A researcher who stirred up controversy when he claimed to have carried out nuclear fusion in a table-top experiment has been found guilty of scientific misconduct by a panel at Purdue University.
Many scientists have been eager to develop nuclear fusion -- the process that powers the sun -- as an unlimited source of clean energy and an alternative to fossil fuels. But scientists have struggled to unlock the secrets of fusion energy [Reuters].
In 2002, the researcher, Rusi P. Taleyarkhan, announced that he had carried out fusion at room temperature and using relatively cheap materials, and his results were trumpeted on the cover of the prestigious journal Science.
The article was published over the vehement objections of several reviewers and was heavily criticized by other physicists [Los Angeles Times].
Now, the Purdue panel's findings of scientific misconduct cast further doubts on the validity of Taleyarkhan's experiments.
In his original ...
