Piezonuclear Fission Reactions Research Articles

Retraction Note: “An indirect evidence of piezonuclear fission reactions: Geomechanical and geochemical evolution in the Earth’s crust”

The Editor-in-Chief is retracting this article [1] because it contains a significant amount of overlap with [2].

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Elemental content variations in crushed mortar specimens measured by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA)

Previous investigations concerning neutron emission measurements highlighted piezonuclear fission reactions during mechanical tests on iron-rich materials. Based on our experimental evidences, iron can be considered one of the most convenient elements as regards fission into aluminium or into magnesium and silicon. In the present investigation, we apply the Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) in order to provide experimental evidence of elemental content variations in mortar specimens subjected to compression tests up to crushing failure. To emphasize such a phenomenon, the specimens were highly enriched with iron oxides. Twenty-four chemical elements, including iron, aluminum, magnesium, and silicon, were quantified before and after the mechanical tests by means of chemical and INAA analyses. Our intention was mainly that of confirming low energy nuclear reactions involving fission of iron into aluminum. To this purpose, the concentrations of aluminum before and after the compression tests of the mortar specimens are presented and discussed.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Is the Shroud of Turin in relation to the Old Jerusalem historical earthquake?

Phillips and Hedges suggested, in the scientific magazine Nature (1989), that neutron radiation could be liable of a wrong radiocarbon dating, while proton radiation could be responsible of the Shroud body image formation. On the other hand, no plausible physical reason has been proposed so far to explain the radiation source origin, and its effects on the linen fibres. However, some recent studies, carried out by the first author and his Team at the Laboratory of Fracture Mechanics of the Politecnico di Torino, found that it is possible to generate neutron emissions from very brittle rock specimens in compression through piezonuclear fission reactions. Analogously, neutron flux increments, in correspondence to seismic activity, should be a result of the same reactions. A group of Russian scientists measured a neutron flux exceeding the background level by three orders of magnitude in correspondence to rather appreciable earthquakes (4th degree in Richter Scale). The authors consider the possibility that neutron emissions by earthquakes could have induced the image formation on Shroud linen fibres, trough thermal neutron capture by Nitrogen nuclei, and provided a wrong radiocarbon dating due to an increment in C 6 14 content. Let us consider that, although the calculated integral flux of 1013 neutrons per square centimetre is 10 times greater than the cancer therapy dose, nevertheless it is 100 times smaller than the lethal dose.

Reply to “Comments on ‘Geomechanical and Geochemical Evidence of Piezonuclear Fission Reactions in the Earth's Crust’ by A. Carpinteri and A. Manuello” by U. Bardi and G. Comoretto

ABSTRACTIn the paper entitled “Comments on ‘Geomechanical and Geochemical Evidence of Piezonuclear Fission Reactions in the Earth's Crust’ by A. Carpinteri and Manuello” by U. Bardi and G. Comoretto, the authors criticise the hypothesis based on piezonuclear reactions for the interpretation of the compositional evolution of the Earth's crust. We report a detailed reply of how the traditional theories, used by the authors of the comments, are obviously inadequate to describe this new kind of nuclear phenomena. Only very recently, independent authors proposed a theoretical model explaining the anomalous energy emissions in the form of neutrons, involved in piezonuclear reactions, during fracture of nonradioactive rocks. It is also known how the evidences that Bardi and Comoretto claim to be non‐existent could be found in many independent works that appeared in most important journals about unexplained questions of the Earth's crust and environment. The data reported in the original work and the details included in this reply show that it is incorrect to consider impossible or simply to ignore the existence of unexplained phenomena only because they cannot be described by traditional models and conventional theories.

Comments on ‘Geomechanical and Geochemical Evidence of Piezonuclear Fission Reactions in the Earth's Crust’ by A. Carpinteri and A. Manuello

ABSTRACTIn ‘Geomechanical and Geochemical Evidence of Piezonuclear Fission Reactions in the Earth's Crust' [Carpinteri and Manuello, Strain (2011) 47(2), 267], the authors claim that the composition of the Earth's crust and of its atmosphere can be explained by hypothetical piezonuclear reactions. We argue that these claims are contrary to the known experimental evidence of the energy balance of the nuclear reactions involved, and we report a detailed criticism of the claims of the paper.

Piezonuclear Fission Reactions from Earthquakes and Brittle Rocks Failure: Evidence of Neutron Emission and Non-Radioactive Product Elements

Neutron emission measurements, by means of He3 devices and bubble detectors, were performed during three different kinds of compression tests on brittle rocks: (i) under monotonic displacement control, (ii) under cyclic loading, and (iii) by ultrasonic vibration. The material used for the tests was Luserna stone, with different specimen sizes and shapes, and consequently with different brittleness numbers. Some studies had been already conducted on the different forms of energy emitted during the failure of brittle materials. They are based on the signals captured by acoustic emission measurement systems, or on the detection of electromagnetic charge. On the other hand, piezonuclear neutron emissions from very brittle rock specimens in compression have been discovered only very recently. In this paper, the authors analyse this phenomenon from an experimental point of view. Since the analyzed material contains iron, additional experiments have been performed on steel specimens subjected to tension and compression, observing, also in this case, neutron emissions well distinguishable from the background level. Our conjecture is that piezonuclear reactions involving fission of iron into aluminum, or into magnesium and silicon, should have occurred during compression damage and failure. This hypothesis is confirmed by the direct evidence of Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) tests conducted on the specimens. It is also interesting to emphasize that the anomalous chemical balances of the major events that have affected the geomechanical and geochemical evolution of the Earth’s Crust should be considered as an indirect evidence of the piezonuclear fission reactions considered above.

