Utah’s Cold Fusion Moment

Published January 19, 2023 at 5:59 PM MST

In 1989, The University of Utah was in the national spotlight when two of its chemists announced the discovery of a powerful energy source that would solve the world’s energy problems: cold fusion.

U of U chemists Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons told the world they had “established a sustained nuclear fusion reaction” at room temperature. If true, not only would this be a clean source of energy, but an answer to climate problems. The trouble is, no other scientists could re-create the experiment and Fleischmann and Pons were soon written off as junk scientists. This Friday at 11 a.m., we’ll talk about that moment in Utah history.

GUESTS:

Rod Decker is a retired news reporter for KUTV-2.
Clayton Brown is a co-director and co-producer for the film “The Believers” and an Associate Professor of Communications at Northwestern University.
Monica Long Ross is a co-director and co-producer for the film “The Believers”

You can watch “The Believers” on Amazon or Vudu

Airdate: Friday, Jan 20, 2023 at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.