Wayne, here's the headline...Crystal power Palmtop Nuclear Fusion Device Invented By Michael Schirber LiveScience Staff Writer posted: 27 April 2005 01:00 pm ET The nuclear reaction that powers the Sun has been reproduced in a pocket-sized device, scientists announced today. Researchers have for years tried to harness nuclear fusion to power the world. But its cousin, nuclear fission -- the breaking apart of atoms -- is the only method so far commercially viable. The latest invention is not in the same league as efforts to build complex commercial reactors. The new device creates a relatively small number of reactions, and requires more energy to operate than it produces. The Real Deal (AP) - Previous claims of tabletop fusion have been met with skepticism and even derision by physicists. In one of the most notable cases, Dr. B. Stanley Pons of the University of Utah and Martin Fleischmann of Southampton University in England shocked the world in 1989 when they announced that they had achieved so-called cold fusion at room temperature. Their work was discredited after repeated attempts to reproduce it failed. Fusion experts noted that the new UCLA experiment is credible because, unlike the 1989 work, it did not violate basic principles of physics. "This doesn't have any controversy in it because they're using a tried and true method,'' said David Ruzic, professor of nuclear and plasma engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "There's no mystery in terms of the physics.'' -- Associated Press But the configuration is so small and simple that its creators think it may inspire unforeseen applications. "I certainly find it interesting that you can heat a cubic centimeter crystal in your hand, then plunge it in cold water and it will cause nuclear fusion," Seth Putterman from the University of California Los Angeles told LiveScience. Putterman's lay description greatly oversimplifies how the compact apparatus works. Specifically, Putterman and collaborators heat a pyroelectric crystal, lithium tantalite, from minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit to plus 45 in a matter of minutes. This generates an electrical charge -- 100,000 volts -- across the tiny crystal, which is housed in a chamber filled with deuterium gas, a heavy form of hydrogen. The high voltage is focused onto a needle-thin tip, which strips electrons from nearby deuterium nuclei and then accelerates them at a solid target containing deuterium. When two deuterium nuclei collide together at high speed, they fuse to form helium. The Sun also fuses atoms in thermonuclear reactions that create light and heat. The byproduct of the newly discovered lab reaction is a particle called the neutron. The scientists detect about 1,000 neutrons per second. Because neutrons are so penetrating, Putterman said that a hand-held neutron source might one-day be used to do geologic surveys or to look into cargo containers for nuclear devices. "Current neutron generators are extremely cumbersome," Putterman said. "They are about as big as a dentists X-ray machine, so you canÂt carry them into the field." Pyroelectric crystals could also provide a beam of ions for use as a microthruster in a miniature spacecraft. The research is described in the April 28 issue of the journal Nature.

Mike, it's completely different when you have a FAD which is none other than an 'independent HVAC contractor' that has agreed to sell Carrier branded equipment. The FAD merely represents that this 'independent HVAC contractor' sells enough equipment thru the year to afford this 'description' from Carrier (it's about selling and moving equipment). And the home in which the equipment is sold 'by the noted FAD', is ALSO 'maintained' thru said 'FAD' or 'independent HVAC contractor'. If the FAD didn't install and maintain said equipment --- your recourse is bupkiss. What is required to 'maintain' equipment is more or less left up to the FAD or 'independent HVAC contractor'... there is no difference between these two points --- except for the contract to sell Carrier brand equipment, and because the FAD sells all this equipment typically 100K or more per year. (The FAD isn't in business to fix equipment they DID NOT install / nor maintain.) --- guess again. Where things get messy: the home's Carrier equipment is not maintained by installing contractor. Regardless if they are 'FAD' or not... doesn't matter. $$$ is what moves people to do something. Don't kid yourself. If someone buys a home with said Carrier equipment installed --- which proves my point that 'FAD' means nothing --- why is this home owner having trouble finding this kind of support? Again Mike, FAD doesn't mean anything like you think it does.

Any fuel burning stove inside a living space must be properly vented for safety, i.e., hooked up to a working chimney or certified flue pipe. One must never heat an enclosed space with a combustion device that is not vented. Those unvented kerosene burners are for use outside and in ventilted spaces like a garage. The combustion gases will get you! and if it did not, oxygen depletion would. I was raised in a small farmhouse that did not have electricity until after I was 11 yrs old. It was heated with a wood burner with the heat distributed by radiation and natural convection - no fans. During the coldest part of winter, the living room stove plus the kitchen cooking stove were both fired. Today, I have a friend who augments his heat with a small wood burner and it is very effective. His burner is of simple design without fans. A fireplace of conventional construction is a poor space heater. Most of the heat goes up the chimney. A few firepalces have heat exchanger air channel built into the brickwork, and these are about 2 times more effective as an ordinary fireplace. Some designs have a fan to help. The next class of fireplace has a metal insert with airways and fan. These are the most effective of fireplace designs, but must be inspected on a rigorous schedule to insure there has not been a burn-through to the airway. A carbon-monoxide detector should be employed in the room with a firelace insert. A wood/coal burner is much more efficient than fireplaces. Similar stoves using natural gas or propane may be installed in place of a wood burner. Check you local codes for flue construction and materials. In extreme cold, say -20 F, propane stored in an outside tank may not provide enough pressure to operate properly.

I have a new TRANE 19 SEER furnace installed October of 2006. We have installed a radiant barrier on the underside of the OSB/shingle roof in November 2007. We added white formaldehyde free insulation without paper backing to the attic to replace the 30 year old degraded pink stuff. We hired our trusted HVAC person to reroute some ductwork in the attic and repair a large hole in the cold air return in November, 2007. We expected to see some changes in the attic and house temperatures. We did not expect to see the temperature in the attic at 70 degrees when the outside temperature was 20 degrees less. We put a large thermometer in the attic to test and a backup small one to make sure the first one was working. We began to suspect a leak in the ductwork somewhere. I found a large gap at the furnace where the outcoming heated air is not going into the Selkirk galvanized pipe which vents through the roof. The round pipe is not connected fully and I can almost insert my hand into the angled opening. After reading your explanation of the Acidic Moisture and CO, I am wondering if you could comment on whether or not I should cover and duct tape the opening until the TRANE person who has helped us through the purchase and installation of at least half a dozen furnaces and air conditioners over a 20 year time span can get to it after January 1. I have not called him yet. His repair people were here to train us in how to clean the filter that removes almost 99% of particulates. (Even if it does not remove that many, it has improved my indoor air quality so much, that I am happy with it.) I think that the service persons may have accidentally caused the disconnection. My main concerns are determining the safety of this situation and if the attic that is now the temperature of the house and not the outside is another problem we must address.