Piezonuclear Fission Reactions in Rocks: Evidences from Microchemical Analysis, Neutron Emission, and Geological Transformation

Neutron emission measurements, by means of He3 devices and bubble detectors, were performed during three different kinds of compression tests on brittle rocks: (1) under monotonic displacement control, (2) under cyclic loading, and (3) by ultrasonic vibration. The material used for the tests was Luserna Stone. Since the analyzed material contains iron, our conjecture is that piezonuclear reactions involving fission of iron into aluminum, or into magnesium and silicon, should have occurred during compression damage and failure. This hypothesis is confirmed by the direct evidence of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy tests conducted on Luserna Stone specimens. It is also interesting to emphasize that the anomalous chemical balances of the major events that have affected the geomechanical and geochemical evolution of the Earth’s crust should be considered as an indirect evidence of the piezonuclear fission reactions considered above.

An indirect evidence of piezonuclear fission reactions: Geomechanical and geochemical evolution in the Earth’s crust

Piezonuclear reactions, which occur in inert and nonradioactive elements, are induced by high pressure and, in particular, by brittle fracture phenomena in solids under compression. These low energy reactions generally take place in nuclei with an atomic weight that is lower or equal to that of iron (Fe). The experimental evidence, obtained from repeatable measurements of neutron emissions, can be also recognized considering the anomalous chemical balances of the major events that have affected the Earth’s crust, oceans and atmosphere, over the last four billion years. These anomalies include: (i) the abrupt variations in the most abundant elements in correspondence to the formation of tectonic plates; (ii) the Great Oxidation Event (2.7 to 2.4 billion years ago), with a sharp increase in atmospheric oxygen and the subsequent origin of life; (iii) the increase of carbon and nytrogen concentrations in the primordial atmosphere.

Energy emissions from brittle fracture: Neutron measurements and geological evidences of piezonuclear reactions

Neutron emission measurements, by means of 3 He devices and neutron bubble detectors, were performed during three different kinds of compression tests on brittle rocks: (i) under displacement control, (ii) under cyclic loading and (iii) by ultrasonic vibration. The material used for the tests was Green Luserna Granite. Since the analyzed material contains iron, our conjecture is that piezonuclear fission reactions involving fission of iron into aluminum, or into magnesium and silicon, should have occurred during compression damage and failure. This hypothesis is confirmed by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) tests conducted on Luserna Granite specimens. It is also interesting to emphasize that the present natural abundances of aluminum (≈8%), and silicon (28%) and scarcity of iron (≈4%) in the continental Earth's crust should be possibly due to the piezonuclear fission reactions considered above.

Compositional and Microchemical Evidence of Piezonuclear Fission Reactions in Rock Specimens Subjected to Compression Tests

Abstract: Energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS) is performed on different samples of external or fracture surfaces belonging to specimens used in piezonuclear tests [Strain 45, 2009, 332; Strain (in press); Phys. Lett. A. 373, 2009, 4158]. For each sample, different measurements of the same crystalline phases (phengite or biotite) are performed to obtain averaged information of the chemical composition and to detect possible piezonuclear transmutations from iron to lighter elements. The samples were carefully chosen to investigate and compare the same minerals both before and after the crushing failure. Phengite and biotite, which are quite common in the Luserna stone (20 and 2%, respectively), are considered owing to the high iron concentration in their chemical compositions. The results of EDS analyses show that, on the fracture surface samples, a considerable reduction in the iron content (∼25%) is counterbalanced by an increase in Al, Si, and Mg concentrations.

Geomechanical and Geochemical Evidence of Piezonuclear Fission Reactions in the Earth’s Crust

Abstract: Piezonuclear reactions, which occur in inert and non‐radioactive elements, are induced by high pressure and, in particular, by brittle fracture phenomena in solids under compression. These low‐energy reactions generally take place in nuclei with an atomic weight that is lower or equal to that of iron (Fe). The experimental evidence, obtained from repeatable measurements of neutron emissions [Strain 45, 2009, 332; Strain (in press); Phys. Lett. A. 373, 2009, 4158], can be also recognised considering the anomalous chemical balances of the major events that have affected the Earth’s crust, oceans and atmosphere, over the last 4 billion years. These anomalies include (i) abrupt variations in the most abundant elements in correspondence with the formation of tectonic plates; (ii) the ‘Great Oxidation Event’ (2.7–2.4 billion years ago), with a sharp increase in atmospheric oxygen and the subsequent origin of life; (iii) the current climate acceleration partially because of ‘carbon pollution’. Natural piezonuclear reactions are induced by fault sliding and plate subduction phenomena.