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The general recognition that Mr Mikhail Gorbachev may be skating on thin ice has caused widespread dismay, but the future is not nearly as bleak as it seems. Adventurous decisions now could assure the future.
Both in Britain and the United States the public says it is more interested in science than (for example) sport. Public knowledge of science gives less cause for gratification.
Although the evidence now accumulating does not prove that that original observations of cold fusion were mistaken, there seems no doubt that cold fusion will never be a commercial source of energy.
Demographics and a harsh economic climate are changing the way governments approach higher education. Finance and other support are being sought from the private sector.