One of the most iconic images of my childhood is when my scientist-inventor dad attempted to reproduce in his own lab the Fleischmann–Pons experiments of the late 80s. He'd built (I think to spec) an exact replica according to the published designs. Of course, nothing ever came of it, but it still fascinates me to this day thinking of him laboring over that. (The long beard and unkempt hair lent well to my image of him as mad scientist.)

I asked him later about the results of those experiments, and his sort of retort sounded like an embarrassing admission, something along the lines of "nothing will ever come of that."

I still idol the awesomeness of those days though.