Someone commented "...Just swap "red mercury" with "religion"."
That I find yet another wrong approach. The world is constituted by beliefs. What would be the answer to the eternal "Why"-question without any belief? Scientific materialism? That's just yet another belief-system. If you study a bit of (Jungian) psychology you might know what I mean.
That I find yet another wrong approach. The world is constituted by beliefs. What would be the answer to the eternal "Why"-question without any belief? Scientific materialism? That's just yet another belief-system. If you study a bit of (Jungian) psychology you might know what I mean.
1
This sounds vaguely like alchemy, and I'm going to follow up with my history of science friends. My spouse also recommended this article for further reading ...
http://www.tor.com/2012/07/20/a-tall-tail/
http://www.tor.com/2012/07/20/a-tall-tail/
If they could secure a powerful agent like this why would they use it on Syria and Iraq? Those are properties they want to own and live in.
I believe they'd use it on the US. A place they hate more than anything.
I believe they'd use it on the US. A place they hate more than anything.
This reminds me that the Iraqis security forces believed in a bomb detector device to screen people at checkpoints. It was an expensive hoax.
1
Persistent myths do reveal the deeper communal desires of a community. Basically ISIS want a substance that can be mixed with conventional explosives and make a city uninhabitable. Radioactive waste from a nuclear power station would do that. If they managed to put barrels of nuclear waste in a lead-lined shipping container, surround it with shipping containers full of ammonium nitrate, and explode the lot on a container ship in a United States harbour, then they could achieve their Red Mercury goal.
1
Good old Godknows... came closest to finding Red Mercury as he pried open what appeared to be a tuna can.
If the stakes weren't so serious, it'd actually be funny.
2
As I read about red mercury, I was reminded of what my friends believe. A high-end pharmacy in my neighborhood has a display of homeopathic remedies. I spoke to a pharmacist. "We don't like it, but we can't do anything."
If you don't know about homeopathy, now is a good time to learn.
My culture is woefully ignorant of science, and my highly educated friends can't distinguish medieval beliefs from science. Or maybe I have been deluded by a vast international conspiracy.
If you don't know about homeopathy, now is a good time to learn.
My culture is woefully ignorant of science, and my highly educated friends can't distinguish medieval beliefs from science. Or maybe I have been deluded by a vast international conspiracy.
1
I think Red Mercury exists because what better way to mythologize it then by publishing an article in a reputable journal that it really doesn't exist. In fact, some of the "myths" discussed make it sound like the stories that filtered out about cold fusion. One wonders if Pons and Fleisher stumbled onto RM and were discredited to hide the truth???
Hey, I have a perpetual movement machine and a car that produces more gas than it uses. I'll sell for $4 million.
Singer had a sewing machine factory in Podolsk Russia until 1917 when it was nationalized and then the Russians kept producing identical machines under a different name, and then in 1994 Singer bought back the plant.
Those are not Muslims. They are terrorists who do not represent true Islam.
Ahmed al-Tayeb, sheikh of al-Azhar University in Cairo Egypt's top Muslim cleric said on Nov.21,2015 that terrorism was a disease that used religion as a front and it was wrong to blame Islam for crimes committed in its name like last week's Paris attacks.
In a meeting of the Muslim Council of Elders which he heads that he condemned the Paris bloodshed. He said this violence had no link to authentic Islam.
"It is a clear injustice, and blatant bias, to tie the crimes of bombing and destruction happening now to Islam. Just because those who commit them cry 'Allahu Akbar' as they commit their atrocities, terrorism was a life philosophy whose adherents were willing to die, but it was not the by-product of any Abrahamic faith. It was rather an "intellectual and psychological disease" that used religion as a front”. Tayeb said.
Those who burn Korans and Mosques in the West are also "terrorists", Tayeb said, and their actions served as fuel for Islamist militancy.
Ahmed al-Tayeb, sheikh of al-Azhar University in Cairo Egypt's top Muslim cleric said on Nov.21,2015 that terrorism was a disease that used religion as a front and it was wrong to blame Islam for crimes committed in its name like last week's Paris attacks.
In a meeting of the Muslim Council of Elders which he heads that he condemned the Paris bloodshed. He said this violence had no link to authentic Islam.
"It is a clear injustice, and blatant bias, to tie the crimes of bombing and destruction happening now to Islam. Just because those who commit them cry 'Allahu Akbar' as they commit their atrocities, terrorism was a life philosophy whose adherents were willing to die, but it was not the by-product of any Abrahamic faith. It was rather an "intellectual and psychological disease" that used religion as a front”. Tayeb said.
Those who burn Korans and Mosques in the West are also "terrorists", Tayeb said, and their actions served as fuel for Islamist militancy.
2
Readers seem to be forgetting that ISIS bomb-makers have proven themselves to be awfully good at building bombs that kill lots of people:
"If they burn up their resources searching for the Philosopher's Stone of Terror, it may prevent them from actually getting there hands on materials that can actually be a problem."
They HAVE got their hands on materials that ACTUALLY are a problem. You may think they fall for "red mercury" scams, but the facts don't support you. They're building ACTUAL BOMBS that kill many ACTUAL PEOPLE. Have you noticed?
"If they burn up their resources searching for the Philosopher's Stone of Terror, it may prevent them from actually getting there hands on materials that can actually be a problem."
They HAVE got their hands on materials that ACTUALLY are a problem. You may think they fall for "red mercury" scams, but the facts don't support you. They're building ACTUAL BOMBS that kill many ACTUAL PEOPLE. Have you noticed?
What region?
"This reinforces my belief that ignorance and superstition are the root causes for all the trouble in this region."
This article smugly assures us that ISIS bomb-makers act out of "ignorance and superstition." I doubt that, but it doesn't matter either way. What matters is that they build lots of bombs that kill lots of people. If it makes you feel better to believe they're often duped by charlatans offering to sell them "red mercury," by all means believe that. I don't. But what we believe doesn't change the important fact: they build lots of bombs that kill lots of people.
"This reinforces my belief that ignorance and superstition are the root causes for all the trouble in this region."
This article smugly assures us that ISIS bomb-makers act out of "ignorance and superstition." I doubt that, but it doesn't matter either way. What matters is that they build lots of bombs that kill lots of people. If it makes you feel better to believe they're often duped by charlatans offering to sell them "red mercury," by all means believe that. I don't. But what we believe doesn't change the important fact: they build lots of bombs that kill lots of people.
Reminds me of Albert Gore's search for a man made climate. Everybody talks about it, lots of people make money selling products which claim to avoid its consequences but it never really stands out in contrast with rest of nature bearing the stamp of a true human artifact. Nonsensical swirling rivers of oceanic precipitation generated by software geeks pretending to forecast doomsday. And finally the mob accusations hurled at unconvinced taxpayers forced to feed a government agency wearing no apparent clothing.
1
Anyone who studied chemistry and physics at a decent high school ...
... will know without any testing of the principal claims made for "red mercury", that such claims are contrary to properties of matter which were solidly established generations ago.
... will know without any testing of the principal claims made for "red mercury", that such claims are contrary to properties of matter which were solidly established generations ago.
I was about to start laughing at the gullible jihadis, when I remembered that many Americans still believe in trickle-down economics.
11
And it is the people that believe this who have us running and hiding, and believing they are impossible to defeat?
"This does not seem like good information to share..."
Oh please! In case you haven't noticed, these ISIS guys have built plenty of bombs that have killed plenty of people. The NYT may take comfort in characterizing them as rubes who search foolishly for "red mercury," and it may be comforting for you to believe that too, but I suspect they don't fall for any of this.
Oh please! In case you haven't noticed, these ISIS guys have built plenty of bombs that have killed plenty of people. The NYT may take comfort in characterizing them as rubes who search foolishly for "red mercury," and it may be comforting for you to believe that too, but I suspect they don't fall for any of this.
"I have an old sewing machine that spins Red Mercury yarns for sale half price, only $25k!"
We can make fun of credulous jihadists all we like, but the fact remains that they're building lots of bombs that are killing lots of people. Maybe they're not as dumb as the NY Times would like us to believe.
We can make fun of credulous jihadists all we like, but the fact remains that they're building lots of bombs that are killing lots of people. Maybe they're not as dumb as the NY Times would like us to believe.
1
David Ignatius wrote a story about a man offering red mercury for sale in one of the Soviet-era Uralian science centers in the 1990s that ran in the Wall Street Journal's A-hed column. I don't remember if one of the substance's attributes were as an enhancer of explosions, but I do recall bursting out laughing at Ignatius' quotes from the seller's spiel. Now if we could only get Daesh to start shopping for Kryptonite...
And now we know why, the world over, Muslim majority countries are the most underdeveloped, corrupt and hopeless places. From Somalia to Syria, not much changes - a belief in 70 virgins for killing one self, writing off 1/2 their population (women) and Red Mercury, are their tools of self-deception.
