications were observed after each independent exposure to EMFs, and the same effects were seen by varying the frequencies in the range of 0-7 kHz. Therefore, the hypothesis of the existence of a resonant frequency that has been proposed elsewhere cannot be supported by the results of this study. The most surprising characteristic of this effect is the long-lasting nature of the perturbation, which is hard to be explained in terms of short-living excitations in biological matter.

Oxhydroelectric Effect in Bi-Distilled Water

Oxhydroelectric Effect, that is the extraction of electricity from an aqueous electrolytic solution by twin Platinum (Pt) electrodes, mediated by oxygen molecules, has been detected for the first time in bi-distilled water (electric conductivity of 1.2 microSiemens/cm). A dc power of the order of tenths of microW, lasting for many hours, was measured through a resistor (47 kOhm) connected to twin Pt electrodes immersed into bi-distilled water, after the addition of some pieces of Nafion® in one semi-cell and of a very small amount of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) - as a source of oxygen - in both semi-cells.

The supramolecular structure of liquid water and quantum coherent processes in biology

Vibrational spectroscopy provides a powerful tool to understand the molecular structures. When applied to the liquid water, this technique reveals so many details which can also shed a light on the supramolecular arrangement of the most ubiquitous of the substances. In particular, the two fluid model of water, proposed several decades ago, founds experimental evidence. Moreover, some fundamental parameters calculated in the realm of the theory of Quantum ElectroDynamics applied to liquid water can be actually measured showing an excellent agreement with the theory. This allows to add a dynamical origin to the mixed cluster model of water well known by the biologists for fifty years and opens the way to the dawn of a real quantum biology.

Study of deuterium charging in palladium by electrolysis of heavy water

Two different polarization regimes have mainly been used during electrolytic deuterium loading of palladium cathodes to produce an excess of heat in {open_quotes}cold fusion{close_quotes} experiments. Most of the experimentalists apply a constant current density, while some prefer to work with a square-wave current. The different effects of the two techniques on the deuterium dynamics through the cathode are not yet very clear. Thus, a transport model supported by a computer code is used to describe the evolution of the deuterium concentration profile inside a palladium membrane cathode for both operation conditions. 18 refs., 4 figs.

Study of deuterium charging in palladium by the electrolysis of heavy water: Heat excess production

SummaryAn experiment based on the electrolysis of heavy water with a palladium cathode is reported. The production of excess power during the electrolysis has been measured with the help of a quite accurate and reliable calorimeter. The correlation of the detected power excess with some meaningful parameters of the experiment is investigated. Some of the features of the experiment permit to investigate the dynamics of deuterium in the palladium lattice, which is thought of as the basic phenomenon for excess power production.

A powerful tool to quantitatively detect tiny amounts of 4He in a deuterium rich background for fusion research

The detection of tiny amounts of 4He in a deuterium rich atmosphere (as well as of 3He in a tritium background) is of great relevance in fusion research. One of the main concerns in a d-t fusion experiment is to prevent significant accumulation of 4He ashes in the core plasma, since this would result in a dilution of the d-t fuel and in a consequent reduction of the fusion power output. In order to control the impurity concentration in the core plasma and to sustain the fuel density, several active pumping methods for 4He (and other impurities) have been proposed, such as divertors or pump limiters. A quantitative analysis of the exhausts of such devices can provide a useful evaluation of the effectiveness of different methods and configurations, by comparing the related 4He content. Helium leak detection is a further major problem in fusion research. Vacuum tightness of the large torus vessel is indeed a rigorous requirement, in order to minimize the impurity content of the plasma. However, due to the strong deuterium release by the wall of the vacuum vessel, a conventional helium leak detector would not be able to discriminate a small amount of leaked 4He in such a high deuterium background. Determination of tritium activity by 3He in-growth method also requires a mass spectrometric analysis system capable to detect small changes of 3He content in a tritium background. A new method has been developed at ENEA Frascati, allowing quantitative detection of extremely small amounts of Helium isotopes (and other inert gases) in a deuterium rich atmosphere using a conventional (i.e. normal resolution) quadrupole mass spectrometer. This is accomplished by means of two non-evaporable getter (NEG) pumps, the first one operating at high temperature (300 divide 450degC) and the second one at room temperature, which effectively and quickly remove to a high degree all active components in the original gas mixture, with particular regard to hydrogen isotopes. Obviously, noble gases are preserved. The results of extensive tests carried out with such a facility are reported. A high-resolution quadrupole mass spectrometer was used during tests with 4He-D2 mixtures, just to provide evidence for the absence of deuterium in the final gaseous mixture. The minimum detectable peak ratio 4He/D2 has been found to be less than 10-6.