text: Cold fusion is a nuclear fusion reaction which its proponents claim occurs well below the temperature required for thermonuclear reactions (millions of degrees Celsius) in a relatively small "table top" apparatus. A variety of experimental methods are used; originally electrolytic cells. The idea was first brought into popular consciousness by the Fleischmann-Pons experiment in March of 1989, which was front-page news for some time, and has been controversial ever since. Cold fusion is sometimes referred to as low energy nuclear reactions (LENR) or chemically-assisted nuclear reactions (CANR