5
*correction
And why would any of us need to know this?
This does not seem like good information to share, especially if it has potential to entrap people who *don't* know better (and have bad intentions).
Am I foolish to think the benefits of story are outweighed by informed use of this scam to root out bad guys?
And why would any of us need to know this?
This does not seem like good information to share, especially if it has potential to entrap people who *don't* know better (and have bad intentions).
Am I foolish to think the benefits of story are outweighed by informed use of this scam to root out bad guys?
6
I thought exactly the same thing.
Or, perhaps, this is an attempt on the part of the West to dissuade Daesh from pursuing such a lethal weapon. Sometimes fiction is stranger than truth.
When I started reading, I thought the same thing. Then I remembered that people's beliefs are often not changed by facts. Nothing I say or do will convince the "alternative medicine" crowd that ordinary medicine works better. Daesh will interpret our denials as proof that red mercury exists.
Just wonder how much time the FBI, CIA, NSA spent on the topic of red mercury...
don't think the jihadists are the only ones who will believe almost anything!!!
don't think the jihadists are the only ones who will believe almost anything!!!
2
Perhaps we should have saved this article for April Fool's day? Besides the comically non-sensical chemistry even the personal names are silly... such as "Abu Suleiman al-Kurdi" (which translates as something like Father Suleiman the Kurd)
1
Trey Gowdy will start his congressional committee hearings about the doomsday bombs made with red mercury as soon as he gets back from his next fund raising junket. He was called out for wasting millions on the Benghazzi nonsense and now he needs a new fear mongering topic to waste money and we all know science is for scientists.
4
Fascinating. It's somehow encouraging to know that jihadi's can be scammed and fooled - and suggests a possibly underutilized mode of attack on the movement. Although, as scams go, the scam of red mercury is small stuff compared to how Bush/Cheney/Rice/Wolfowitz & the whole crew of neocons scammed our nation into the ruinous and stupid second war in Iraq.
6
The first thing that came to my mind from seeing "red mercury" is cinnabar, mercury sulfide, a red compound. Cinnabar also constituted a scam of sorts, as (among other uses) it had a reputation in ancient China as an alchemical longevity agent, and resulted in the poisoning of some who pursued that avenue of knowledge by taking it over a long term.
1
Wasn't red mercury the WMD we found in Iraq?
I knew it.
Yea, look at THOSE gullible fools.
I knew it.
Yea, look at THOSE gullible fools.
5
This reinforces my belief that ignorance and superstition are the root causes for all the trouble in this region.
4
It's easy to construct a world around comic-book scenarios: just start out with a magic book that tells you that you and your co-religionists are the only true rulers of the world, that your rituals and folk beliefs are the only righteous way for human beings to live, and that you have a perfect right to rule, own or destroy anything. Then add lots of young men, lots of free time, modern (i.e., almost-magic) weapons, and the chance for them to wander around blowing things up while looking for actual magic weapons.
Pelcer, the illustrator, has done an excellent job of showing both the boys themselves, and the kind of mental landscape inhabited by not-very-bright, heavily armed boys.
Pelcer, the illustrator, has done an excellent job of showing both the boys themselves, and the kind of mental landscape inhabited by not-very-bright, heavily armed boys.
E. S. Jackson has given a perfect description of today's Pentagon/Republican consortium. They believe they are the only true rulers of the world with their huge fleets of nuclear aircraft carriers, their atomic submarines armed with nuclear missiles, and their trillion dollar credit lending scams. They have their folk beliefs propagated constantly by Fox News, and their folk ritual of "showing the flag" anywhere in the world, then destabilising and invading any country with oil reserves, because they believe have the perfect right to rule, own and destroy anything. They have magic weapons, with satellites that can listen in on any telephone conversation in the world, and robot aircraft that can then kill the person carrying that telephone.
When Wall Street buys the Presidency for Donald Trump, he will become the epitome of the not-very-bright, heavily armed boys who currently terrorise US schools by massacring random classrooms full of innocents every month or so.
When Wall Street buys the Presidency for Donald Trump, he will become the epitome of the not-very-bright, heavily armed boys who currently terrorise US schools by massacring random classrooms full of innocents every month or so.
You can get bleach to do exactly what happened in the al-Kurdi demonstration with a little bit of acetic acid (vinegar). Maybe if the spent more time studying science texts that religious texts, they wouldn't fall for 19th century parlor tricks.
But maybe we should perpetuate the myths instead of disprove them... If they burn up their resources searching for the Philosopher's Stone of Terror, it may prevent them from actually getting there hands on materials that can actually be a problem.
But maybe we should perpetuate the myths instead of disprove them... If they burn up their resources searching for the Philosopher's Stone of Terror, it may prevent them from actually getting there hands on materials that can actually be a problem.
2
Mercury has been a favorite since ancient times as the alchemist's friend for impressing primitives. Rub a little on tarnished silver, suddenly gleaming silver in its place. These simple demonstrations impressed kings that magicians could turn their lead into gold. The downside involved the nasty manifestations of 5th century types when they realize that they've been defrauded.
3
This is why we can't rush to send ground troops into Syria. It's a new kind of war and whether red mercury is or isn't what they say it is, the intent is there to draw us in and inflict massive casualties with chemical and or nuclear type weapons. It's a different kind of war that requires a new and smarter strategy in order defeat an enemy that doesnt value human life, not even their own.
Was anyone else reminded of that BREAKING BAD episode involving fulminate of mercury?
3
Let's laugh until we cry. Our punch line is wispy beards -- men with no chance of anything in their lives other than killing and being killed, pawns in a petroleum crusade rendered obsolete by fracking, raging in blind hate, vicious as any sentient creature whipped by their own until pain becomes a unifying dull throb of sinister collective vengeance. Their punch line is WMDs in the desert, American sheep herded by wolves with advanced degrees from Harvard, Yale, men of great learning and superior knowledge with the mightiest military force in human history, utterly defeated by our own arrogance and stupidity. Wasting lives -- our own and theirs -- and squan-dering any hard won moral standing and a generation's worth of public wealth. Cheney, Bush, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld have left us a nation of snarling, quarrelsome sheep, deeper in debt, divided, delusional, and spiritually dimmed. So diminished that even good people find solace in this fairy tale of jihadists of our own creation witlessly searching for the magic sword that strikes dead the infidel authors of their bleak fate where suicide is their best career option. We laugh at the folly of red mercury. But the wispy beards chuckle at how we ignited the jihad for them, how furiously futile our military might is, how deeply divided we've become as a people. If there's a last laugh here, only a staggering fool would claim it.
4
We are lucky Islam does not promote scientific temper!
Actually, the foundations of modern science and mathematics were established in Islamic universities during Europe's "dark ages."
If any who seek to do us harm happen to see this, they should know that our supplies of 1) Lint intra umbilicus, 2) pollicem fungus and 3) auribus cera are completely well protected and impossible to access. Don't waste your time.
1
You used to be able to commonly find a red Mercury in front of rural Dairy Queens. Perhaps terrorists whose English was a bit lacking heard Alan Jackson sing "Crazy bout a Mercury" and got the wrong idea.
Pan hopes in his or her comment that Ben Carson does not read this article before opening his mouth on the subject. (My phrasing, not Pan's.) It probably does not matter if Carson has already read this story. Likely he has read stories about global warning and the age of the earth without it affecting his "thinking."
As to Manhattan project alumni Samuel Cohen's "belief" in red mercury, perhaps it was part of a smart, government disinformation plan. Or, perhaps, like other people a half century after doing their best work, his thinking is not what it used to be.
As an aside: excellent reads on the evolution of scientific culture as it evolved from an international fraternity to nationalistic government (and corporate) endeavors -- resulting largely from nuclear energy discoveries -- are Robert Jungk's "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" and Noel Davis' "Lawrence and Oppenheimer."
Pan hopes in his or her comment that Ben Carson does not read this article before opening his mouth on the subject. (My phrasing, not Pan's.) It probably does not matter if Carson has already read this story. Likely he has read stories about global warning and the age of the earth without it affecting his "thinking."
As to Manhattan project alumni Samuel Cohen's "belief" in red mercury, perhaps it was part of a smart, government disinformation plan. Or, perhaps, like other people a half century after doing their best work, his thinking is not what it used to be.
As an aside: excellent reads on the evolution of scientific culture as it evolved from an international fraternity to nationalistic government (and corporate) endeavors -- resulting largely from nuclear energy discoveries -- are Robert Jungk's "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" and Noel Davis' "Lawrence and Oppenheimer."
1
The real stockpiles of a metaphorical red mercury is in Pakistan which is closer, easier, readily available and last but not the least real. These aspirations are disturbing, not least because there is a mass support for group that wants to do something of this nature. The article is well researched and well written, even entertaining and hppefully it will remain as that.
