Yes I agree, and if cold fusion turns out to be genuine it would be tremendously exciting indeed. It would turn the world of physics on its head.
Here's a 60 Minutes report on cold fusion you might find interesting.
Cold Fusion Hot Again
Despite the anecdotal evidence there and the respectable people lending support, old school physicists still won't take it seriously enough for a thorough investigation. As it says in the video, measuring electricity going into the apparatus is one of the most simple calculations.
Just as an example, I have a cheapo AC clamp meter (~£50), it will clamp over the live AC input and will tell me precisely what the electrical current is (by measuring the alternating magnetic field strength) of any AC cable. Multiply that value by the rms voltage and you have the total power being supplied. Or to be anal, measure the neutral also and subtract it from the live power value to yield the true energy consumption. Its not exactly rocket science, and I can hardly believe so many laboratories can be getting this wrong, and they must be getting it wrong if cold fusion/nuclear effect isn't a real phenomenon.
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A rather lighthearted take on cold fusion:
MIT Cold Fusion - The Revolution Has Begun !
Interesting that even MIT professors are studying this, and claiming it works.