ALUND CORRECT SCI-318-RS-EthicsArticleWorksheet

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Feb 20, 2024

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Name__Autumn Lund__________ SCI-318 Ethics Article Worksheet Read the article “Cold Fusion: A case study for scientific behavior.” Then complete and submit this worksheet as directed by the instructor. 1. Who are the main scientists in this story? - The main scientists are Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann. 2. Explain cold fusion and why it would be beneficial. - Cold fusion is a process where fusion takes place at room temperature where two atoms combine together to produce energy in the form of heat. Cold fusion would be beneficial because it is clean and safe and would be a cheaper way to solve the energy crisis. 3. Describe in detail the hypothesis and experiment put forth by Pons and Fleischmann (you can add a drawing if it helps). - The hypothesis was that “once inside the palladium, the deuterium atoms would be forced so close together that they would fuse and release large amounts of energy as heat.” The experiment the two scientists used was where a metal platinum piece as well as a pallidum were put into a bath with a certain temperature. Regular water was not put in the bath because of the hydrogen present so instead they used heavy water. This was because it had deuterium in it, which allowed electricity to be added, resulting in the fusion of cells. 4. What scientist became a “rival” and what were his experimental results? - Stephen Jones had become a rival because although all three of the scientists were studying fusion, they were all different kinds of fusion. Pons and Fischmann were studying the deuterium in cells while Jones were studying the neutrons of the cell. Using a brand-new detector, Jones was able to find evidence of very small amounts of neutrons that came from their own fused cell. However, the amount was so small that it had no method of practical application. 5. Why did Pons and Fleischmann refuse to collaborate with Jones’ group? Do you think this is a valid reason?
- The other two scientists refused to work with Jones and his group because they believed he had taken details from their grant application and used it to kickstart his own experiment. I think the initial anger about one’s work being “taken” is valid, however, I also believe that if they had all worked together, they could have produced a very effective experiment with great results because one person had more knowledge on different subjects then the others. 6. Were the results obtained from each group similar or different? Briefly explain. - Pons and Fleischmann found that fused cells could be a possible energy source while Jones had used neutron detection for possible energy sources, but it was an insignificant amount. The results were different. Although Pons had also started looking into neutrons, the results were also different and was able to produce more neutrons than Jones and his team. 7. What were the external pressures for Pons and Fleischmann to publish? - For Pons and Fleischmann to publish, there were many external pressures. One of the most prominent was trying to publish before Jones so that they could gain the initial credit as Jones had mentioned being ready to publish before them. 8. Jones asked Pons and Fleischmann to submit their papers together so that they both could share the credit, what were the subsequent unethical actions taken by Pons and Fleischmann? - The unethical action that Pons and Fleischmann used was submitting their own work 5 days after they had agreed to submit their paper alongside Jones’. They also left out many simple experiments that could have provided key evidence to prove their hypothesis correct. 9. What mistakes did the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry make with regards to Pons and Fleischmann’s paper submission? - One of the mistakes within the journal was that in regard to Pons and Fleischmann’s paper submission was that if special treatment was applied to their paper and that it was seen through for a shorter period of time, there could be less peer review which in turn could lead missed flaws within the experiment. The reviewers looked at the two’s paper for one week, when it originally should take several weeks, and a second draft was not proposed with updates to fix the errors.
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