Red mercury actually has a far older history than this article. It is talked about in John Dee's alchemy work when he was the Court Magician for Queen Elizabeth. Edward Kelly claimed to have "red mercury" as part of their work on the Philosopher's Stone; their work on transmutation of lead into gold. This was back in the last 1500's...Dee and Kelly were really early chemists assigning "mystical" properties to various elements not knowing what we know now.
3
An opportunity missed. The CIA should have made some red mercury, using raspberry gelatin as the nefarious substance sans sugar and flavor, available on the Russian black market then staged a meeting, rounded up all the buyers and made them disappear by sending them to the Red Planet where they can mine all they want.
Actually I'm surprised no one mentioned cinnabar or mercury sulfide from which most elemental mercury is derived. Although quite toxic, because it’s red it has been used a rouge cosmetic in the past even though the Romans were aware of the dangers. You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnabar Of course it's nothing like the "red mercury" that the Daesh dimwits lust after. That they’re taken in is no different than those phishing emails from Nigerian princes with millions of dollars they will happily share with you if only you send them $3,000 for expenses. Oh well, if Daesh wants to spend its money on illusionary WMDs, I say go for it.
1
This is terrible! How could the NY Times publish this? Revealing that this is a hoax will gravely affect ongoing Middle Eastern operations to bankrupt ISIS. You know they reach for this newspaper first while quaffing their beer after a hard day of dodging missiles, and now they'll know to invest their hard-stolen funds in green mercury instead. Shameful!
Forget red mercury!
Let's find those spectacles that enable the wearer to see through clothing...and the 100mpg carburettor that the oil companies have kept off the market
Let's find those spectacles that enable the wearer to see through clothing...and the 100mpg carburettor that the oil companies have kept off the market
2
Does it come as any surprise that these inane jihadis believe in a mythological substance known as "red mercury"? Even more remarkable is their blind faith in a deity that calls upon his faithful believers to kill their fellow human-beings as a means of getting to heaven. Muhammad, of course, is a historical figure that has been lionized and canonized by Muslims despite his apparent shortcomings. If the Muslim's "prophet" Muhammad were alive in the United States today, he would be incarcerated for war crimes, pedophilia, polygamy, grand larceny, murder and hate crimes. Lucky for Muhammad, but unlucky for mankind, his relatives lionized him posthumously. Ever since, Muslims have endeavored to live a life like their so-called "prophet". May the mythological Muhammad go the way of red mercury and fade into oblivion.
Great story. I especially liked the garlic part linking the vampire legend to "blood red" mercury. So many gullible, ignorant people awash in lethal weaponry. How is mankind ever going to make it.
2
All this time I thought Daesh used red mercury as an underarm deoderant prior to executions.
Jane Taras Carlson
Jane Taras Carlson
With all the talk about social media savvy terrorists wooing young and disillusioned Muslims, there's a bit of comfort in the naivete of their commanders--comfort that extremism is hobbled by it's own ignorance.
If someone is able to believe believes any Allah is Akbar then a belief in red mercury (the powerful dark one) is a piece of cake. I'm surprised its futures are not traded on the Mercantile Exchange. At these prices it sounds like a wonderful business opportunity.
1
And so is revealed the plot of the next big Hollywood terror-scare/science fixtio blockbuster....
"Return of Mahdi" is Shia concept (analogous to return of Christ in Christian mythology)...nothing to do with Wahhabi Isis aspirations.
Where is Dr. Strangelove when we really need him? What are we doing about the impending "Red Mercury Gap? Peter Sellers, please help us on this one! ;)
I think I see an NCIS episode here.
Red mercury is a joint buyer-seller scam on backers who don't know the power of conventional explosives.
"Oh Science very quizzical, and very metaphysical...", that is history. What exists now are things like IEDs, Polonium 210, rogue states which refuse, despite their impeccable credentials, to sign treaties which most others are parties to, which wage war on women, adolescents and children. The question is, "Why would it not forgo uncorking such a weapon as its garrisons fell?" The only rational answer would be that as its garrisons fell, it had been completely disarmed, its military dispersed, its populace deported.
"whose wispy beard hinted at his jihadist sympathies"...really? Seems to perpetuate the stereotype about the looks of a terrorist. This article has slipped through the editorial scissors of NYT with many other errors - wake up subs!
Why would anyone with any sense draw attention to the fact that red mercury may not in fact exist?
Why would we not want extremists to continue to spend money and energy to seek it out?
Would we rather they focus on getting ingredients that can really produce city-wide catastrophe?
Lunacy!
Is selling a newspaper really worth so much?
Why would we not want extremists to continue to spend money and energy to seek it out?
Would we rather they focus on getting ingredients that can really produce city-wide catastrophe?
Lunacy!
Is selling a newspaper really worth so much?
If not already noted here, the red mercury concept is most likely derived from mercury sulfide which is brilliant red. It is the main component of the naturally occurring mineral cinnabar. When heated it gives off highly toxic metallic mercury fumes. It was known in the Middle Ages an and also described by Arabian alchemists.
1
If it's a hoax, why are we giving that away? Shouldn't we let them keep spending time/energy/money seeking it in vain, so they won't turn to more realistic weaponry dreams (e.g., black market nuclear materiel)?
'Red Mercury' also "known" to help lame horses, so theres that.
For Mr. Chivers to imply that there is a link between facial hair and apocalyptic extremism presents this reader with a serious difficulty just three sentences into the essay - and not just because my very American son has a wispy beard. This is the New York Times, not Fox news.
Sounds like the same magical thinking that permeates over here in the US: religion, vitamins, homeopathy; all it takes is a willing victim not willing to do any research/work in order to get their short term reward.
Watch the GOP panic over this.
Let's just hope they know nothing about kryptonite! The horrors!
Hitler and the Nazis had the the same occult fascinations. Magic to rule the world. IS will end up the same way.
De-bunking the red mercury myth may well be a threat to our national security!!!
Or is this CIA dis-information ??
Or is this CIA dis-information ??
Many people are very gullible, even terrorists.
When did "red mercury" stop being mercuric oxide???
I keep thinking of the beginning of "Back to the Future" (the ISIS version, of course):
"Some terrorists came and asked me to build a bomb for them. So... I gave them a shiny bomb case full of mercury and red food coloring!"
Cat's out of the bag now; hopefully someone has already used ISIS's ignorance against them.
"Some terrorists came and asked me to build a bomb for them. So... I gave them a shiny bomb case full of mercury and red food coloring!"
Cat's out of the bag now; hopefully someone has already used ISIS's ignorance against them.
I love this. This is the new version of "One Thousand and One Nights”!. This LITERALLY the birthplace of the original stories, so this is One Thousand and One Nights 02!!
Chivers is the best. Excellent journalism based on many interviews, experience and insights. Other "journalists" at NYT should take note how it is done by true professionals.
Wait a minute, before we laugh at the terrorists' stupidity, it was our own Tom Ridge, czar of homeless insecurity, who told us we can protect ourselves from red mercury or flaming jet fuel or IUDs with duck tap and plastic sheeting.
Who's stupid?
Who's stupid?
Nix the red mercury, then. Let's go on about Buckybombs. Oh, they're fullerenes with microfabbed NO2 that jump 2000 degrees in a picosecond. Possible cancer cures but also just the thing to deregulate a well-regulated militia.
Has it occurred to the vaunted editors at the New York Times that your illustrations and photos too often glorify terrorists? Why are you doing this? To increase page views?
They sought "Red Mercury" bcos they needed it to power the "Continuum Transfunctioner".
yes, The Continuum Transfunctioner, a device whose mystery is only exceeded by its power, runs on Red Mercury. Maybe if they shaved their beards, they could meet up with some Hot Chicks, go for some Chinese takeout, and then, and then, and then...
They should have refused to play those Chinese food mind games!
Dude! Sweet! Duuuuude! Sweeeet!!!
yes, The Continuum Transfunctioner, a device whose mystery is only exceeded by its power, runs on Red Mercury. Maybe if they shaved their beards, they could meet up with some Hot Chicks, go for some Chinese takeout, and then, and then, and then...
They should have refused to play those Chinese food mind games!
Dude! Sweet! Duuuuude! Sweeeet!!!
As real as 74 virgins.
Oh, this is awesome reporting! Thanks so much for the entertainment. After the past week, it is welcomed satire. Knowing it is fact, having read reports of arrests in the past just provides a "belly laugh". I love it Thanks NY Times.
1
Is there a Craig's List for ISIS? I have a WWII area Singer I want to post.
Ben Carson told you guys about this, didn't he?
"Abu Omar, a Syrian whose wispy beard hinted at his jihadist sympathies"
That's probably news to all the guys growing their beards out for men's health...
That's probably news to all the guys growing their beards out for men's health...
