Burned by premature enthusiasm for cold fusion experiments some years back, the news media has shied away from reporting the multiple efforts to develop new energy sources. Yet one in particular -- the Patterson Power Cell which taps the mysterious properties of empty space -- may hold out real promise. PNS associate editor Walter Truett Anderson, author of "Evolution Isn't What It Used To Be" (W.H. Freeman), is a political scientist who writes widely on technology and global governance.

Strange news is coming out of the laboratories these days -- reports of new devices that can produce amazing amounts of clean energy at low cost. Some experts believe that we may be on the verge of the era of "zero point energy", the ultimate cornucopia -- power generated from the mysterious properties of empty space.

This news could easily be dismissed as just a replay of the "cold fusion" excitement that flared up and then fizzled out a few years ago. But this time the results -- at least in one case -- are verified and far more impressive.

The star performer in the new crop of energy innovations is a device called the Patterson Power Cell. Developed by James A. Patterson, chief scientist at Clean Energy Technologies in Dallas, it is a glass enclosure that contains thousands of tiny metal-coated spheres which serve as electrodes. The "fuel" -- believe it or not! -- is plain water. When zapped with a small amount of electricity -- about 1.4 watts DC power input -- the cell puts out an enormous amount of heat, in some cases hundreds of times the amount of energy input.

This much has been proven in numerous demonstrations and checked out by many observers. It has been tested by the U.S. Patent Office, which has issued four patents on the invention. There's no doubt that the device generates heat. But there's plenty of controversy about how it does what it does.

To the diehards of cold fusion, it represents a powerful vindication of Professors Pons and Fleischmann, the Utah experimenters who in 1989 claimed to have achieved a nuclear reaction by chemical means in a laboratory -- a claim that brought them worldwide publicity and then great embarrassment when the science establishment concluded they hadn't done any such thing. One enthusiast says, "This has represented a profound reversal of scientific fortunes in the "cold fusion" field. One of the most disputed anomalies in the history of science is now heading toward acceptance by the scientific community."

To Patterson and his colleagues, who are understandably leery of being decorated with the cold fusion label, it is a "device that reliably demonstrates chemically assisted nuclear reaction" -- but not necessarily nuclear fusion.

To skeptics, it is merely a highly efficient "heat pump," operating by principles perhaps not yet fully explained but definitely within the realm of conventional science.

And to some, it is the first practical application of zero-point energy, the power of empty space.

The basic idea is well within mainstream science, even though the majority of scientists will argue that nobody has the vaguest idea of how to harness it. It is part of quantum physics, which involves the study of minute subatomic particles whose behavior defies common sense.

One such phenomenon is "vacuum fluctuation" -- particles and waves that spontaneously appear out of nowhere and disappear again. Physics has accepted this in principle for decades, and recent experiments have actually been able to measure its effects. Even though the force as now measurable is minute, it is also potentially infinite. The whole universe pulses with it.

It's not surprising that many scientists and inventors are pursuing this energy holy grail, and that it has produced a network of zero-point true believers. Some are convinced that the Patterson Cell is actually tapping into quantum energy rather than performing any kind of nuclear reaction.

It is also not surprising that the media, having been burned by premature enthusiasm for the Pons-Fleischmann experiments, are ignoring the current surge of activity in the development of new energy sources -- whether called cold fusion, chemically assisted nuclear reaction, or zero-point energy.

This will change. The turning point will come when and if the Patterson Power Cell can position itself in the hard world of commerce, as its developers seek to develop practical applications such as industrial heat and power heaters, and battering charging units.

The possibilities of a mature zero-point energy technology are mind-boggling -- the end of the fossil-fuel era, limitless amounts of energy, a new science and technology "vacuum engineering", perhaps even a sci-fi "warp drive" to propel space ships.

As one scientist remarks, "It would be just as presumptuous to deny the feasibility of useful application as it would be irresponsible to guarantee such application."