In the 1990s, Samuel T. Cohen, the father of the neutron bomb, became extremely vocal about the fact that the Soviets had discovered a new raw material that could potentially spell the end of organised society. Red mercury had hit the market. 



Apparently, when detonated in combination with conventional high explosives, it could create city-flattening blasts like a nuclear bomb. And, it would help make nuclear fusion weapons more efficient and considerably smaller. It was an arms dealer’s dream!



In theory, red mercury could produce enormous pressures and temperatures, sufficient to initiate a mini pure fusion explosion. Traditionally, fusion weapons need a fission component to trigger the deuterium fusion. However, with red mercury, this fission step is supposedly unnecessary. Cohen described it as a remarkably non-exploding high explosive. Sounds like something from a Marvel movie right?

SOURCES:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/30/thisweekssciencequestions1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen#Red_Mercury_claims

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1997.11456737

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazher_Mahmood

https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050603/http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/douglass/2003/0311.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-doomsday-scam.html

https://www.gizbot.com/internet/news/what-is-red-mercury-and-why-people-are-ready-to-pay-lakhs-for-it-068487.html

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13418241-900-only-fools-still-hunt-for-elusive-red-mercury/



CHAPTERS:

00:00 Samuel T. Cohen Concerns About New Raw Material

03:05 Red Mercury: Doomsday Dreams

07:41 Mass Destruction or Myth?

10:06 Red Mercury Hoaxes 

14:23 Cohen Claims Red Mercury Exists

17:28 Frank Barnaby’s Investigations

23:30 Scammers and Fake Red Mercury

31:12 The Mystical and Sexual Properties of Mercury

41:16 The Enduring Red Mercury Scam

In the 1990s, Samuel T. Cohen, the father of the neutron bomb, became extremely vocal about the fact that the Soviets had discovered a new raw material that could potentially spell the end of organised society. Red mercury had hit the market. 
 
Apparently, when detonated in combination with conventional high explosives, it could create city-flattening blasts like a nuclear bomb. And, it would help make nuclear fusion weapons more efficient and considerably smaller. It was an arms dealer’s dream!
 
In theory, red mercury could produce enormous pressures and temperatures, sufficient to initiate a mini pure fusion explosion. Traditionally, fusion weapons need a fission component to trigger the deuterium fusion. However, with red mercury, this fission step is supposedly unnecessary. Cohen described it as a remarkably non-exploding high explosive. Sounds like something from a Marvel movie right?
SOURCES:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/30/thisweekssciencequestions1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/30/thisweekssciencequestions1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3qQhoqhFeZit2LdrGv_Ljw">https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/30/thisweekssciencequestions1</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen#Red_Mercury_claims" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen%23Red_Mercury_claims&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1vtPa2FCwLDvWAvnYTkycT">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen#Red_Mercury_claims</a>
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1997.11456737" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1997.11456737&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1_qy4CxEpwIaxIy9H__-qs">https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1997.11456737</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazher_Mahmood" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazher_Mahmood&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Ky9goVHKGGtz143m-fmkP">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazher_Mahmood</a>
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050603/http:/www.financialsense.com/editorials/douglass/2003/0311.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050603/http:/www.financialsense.com/editorials/douglass/2003/0311.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3i1LiQxVbhncnQyc8xZoVs">https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050603/http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/douglass/2003/0311.html</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-doomsday-scam.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-doomsday-scam.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Do-dvvxuQhG0-oHGIwvsX">https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-doomsday-scam.html</a>
<a href="https://www.gizbot.com/internet/news/what-is-red-mercury-and-why-people-are-ready-to-pay-lakhs-for-it-068487.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gizbot.com/internet/news/what-is-red-mercury-and-why-people-are-ready-to-pay-lakhs-for-it-068487.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw06lV5D6xRSOVF8pWrqxS2g">https://www.gizbot.com/internet/news/what-is-red-mercury-and-why-people-are-ready-to-pay-lakhs-for-it-068487.html</a>
<a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13418241-900-only-fools-still-hunt-for-elusive-red-mercury/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13418241-900-only-fools-still-hunt-for-elusive-red-mercury/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0vy9Ryrzw4AdsG9ITQV7ji">https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13418241-900-only-fools-still-hunt-for-elusive-red-mercury/</a>
 
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Samuel T. Cohen Concerns About New Raw Material
03:05 Red Mercury: Doomsday Dreams
07:41 Mass Destruction or Myth?
10:06 Red Mercury Hoaxes 
14:23 Cohen Claims Red Mercury Exists
17:28 Frank Barnaby’s Investigations
23:30 Scammers and Fake Red Mercury
31:12 The Mystical and Sexual Properties of Mercury
41:16 The Enduring Red Mercury Scam

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed. 

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed.

Bizarre science history from academics with beers

Advertisement