Red Mercury, is a story for our times. in an age of uncountable WMD's people want more!
Better, smaller more deadlier.
That is capitalism itself.
Who will make the film: Spielberg, Abrams or Scott?
Better, smaller more deadlier.
That is capitalism itself.
Who will make the film: Spielberg, Abrams or Scott?
Terror (as you well know) does exist,here, born from a complex, serious and dramatic threat.
I am so spoiled and addicted to your editorials so "on the ground" ,that I am not able to taper down so quickly and sit, with a glass of lemonade, peacefully watching Apocalypse N. 5.
I am so spoiled and addicted to your editorials so "on the ground" ,that I am not able to taper down so quickly and sit, with a glass of lemonade, peacefully watching Apocalypse N. 5.
right up there with WMD
1
History has shown perception has always trumped reality. A La Bastille may have been the start of the French revolution but the Bastille - symbol of royal tyranny - had only one prisoner. Red mercury may be a hoax but by seeking it out Isis proves it wishes to create an Armageddon amongst us.
9
Cripes, it's remarkable that one of the KGB's red herrings is still doing public good. A bit astounding that baited hooks are still getting nibbles in this day; I thought the story had been so widely disseminated at the end of the Cold War that one would think children would now be using it as a playground prank. From distant quarters came a bite that Russian nuclear containment committees were gnashing teeth over how to roll up east European ratlines attempting to trade in nuclear baubles. One colonel (over his favorite pickled-fish-in-the-red-can lunch) came up with the idea, and then after the keyhole whispering task force had finished their work just send 'round tough guys into any bolthole from whence an inquiry on the substance came. The ratlines vanished forthwith in that pragmatic/expedient Soviet manner of a job well done.
Perhaps western agencies might now look harder into inquiries made from prospective buyers clandestinely seeking the purchase of the Brooklyn Bridge?
Perhaps western agencies might now look harder into inquiries made from prospective buyers clandestinely seeking the purchase of the Brooklyn Bridge?
3
We engineers have our own version of red mercury. When no common material meets the design spec, we just order some unobtainium.
9
A little leaverite can come in handy, too!
Unobtanium was first sought for use in homebuilt race cars, back in the 50's.
1
Funny! Actually we cooks go for red herring.
The internet is a wonderful thing. It's a mirror that confirms everything we have always suspected to be true as proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Red Mercury! What a great story. Now, if only we could start believing in the story of a humankind that can exist on this beautiful earth in peace, harmony, and love. Too much to hope for I suppose.
For now, I'll settle for belief in a mythical non functioning weapon of mass destruction. May it's costs expand exponentially in reverse proportion to its efficacy.
Red Mercury! What a great story. Now, if only we could start believing in the story of a humankind that can exist on this beautiful earth in peace, harmony, and love. Too much to hope for I suppose.
For now, I'll settle for belief in a mythical non functioning weapon of mass destruction. May it's costs expand exponentially in reverse proportion to its efficacy.
2
After reading this I am not sure if the scam is on the terrorists that are allegedly looking for this fictional super weapon, or the scam is on us readers in the claim that there are enough terrorists really looking for this super weapon to justify a "expose" type front page news story, rather than a few isolated incidents "reported" by a couple flimsy sources and blown into a full page story due to the TV friendly nature of the tale.
2
Much ado about literally nothing.
Can't wait to read about the next non-existent threat.
What a waste of time.
Can't wait to read about the next non-existent threat.
What a waste of time.
Thanks to C.J. Chivers for an entertaining, well written and even better researched piece. As rare these days as red mercury.
11
Fortunately, none of these guys would ever be able to slip through the intense screening process we have set up for Refugees.
1
Ah, but if they come here as tourists?
This proves more than anything how these people are driven most of all by a lack of education. If we just dropped 4g capable ipads with subscriptions to western media outlets, it would probably have a massive effect.
4
They'd just take them apart to try and get the red Mercury
1
To be honest I've always thought they need vegetables, flowers, fruit, wine, music, dancing, shady gardens, you know - land of milk and honey. All they have, that I can see, is broken rocks, dry soil, barbed wire, ultraviolet light bulbs, guns and oh yes, oil. No wonder they are angry with the western unbelievers.
After reading the title of this article my immediate reaction finally something is being written about the doomsday aspects of global warming.
1
If we can get a few choice Republican candidates, who are equally as well versed in the sciences as the run-of-the-mill jihadist, to buy into the myth we should get another good solid month of side-splitting entertainment. One could claim he almost killed a classmate with "red mercury" it in his wilder days, another one can talk about putting "red mercury" scanners at every port of entry and another one could mention how as a non-conforming maverick he single-handedly stopped a "red-mercury" pandemic in his state by erecting quarantine tents outside the hospital in the winter, for anyone returning from the Middle East. The other candidates when questioned about the details can respond "I'm not a scientist but....."
10
Thank you, Jeff. The pragmatic, practical, and technically sophisticated Chinese must be listening in wonderment. And, perhaps scaling back whatever fear they had that the U.S. government knew what it was doing. (If "red mercury" ever did exist, no doubt Ben Carson found out and put a stop to it.)
Some people have been watching too much Star Trek, although they called it red matter as opposed to red merc.
3
Is it only me that has any concern about the "intent" of these idiots? Here in America intent is major! if intent can be proven...you can be in serious trouble with the law. So. They didn't/couldn't buy the legendary red mercury because it doesn't exist. To me it doesn't really matter if the item they are trying to buy exists or not, tis the intent I tell you. And, on a even more somber note...A person that fully intends to do something, always ends up doing something. If it isn't a made up weapon that they want to buy, then it will be one that isn't made up one day. The intent never changes.
9
If ISIS got hold of some seriously destructive substance they would kill more jihadi by accident than infidels by intent.
It's hardly news that terrorists seek to acquire WMDs. The only they engage in their current style of low-tech attacks is that they have been unable to get their hands on them.
The not too amusing implication is that these terrorists want to get their hands on the most destructive materials conceivable.
8
That surprises you?
How long before the House GOP inserts a line item increasing the Defense budget in order to procure a stockpile sufficient to deter radical terrorist organizations?
21
So reassuring to hear how idiotic and bumbling these jihadists are. Obviously no Harvard or Princeton pedigrees (or even pedicures from the "lesser ivies") for these blunt, ignoble grunts of clashing civilizations and pending apocalypse. No match for our world beating strategic and technological genius. Maybe 9/11 was a Trilateral Commission (remember them?) plot and the Paris Massacre was filmed at Pinewood Studios. Red mercury, what a hoot! Let's all rush and max out our credit cards, reclaiming Black Friday for our retail gods, giddy with the comfort of warm milk and cookies and grateful that the Masters of the Universe have our best interests always as they slay the Barbarians at the Gate with sly disinformation while touting the uber weapon in our arsenal: the potent Viagra that trumps heathen quicksilver of every hue. Why worry about primitive WMDs wielded by Pakistan, North Korea, and as likely, the Saudis, South Africa, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil and Pablo Escobar? Dante's Divine Comedy, adapted by Netflix, in 8 episodes released simultaneously. Let's join the existential laugh track and howl in rib-cracking hilarity. Who cares if there's the tiniest speck of primordial panic buried deep in our reptilian brain that the joke isn't only on us, it is us. But rest easy pilgrim, there's a pill for that. (Though red mercury taken in anecdotal form may work just as well, with fewer side effects, and none that require an ER after 8 hours.)
17
Response to Yuri Asian:
"Who cares if there's the tiniest speck of primordial panic buried deep in our reptilian brain that the joke isn't only on us, it is us."
Bravo Yuri. This bit was inspired writing.
"Who cares if there's the tiniest speck of primordial panic buried deep in our reptilian brain that the joke isn't only on us, it is us."
Bravo Yuri. This bit was inspired writing.
Add to this farce, an article in today's Washington Post about the amphetamines that are fueling the "courage" and carnage in the ISIS movement. How are these guys going to defeat and hold the Western world?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/19/the-tiny-pi...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/19/the-tiny-pi...
A scam or science fiction today, but what about tomorrow?
Advances in weapons technologies will outstrip man's ability to control them.
The real problem is there are groups willing and able to acquire weapons capable of incredible destruction.
There is a growing need to understand and implement counter measures to keep such organizations from starting up in the first place.
Advances in weapons technologies will outstrip man's ability to control them.
The real problem is there are groups willing and able to acquire weapons capable of incredible destruction.
There is a growing need to understand and implement counter measures to keep such organizations from starting up in the first place.
3
easier said than done. it's just another doomsday cult, much like the rapture christians in philosophy. the "foretold by holy men" end of the world is imminent in their philosophy, and has a direct bearing on their world-view. it's a pretty common mass delusion and has cropped up for millennia.
I guess this also proves the jihadists haven't read Stephen King's "Christine", or they'd be looking for a red Plymouth. Truly a terrifying car, if you know the story, and if they believed in red mercury they'd believe the book.
