"At this point I am a little bit pessimistic," Silvera says. "If we perform the experiment the way we want and we don't get results, then we're not going to pursue it."

Another Harvard team at the Advanced Physics Laboratory tried to duplicate the experiment procedure Pons and Fleischmann used, but gave up on its tests after they failed to produce either heat or neutrons.

Most cold fusion experiments around the world also yielded negative results, and the repeated reports of failure fueled speculation that Pons and Fleischmann's discovery was closer to science fiction than science.

The dissatisfaction with the Utah team's experimental technique came to a head at a convention of the American Physical Society on May 1, when several physicists charged that the claims of Pons and Fleischmann were unsubstantiated and that the two had used shoddy research methods.

Some observers called the accusations levelled against the pair by physicists "chemist-bashing."

"There have been many non-professional and emotional comments," said Dr. James Brophy, vice president for research at the University of Utah. "That is something that I have not seen before."

"They are two very respected scientists with worldwide reputations," Brophy continued. "They believe their work is correct."

Chemists one week later defended their colleagues and criticized the physicists for their attacks on Pons and Fleischmann. The resulting rift between physicists and chemists further clouded the cold fusion debate.

"Unfortunately there has been a polarization between the chemistry and physics community," Silvera says. "I don't think science needs that kind of confrontation."

At a conference in Los Alamos, N.M., two weeks ago, a group of scientists from both fields seemed to resolve the scientific schism, concluding that Pons and Fleischmann's research was flawed and that the heat they found was produced by a chemical reaction--not fusion.

"The whole thing is over," said prominent Yale physicist Moshe Gai, who attended the conference. "Pons and Fleischmann's experiment is clearly flawed."

But the scientists at the conference also supported the cold fusion findings of Brigham Young University professor Steven Jones, who detected neutron emission in small quantities. That discovery suggests that there are minute amounts of fusion occurring inside the palladium, a discovery which has few commercial applications but is of great scientific interest.

Jones, who initially worked with Pons and Fleischmann but was left out when the pair made their dramatic announcement in March, said he will be collaborating with Gai this summer. He emphasized that they will study his experiment, rather than the one conducted by Pons and Fleischmann.

"We'll be looking at the cold fusion reaction, in particular the Brigham Young phenomenon rather than that other one," Jones said. "That is, we'll be looking for neutrons rather than heat."

'I Dont Think the Story's Over'