What I admire about the polywater controversy is it was Deryagin himself who did some of the critical experiments proving himself wrong. . . he did great work before and after this and was, as Feynman says one should be, his own worst critic. Note that Fleischman and Pons (cold fusin) did the exact opposite.
Amos, nothing I found mousing around (in a short time) led me to believe that this was peer-reviewed; I agree with you that I didn't see any testable consequences set forth. I find myself quoting Mr. Scott all the time: "Captain! Ya canna' break the laws of physics!"