10
"To approach the subject of red mercury is to journey into a comic-book universe, a zone where the stubborn facts of science give way to unverifiable claims, fantasy and outright magic"
Just swap "red mercury" with "religion". That's the world, in a nutshell.
Just swap "red mercury" with "religion". That's the world, in a nutshell.
92
"Just swap "red mercury" with "religion"."
That I find equally silly. What's your answer to the eternal "Why"-question then? Scientific materialism? That's just yet another belief-system. If you study a bit of (Jungian) psychology you might know what I mean.
That I find equally silly. What's your answer to the eternal "Why"-question then? Scientific materialism? That's just yet another belief-system. If you study a bit of (Jungian) psychology you might know what I mean.
I checked out the Wikipedia page on red mercury. It is surprisingly similar to this article. Good job Wikipedia. Another story well-reported.
12
Rumors like this one flourish in the Arab world because their governments are not trusted to tell the truth, and scientific education is poor. We're on the track to becoming the same. Take away the radioactivity, the potential for explosions, and the Jinni, and what do you get? The MMR vaccine.
23
"Rumors like this one flourish in the Arab world..." And yet we were convinced to go to war over "aluminum tubes" that were supposedly meant for non-existent 81-mm aluminum rotor uranium centrifuges. And every day in every airport we step into millimeter wave and backscatter x-ray scanners that will wondrously protect us from evil. Magical thinking is all around us and certainly not exclusive to the "Four Lions."
8
I think you mean thimerosol rather than MMR. Thimerosol is the mercury containing preservative that antivaxers were flipping out over (it used to be a preservative in contact lens solutions, that was before people freaked out over it being in vaccines). the MMR vaccine didn't contain thimerosol... Demonizing MMR was a separate trip down the rabbit hole of ignorance.
The stories in this article are so incredible I have to wonder if the article itself is the scam. Never heard of red mercury before, unless you count mercuric oxide, which certainly doesn't make bombs go boom.
1
It is well known that red mercury can be used to enhance a Samum bomb, which makes it very effective at destroying drowner nests.
5
Even as a sci-fi buff, this reference went clean over my head, like an enraged swarm of daleks.
4
One hopes ISIS doesn't read the NYTimes. They have a whole lot of money to throw around; someone could make a fortune bilking them out a big chunk of it in return for, say, line divider buoys. Surely the CIA or somebody has an undercover operative who could handle this? Money for us, less money for ISIS, and if we draw it out long enough, maybe we can distract them from trying to get something _really_ dangerous.
10
But ISIS is smart enough to see through this disinformation campaign designed to try to convince them that red mercury doesn't exist.
Nah. They would read this and think, this is the Western establishment trying to hide the existence of the real item.
The essential facts: New methods of mass destruction will continue to be developed, and terrorists will seek them out. Measures to.prevent access to nuclear and other lethal materials are inadequate, and in time will be defeated. The last challenge for the murderous will then be packaging and delivery, and they've already shown sufficient ingenuity. What a piece of work is Man!
12
Well, they could just become good capitalists, buy up all our real estate, attract our industry with cheap labor, and wait for us to implode, like the rest of the world. Takes patience, but probably cheaper in the long run and far more entertaining, e.g., watching the public intellect devolve to where "reality TV" is educational and motivating.
We should all recall the Star Trek movie where Spock is racing to deliver a container of "Red Matter" to prevent a star from exploding. Spock arrives too late and the red matter is captured by the surviving crew of a mining ship that is now seeking revenge upon the Federation for falling to arrive on time to save his planet. Such is the stuff of sic-fi fantasy. It makes good movies.
Had the weapons hunters of this tale sought red matter of the Star Trek movie they may have had better luck.
This is an outrageous tale and would be laughable if we forget who is seeking weapons of mass destruction.
Red matter and red mercury are non-existent except in the minds of real and imagined villains who seek to totally destroy their enemies. Therein lies the most serious problem.
The real terrorists believe that they can get their hands on WMD. It may not be red mercury but it will be destructive and cause massive loss of lives. What we can also take from this tale is that there are people out there who are shopping for the real thing. Sooner or later they're going to get their hands on it. It may be nuclear, chemical or biological weaponry and it will be devastating. These guys will use it.
I can't imagine the price that the Islamic State would pay if they found and used a weapon of mass destruction. I can imagine what we will suffer if they actually do get their hands on the real goods.
This is a tale of scam artists and terrorists. Regardless, we must remain on high alert.
Had the weapons hunters of this tale sought red matter of the Star Trek movie they may have had better luck.
This is an outrageous tale and would be laughable if we forget who is seeking weapons of mass destruction.
Red matter and red mercury are non-existent except in the minds of real and imagined villains who seek to totally destroy their enemies. Therein lies the most serious problem.
The real terrorists believe that they can get their hands on WMD. It may not be red mercury but it will be destructive and cause massive loss of lives. What we can also take from this tale is that there are people out there who are shopping for the real thing. Sooner or later they're going to get their hands on it. It may be nuclear, chemical or biological weaponry and it will be devastating. These guys will use it.
I can't imagine the price that the Islamic State would pay if they found and used a weapon of mass destruction. I can imagine what we will suffer if they actually do get their hands on the real goods.
This is a tale of scam artists and terrorists. Regardless, we must remain on high alert.
3
Perhaps the might want to conjure up a golem instead.
5
Maybe they mean a red Mercury? Say, 1952, lowered, chopped, channeled,
with spinner hubs, a skull-shaped gear knob, tan Naguahyde interior, a rebuilt Cobra V8, dual 4-barrel carbs, Offenhauser heads, white sidewall tires, and red metallic paint, 4 coats.
I'd buy that. I'd never sell it to Jihadis.
It may not exist, but James Dean does in all of us...
with spinner hubs, a skull-shaped gear knob, tan Naguahyde interior, a rebuilt Cobra V8, dual 4-barrel carbs, Offenhauser heads, white sidewall tires, and red metallic paint, 4 coats.
I'd buy that. I'd never sell it to Jihadis.
It may not exist, but James Dean does in all of us...
11
"If I had money,
I'll tell you what I'd do,
I'd go downtown and buy a Mercury or two,
I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury,
I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury,
Crazy 'bout a Mercury, drive it up and down the road."
I'll tell you what I'd do,
I'd go downtown and buy a Mercury or two,
I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury,
I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury,
Crazy 'bout a Mercury, drive it up and down the road."
6
And we're worried about the bad guys? I hope this is how they spend all their time, money and energy. Maybe red mercury will make the world a safer place.
4
I know of some red mercury hidden in the girders of a bridge in Brooklyn, and I can sell you both.
15
How much?
1
This is what happens when school and college dropouts and cigarette sellers try to take over the world. Should have stayed in school and not rocked back and forth at a madrassa.
22
Gosh, if they only took their SATs and bothered with those AP credits in high school, they could have done their college tours on camelback and qualified for Pell grants and student aid, like a job in the cafeteria. Such a waste with so many fine colleges and universities in the desert to choose from. With just a bit of grit and effort, they'd have nuclear scientists like the ones we imported as refugees, and could be reprocessing plutonium on their own instead of bribing Pakistanis to obtain the cup or two needed to make god redundant and revisit shock and awe in a city of their liking. We say a mind is a terrible thing to waste. They say we're right and so they'll take out an entire city instead. About that madrassa: our gas guzzling car culture enriched the Saudis -- BFFs to Bush 41, 42 and Bush 0 -- making them alpha pack leader in the middle east. The despotic royal House of Saud is a client of ours (though some might say we're the vassal state) and they swagger about as we gladly turn a blind eye to their Islamic intrigues, which include the funding of madrassas to foment Sunni unrest in Shiite dominant Islamic nations. Without our meddling, Shiite nations would war against Sunni nations either to a standstill or the defeat of one side. We picked the Saudis, and using the trillions we paid them for oil, they harvested a bumper crop of suicidal jihadists from the madrassas, including most of the terrorists who brought us 9/11. They were Saudis.
"Abu Omar, a Syrian whose wispy beard hinted at his jihadist sympathies"
So when Muslims have beards it hints at jihadist sympathies? Or just when Syrians have them?
After all the efforts the NYT tries to make against it, it has NO problem actually being that suggestive media that puts this stuff into people's heads.
Some Muslims have beards for peaceful religious reasons. Some Muslims are hipsters. Some get a rash from shaving.
VERY few people with beards have sympathies for terrorists.
So when Muslims have beards it hints at jihadist sympathies? Or just when Syrians have them?
After all the efforts the NYT tries to make against it, it has NO problem actually being that suggestive media that puts this stuff into people's heads.
Some Muslims have beards for peaceful religious reasons. Some Muslims are hipsters. Some get a rash from shaving.
VERY few people with beards have sympathies for terrorists.
33
Brilliant!
4
Thank you, Laney.
That sentence caused my antenna to twitch the same way it does when in proximity of Donald Trump and Madame le Pen -- both of whom are selling a cartoon ideology by turning the targets of their invective into mere cartoons. A dangerous risk-filled gambit, indeed.
That this sentence got through the editorial process is, quite simply, appalling.
In spite of this glaring flaw the article is, in one word, amazing.
That sentence caused my antenna to twitch the same way it does when in proximity of Donald Trump and Madame le Pen -- both of whom are selling a cartoon ideology by turning the targets of their invective into mere cartoons. A dangerous risk-filled gambit, indeed.
That this sentence got through the editorial process is, quite simply, appalling.
In spite of this glaring flaw the article is, in one word, amazing.
2
I have a very full beard...but am no hipster. However, in this case, I believe the whole "wispy beard" thing in conjunction with the fact that Abu deals merch to ISIS provides an image, a context, and a story. Read beyond the sentence and sometimes a more complete picture emerges.
1
I suggest we call this comical caper "The Hunt for Red Mad Hatter".
Source is "Alice in Wonderland", of course. Use enough real mercury and
you'll believe anything.
Source is "Alice in Wonderland", of course. Use enough real mercury and
you'll believe anything.
4
they painted th mercury red
3
Well...if it doesn't exist, then--contra the headline--it can't be lethal.
4
Whether red mercury exists or not is nearly secondary to the larger issue that ISIS would use weapons of mass destruction against the West if they could secure them. Does and should that change how ISIS and its financial and other supporters are dealt with?
5
"ISIS would use weapons of mass destruction against the West if they could secure them"
If that is the case, perhaps the west should use some of the nuclear weapons that it does have to destroy ISIS.
If that is the case, perhaps the west should use some of the nuclear weapons that it does have to destroy ISIS.
6
Is this a surprise to you? Don't you think Al Qaeda was desperately trying to get a nuke?
"Red mercury" sounds oddly like it may have been dreamed up by someone based on some of the physical properties and appearance of chlorine's nasty big brother...the diatomic halogen elemental bromine (Br2). It's extremely dense and exceptionally heavy, and holding any given quantity and comparing its heft to an equal amount of elemental mercury would show the two as being very similar in weight per unit volume.
In addition to bromine's very high density, its a fuming element that's very deep dark red in color, and can exist in two phases at room temperature (liquid and [fuming] gas/vapor). It stinks, smelling similar to chlorine, and also like chlorine, a vapor cloud from a spill, leak, etc., has the potential to be extremely dangerous.
I'm not saying that I believe that bromine can do anything even remotely similar to the fictitious "red mercury", especially with regard to detonation and explosion. I am, however, saying that elemental bromine (not a naturally occurring element, which requires manufacture and/or 'refined' from naturally occurring underground brine wells) is a very heavy, corrosive and deep red fuming liquid at standard temperature and pressure, as well as one that has the potential to be quite dangerous when leaked or lost in even surprisingly small amounts....and it may well have furnished some of the physical traits that were hijacked for the purpose of describing the non-element "red mercury".
In addition to bromine's very high density, its a fuming element that's very deep dark red in color, and can exist in two phases at room temperature (liquid and [fuming] gas/vapor). It stinks, smelling similar to chlorine, and also like chlorine, a vapor cloud from a spill, leak, etc., has the potential to be extremely dangerous.
I'm not saying that I believe that bromine can do anything even remotely similar to the fictitious "red mercury", especially with regard to detonation and explosion. I am, however, saying that elemental bromine (not a naturally occurring element, which requires manufacture and/or 'refined' from naturally occurring underground brine wells) is a very heavy, corrosive and deep red fuming liquid at standard temperature and pressure, as well as one that has the potential to be quite dangerous when leaked or lost in even surprisingly small amounts....and it may well have furnished some of the physical traits that were hijacked for the purpose of describing the non-element "red mercury".
5
Density of liquid Br2 is 3.1 g/cc, liquid mercury is 13.5 g/cc or more than 4 tmes denser.
My wispy beard hints at my sympathy for fine craft beer and vinyl records with a crunch.
38
Fine, but if I hear you're strolling around in a pair of capri pants, I'm calling it in.
1
I think many people are reading into this article that these people are plain stupid. They are manipulative to be sure. If you are poor and fighting a war against enemies with real bombs, real planes, real weapons of mass destruction - then it must be very seductive to allude to your peers that you have access to something even more powerful. It need not exist. It is akin to the nuclear bombs that the superpowers have. Have you ever seen one? Have you seen one go off? No, because no one ever uses them. The terrorist leaders like to convince their own people that they have something so terrible that even they would only use it as a Doomsday device. Their red mercury is almost as mythical as our own H-Bombs. If we ever find out if they work in a real war, it is all over anyway. Seeking and hoarding red mercury is just a power-play and mind game.
4
The Egyptian Pyramids were protective shells for red mercury factories. The technology had been transported to Egypt by interstellar aliens.
20
That was only in the early days, before they discovered that it ruined the grain stored inside the Pyramids.
21
Perhaps Cohen, who had to have known that this was nonsense, perpetuated the story to keep foolish terrorists busy looking down blind alleys. Better they look for something that never existed and will not be found, than something that does exist and might be found some day.
4
This sounds like another one of Dick Cheney's tricks: he plants a story in the Times, then claims he read it in the Times, so it must be true.
“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
4
Wow! I just finished the new Louise Penny book, "The Nature of the Beast," and what interesting food for thought in this article.
1
While some aspects of this article are comical, what is not funny is the desire for these people to obtain weapons capable of destroying an entire city. I'm sure that if they could get their hands on an atomic bomb, they would not hesitate to use it. The question for us, is how to deal with people with this mentality? I believe in the end it will come to down to do we destroy them or let them destroy us.
2
Great, now even the NYT is involved. This conspiracy is far more extensive than I imagined.
4
The conclusion is then that, as long Isis uses their energies in the pursuit of non existing phantoms we can feel secure?
1
The story is quite different then what I heard. I thought red mercury is nothing more than a compound used to increase efficiency at uranium refinement. It is not red nor mercury as that's only a code name. Supposedly it was discovered by one of the nuclear club nation as a way to decrease the time needed to produce enriched weapon grade uranium-235 from uranium-238. It is not used by US and Russia as those two uses more efficient, but very investment heavy and impossible to hide, gaseous diffusion method. Smaller nuke powers (one or more of France, UK, Israel) use red mercury with their centrifuges to improve efficiency which is why wannabe nuke states with uranium enrichment program are looking for it. In any case, getting uranium and centrifuge is prerequisite to use red mercury; without it all you got is some valuable compound.
This is just what I heard a few years back. I don't even know there are new uses for it now. LOL
This is just what I heard a few years back. I don't even know there are new uses for it now. LOL
2
Gaseous diffusion is very INefficient, both in space and materiel. And it consumes enormous amounts of electricity. We now use centrifuges for the most part.
I love how many commenters are worried about this article giving the game away, as if all the other information on the Internet debunking this nonsense just wasn't quite enough.
20
This story and others on the internet debunking the idea of red mercury are obviously the work of government agents trying to throw terrorists off the scent.
JFK was shot with a bullet containing red mercury, and there was red mercury in the fuel of the jets that struck the twin towers.
No, really. Now, you terrorists out there should continue looking for red mercury and not wasting your time looking for radiological waste or other dangerous substances.
JFK was shot with a bullet containing red mercury, and there was red mercury in the fuel of the jets that struck the twin towers.
No, really. Now, you terrorists out there should continue looking for red mercury and not wasting your time looking for radiological waste or other dangerous substances.
1
This somehow reminds me of the incident decades ago when the owner of a trucking company applied to the Department of Transportation for permission to establish a "rate table" for the shipment of yak fat. In almost no time all his competitors clamored to get into the yak-fat shipping business.
5
But I have SEEN red mercury! It was so dangerous that it created a black hole that ate up an entire planet! Spock barely survived.
20
For the last time, that's red matter, not red mercury. Spock knew full well that red mercury was non-explosive.
5
You used to be able to commonly find a red Mercury in front of rural Dairy Queens. Perhaps terrorists whose English was a bit lacking heard Alan Jackson sing "Crazy bout a Mercury" and got the wrong idea.
14
This piece reminds me of the articles NYT has published about fortune tellers in New York, and the mystical vials Colin Powell presented to the Security Council.
Brilliant reporting!
Brilliant reporting!
9
For a second this article transported me into the fiction/comedy universe even so that I doubted it was the NYT article I began reading.
You can't make this stuff up!
Great article
You can't make this stuff up!
Great article
11
Actually you can make this stuff up. Maybe you forget The NYT writer Judith Miller and her front page hysteria about Saddam and his WMDs, who more than any other legitimate reporter, lent a critical patina of credibility to the Bush march to war. More than a whiff of Bob Woodward here with "reporting" that's mainly anecdotal, hearsay, or dubious, unverifiable sources with or without wispy beards. It's in the magazine for a reason. Sort of an end of tour memoir of bits and pieces gleaned from long nights at hotel bars
over stale beer and cynicism numbed and on auto-pilot. Just days away from yet another viper strike, this fable is a bedtime story for adults so we can sleep soundly and snugly in our warm beds. May be vipers but at least they're funny and bumbling and deserve a chance to host SNL. Maybe Ted Nugent as the featured band too. And a skit too -- Ted tries to sell red mercury tipped arrows to the wispy bearded jihadist and Steve Martin appears with that trademark arrow through his head...
over stale beer and cynicism numbed and on auto-pilot. Just days away from yet another viper strike, this fable is a bedtime story for adults so we can sleep soundly and snugly in our warm beds. May be vipers but at least they're funny and bumbling and deserve a chance to host SNL. Maybe Ted Nugent as the featured band too. And a skit too -- Ted tries to sell red mercury tipped arrows to the wispy bearded jihadist and Steve Martin appears with that trademark arrow through his head...
So the weapons of mass destruction have been found?
12
Perhaps the secret to making red mercury has been hidden away in the same place that hides the secret to making Damascus steel.
2
Don't forget Valyrian steel.
5
My comment isn't related to this specifically, but this article brings me back to the time I was having fun doing amateur chemistry at home during high school. I tried to make a very small amount (a gram or so) of the explosive compound mercury fulminate by adding one drop of mercury to a few mL of concentrated nitric acid, waiting for the toxic fumes (mostly NO2) to die down, and then adding ethanol. It didn't work - all I produced was some powder that didn't do a thing when hit with a hammer or ignited, but it was a fun little project. I was more successful with nitroglycerin though - that was a blast!
I did go into science, and now do atmospheric chemistry. Doing somewhat dangerous amateur chemistry experiments, and learning how to be safe while accepting a bit of risk, helps draw people to science in ways that today's safety culture doesn't allow for.
I did go into science, and now do atmospheric chemistry. Doing somewhat dangerous amateur chemistry experiments, and learning how to be safe while accepting a bit of risk, helps draw people to science in ways that today's safety culture doesn't allow for.
10
> I tried to make a very small amount (a gram or so) of the explosive compound mercury fulminate by adding one drop of mercury to a few mL of concentrated nitric acid, waiting for the toxic fumes (mostly NO2) to die down, and then adding ethanol. It didn't work...
Me too, ca. 1960. Our high school chemistry lab would have been the object of major SWAT raids and we would still be in maximum security prison today.
Me too, ca. 1960. Our high school chemistry lab would have been the object of major SWAT raids and we would still be in maximum security prison today.
2
My husband's childhood penchant for fireworks and explosives led him to a career as a physical chemist.
common path to science, as a schoolboy I yearned for a "chemistry set", but alas found nothing "explosive" in it, so I fooled around mixing things in petrol.
as a grown-up I became a lithium chemist... lithium blows up real good in water.
now in keeping with the theme of the article, somebody ask me if dilithium crystals really do moderate the mater/anti-mater warp drive
as a grown-up I became a lithium chemist... lithium blows up real good in water.
now in keeping with the theme of the article, somebody ask me if dilithium crystals really do moderate the mater/anti-mater warp drive
2
Of course they believe in red mercury. They believe in a lot of unverifiable fantasies, including the popular 'end of the world'. One is tempted to encourage this belief so the jihadists will waste time, money and effort and the gullible will be subjected to evolutionary pressure.
11
I have an old Singer I'd love to sell for $50,000.
8
No matter the actual evidence, people will believe certain memes...and entrench further when challenged.
There are no psychics, but they endure
Dowsing works...well, no
Nostradamus predicted the future--just silly
Chakras are "misaligned" Even sillier.
We only use 10% of our brains...well, could be true if you believe any of the above.
Excuse me while I go levitate for a bit....
There are no psychics, but they endure
Dowsing works...well, no
Nostradamus predicted the future--just silly
Chakras are "misaligned" Even sillier.
We only use 10% of our brains...well, could be true if you believe any of the above.
Excuse me while I go levitate for a bit....
4
"Godknows Katchekwama"
Nice name. Along the lines of Haywood Jamblomé...
Nice name. Along the lines of Haywood Jamblomé...
4
A great lure - but the extremist value system that underlies this desire to "end the world" using anything, should prompt us to envision more effective defense strategies, rather than leaving the borders open to those who would wish to purchase the equivalent of a nuclear bomb.
2
Yes, but what will you do about the Book of Revelation end-timers trying tobring on Armageddon They already live here...
There are two ends of the sucker pool here, the suckers who want to buy it, and the suckers who want to use the threat of it as a rationale for stepping up their goals of militarization and international adventurism. The right middle person (like an Ahmed Chalabi) can sell the story to both sides and make out like a bandit.
9
I would be interested to hear what the GOP presidential candidates (especially Mr. Trump or Mr. Carson) views are on the dangers of Red Mercury falling into the hands of ISIS and what they would do to prevent this at their next scheduled debate! - Hopefully they have not read this story yet!
21
Pan, it may not matter if Carson has already read this story. Likely he has read stories about global warning and the age of the earth without it affecting his "thinking."
12
What's the difference between shopping for red mercury in Turkey and trying to buy yellowcake in Niger? In other words, this has already happened, and we fell for it.
1
We?
1
Wonderful writing by C.J. Chivers, with a little alchemy and some color analysis. It's the Maltese Falcon of terrorism. Abu Omar is in the role of Sidney Greenstreet. And Omar should know that, around the house, we don't
mix ammonia with chlorine.
Mercury alone is kind of magical in itself without the food coloring thrown in. It rolls around in a spoon with a curious surface tension that makes it appear like mobile Silly Putty with a captivating glint. There is no wonder that it is the subject of exotic nuclear subterfuge, and aphrodisiacs, evidently.
This story also shows that when someone is looking for something impossible, there are those who will supply it to him or her who will buy it, sans raison.
And there is raison, notably physical law. Fusion requires certain initial and boundary conditions for it to take place. These are related to the cross-section of the nuclei involved. This takes some effort to achieve, namely knowing nuclear physics and the nuclear engineering that goes along with it. It's impossible to achieve these conditions in a drop of mercury, just as it was impossible for cold fusion (remember that?).
So wouldn't it be wonderful if we could bypass this law and knowledge and jump right to fusion? Red mercury is that magical product that the simple-minded seek to achieve their desire effortlessly (effortlessly, other than actually finding the stuff).
Finding the stuff is a magnificent story. Fine writing, Mr. Chivers.
mix ammonia with chlorine.
Mercury alone is kind of magical in itself without the food coloring thrown in. It rolls around in a spoon with a curious surface tension that makes it appear like mobile Silly Putty with a captivating glint. There is no wonder that it is the subject of exotic nuclear subterfuge, and aphrodisiacs, evidently.
This story also shows that when someone is looking for something impossible, there are those who will supply it to him or her who will buy it, sans raison.
And there is raison, notably physical law. Fusion requires certain initial and boundary conditions for it to take place. These are related to the cross-section of the nuclei involved. This takes some effort to achieve, namely knowing nuclear physics and the nuclear engineering that goes along with it. It's impossible to achieve these conditions in a drop of mercury, just as it was impossible for cold fusion (remember that?).
So wouldn't it be wonderful if we could bypass this law and knowledge and jump right to fusion? Red mercury is that magical product that the simple-minded seek to achieve their desire effortlessly (effortlessly, other than actually finding the stuff).
Finding the stuff is a magnificent story. Fine writing, Mr. Chivers.
7
The box of gold from Ghana. Coming any day now! To solve ALL my problems.
1
This article speaks volumes about the mentality of ISIS and similar groups. Where magical thinking reigns, the creative salesman can sell anything to the insane, lustful client.
As to dealing with ISIS. I think Alfred said it best in Batman, The Dark Knight, "Some people just want to see the world burn." And how did Alfred and his band of brothers handle it? They burned down the entire forest to rid the world of the fiend. In today's world, we may need to return to WWII style bombing to get the job done, but ISIS will be solved.
As to dealing with ISIS. I think Alfred said it best in Batman, The Dark Knight, "Some people just want to see the world burn." And how did Alfred and his band of brothers handle it? They burned down the entire forest to rid the world of the fiend. In today's world, we may need to return to WWII style bombing to get the job done, but ISIS will be solved.
11
"Where magical thinking reigns, the creative salesman can sell anything to the insane, lustful client."
Hence the republican field of clowns who take themselves seriously as presidential hopefuls.
Hence the republican field of clowns who take themselves seriously as presidential hopefuls.
10
But will the mentality behind it be solved? And how to address the root causes of the region's problems--such causes and problems being numerous, interlinked, and apparently insoluble.
3
It must be true as in all hospitals in the US thermometers with murcury are banned and HASMAT suits are available for cleanup if any of the elusive agent is found.
Blood pressure machines with murcury are also hazardous.
I think as a nurse we are protected against this curse since childhood when I played with maze puzzles with blobs of murcury inside.
We should be on high alert if the market in old Etch a Sketch toys surge. I understand that they can be used to see the future and make a heck of a bomb.
Blood pressure machines with murcury are also hazardous.
I think as a nurse we are protected against this curse since childhood when I played with maze puzzles with blobs of murcury inside.
We should be on high alert if the market in old Etch a Sketch toys surge. I understand that they can be used to see the future and make a heck of a bomb.
6
Dear 7666,
The reasoning behind all that is that mercury is toxic and can be absorbed right through the skin. It can cause nerve damage, blindness, and death. It has no possibility whatsoever of exploding.
Also Etch a Sketch toys never had mercury in them. That silvery dust is mere aluminum powder, biologically harmless.
The reasoning behind all that is that mercury is toxic and can be absorbed right through the skin. It can cause nerve damage, blindness, and death. It has no possibility whatsoever of exploding.
Also Etch a Sketch toys never had mercury in them. That silvery dust is mere aluminum powder, biologically harmless.
8
I would be careful with any metal powder. Coarse ones will cut you. Ultrafine powders might infiltrate your skin cells. Be sure to wash up with likquid diswashing soap.
My mother thought it had mercury or lead in it.....I was a kid and was facinated in the powder in the etch a sketch as I was in mercury.
1
Years ago Alistair MacLean wrote a book titled "The Satan Bug" about a bio-weapon so horrible it could destroy all life on earth. (at least that's what I remember - it's been over 35 years since I read it)
I'm sure that with a bit of effort ISIS agents could find any number of rogue western weapons-lab techs willing to sell them a few kg of the stuff.
I'm sure that with a bit of effort ISIS agents could find any number of rogue western weapons-lab techs willing to sell them a few kg of the stuff.
6
Those rogue western weapons-lab tech needs to emphasize to their gullible buyers that there's only one antidote: cyanide, to be taken before they start assembling their bomb.
11
T3D, that's so much better than my plan...I was trying to devise a recipe that required heating liquid mercury to produce vapor. (A few fun ingredients added here...pubic hairs pulled from ten warriors, that sort of thing), Once you mix it, the only way to check whether it's ready is to lean close and inhale deeply. When you take a lungful and see all those awesome virgins they promised you, your work is complete. Try again each day -- practice makes perfect. And be sure to show your buddies how to do it too.
Alchemy -- it's da bomb!
Alchemy -- it's da bomb!
I am tickled some readers think a group of religious radicals that literally believes it is playing an active role in precipiating an apocalypse -- one that will involve the prophet Jesus striking down its enemies with a spear in Jerusalem -- will believe something isn't real because the New York Times said so.
11
One wonders whether Samuel Cohen's "belief" in red mercury was part of a smart, government disinformation plan.
Excellent reads on the evolution of scientific culture as it evolved from an international fraternity to nationalistic government (and corporate) endeavors resulting largely from nuclear energy discoveries are "Robert Jungk's "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" and Noel Davis' "Lawrence and Oppenheimer."
Excellent reads on the evolution of scientific culture as it evolved from an international fraternity to nationalistic government (and corporate) endeavors resulting largely from nuclear energy discoveries are "Robert Jungk's "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" and Noel Davis' "Lawrence and Oppenheimer."
2
I have some Red Mercury....if you mix it with two cups of sugar and a gallon of water, it is cheaper by cup than soda.
It also comes in Grape and Orange.
It also comes in Grape and Orange.
8
Lot's of religious fanatics believing in something that scientists say, "can not be true." I wish a science fiction author had invented this and based a new religion on it.
10
Shhhhhh...
Don't tell Tom!!
Don't tell Tom!!
1
Should the article have been re-titled to "Spoiler Alert!: The Doomsday Scam"?
Next thing NYT will reveal is that there's no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy...
Next thing NYT will reveal is that there's no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy...
4
Yes, some NYT readers certainly need 'safe reading spaces'. Are there any anti-shock shots for oversensitive people, like the reader who did not like the 'wispy beard' comment?
7
Where the physicst ends and the polemicts begins. Sounds EXACTLY like a description of a Global Warming "scientist." Substitute "political correctness" in this article for "red mecury."
3
Exxon.
1
Yeah except ONE scientist believed in red mercury and 99% of scientists believe in climate change.
Face it, you're on the "red mercury is real!" side in that debate.
Face it, you're on the "red mercury is real!" side in that debate.
6
Like ISIS, you and polemoscientists have an antiscientific belief. Then there is data. Your beliefs can be changed by having an open mind to accepting scientific data, as opposed to accepting zodiac muthology, fraudulent data and models based on it. It will take a while for science to change your beliefs, your ideology, probably as long as it will take ISIS to change theirs. Will probably take the same solution to free the world of ISIS and hucksters in a timely fashion.
1
Caveat emptor. I can fully sympathize; I once bought what I believed to be red mercury but turned out to be common red Kryptonite.
21
The means may be mythical. But the threat is real. Never forget that these people are well funded, well organized and they mean to do us great harm.
3
Isn't Red Mercury one of the infinity stones that Thanos is also looking for?
2
Strongest explosives are nuclear and too costly for any entity but a whole state.
But some powerful industrial explosives were not chemically marked in the past (they are now, so that they can be detected, sniffed), and a few old elusive stocks may still exist.
So there is still a vintage scam about undetectable explosives, but still not old enough to be worn out.
But some powerful industrial explosives were not chemically marked in the past (they are now, so that they can be detected, sniffed), and a few old elusive stocks may still exist.
So there is still a vintage scam about undetectable explosives, but still not old enough to be worn out.
1
OK, now Trump and company will get word of this and push for legislation to outlaw the substance just as they are now trying to make encryption illegal.
These guys are all level 1 thinkers/ speakers anyway so is more "red" meat for their level 1 audience.
Wait for it ---
These guys are all level 1 thinkers/ speakers anyway so is more "red" meat for their level 1 audience.
Wait for it ---
5
Although it's never obtained the iconic status of red mercury, there's a somewhat similar story concerning the nuclear isomer hafnium 178m2:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafnium_controversy .
In the unlikely event that red mercury ever gets effectively debunked, I'm sure Hf-178m2 could perpetuate the scam.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafnium_controversy .
In the unlikely event that red mercury ever gets effectively debunked, I'm sure Hf-178m2 could perpetuate the scam.
3
The similarity to the "red matter" in J.J. Abram's "Star Trek" is striking. I wonder if there's a causal link?
7
Somebody's been watching too many action-adventure movies. You know, the ones where a "highly concentrated" bomb the size of a ping pong ball can demolish an entire building. Sorry, militants, there's an upper explosivity limit to conventional weapons for some scientific reason. But, to paraphase President Obama, please proceed, terrorists.
2
I have a portable Singer sewing machine which is about 60 years old (very heavy). It's just sitting in the back of a closet. Gosh! It might even have Red Mercury hidden in it. I wonder if I could sell it for big bucks in Saudi Arabia or another Middle Eastern country.
2
If they ever do get their hands on red mercury, hopefully Thor and the rest of the Avengers will save us.
9
Printing this piece changes nothing. Since it's in a Western paper, it is all part of a plot to help keep red mercury out of the hands of ISIS. Or something like that. *snark*
Atually, I think this piece does serve a good purpose - the debunking of the idea of a criminal mastermind. The planner of the attack in Paris was no mastermind beyond cleverly sending others to their death while he stayed safe. How brilliant does a criminal have to be to set up teams of shooters and tell them to start firing at 9 p.m. This is what the press stupidly calls a coordinated attack. There is no objective to be taken. No radio station, no newspaper, no governor to be captured. It was all just go out and kill a bunch of people at a set time. This was not the planning of the Normandy Invasion. These guys and gals are just clever enough to get some mooks to put their lives on the line while they are safe and sound. These are the folks who seek red mercury.
Atually, I think this piece does serve a good purpose - the debunking of the idea of a criminal mastermind. The planner of the attack in Paris was no mastermind beyond cleverly sending others to their death while he stayed safe. How brilliant does a criminal have to be to set up teams of shooters and tell them to start firing at 9 p.m. This is what the press stupidly calls a coordinated attack. There is no objective to be taken. No radio station, no newspaper, no governor to be captured. It was all just go out and kill a bunch of people at a set time. This was not the planning of the Normandy Invasion. These guys and gals are just clever enough to get some mooks to put their lives on the line while they are safe and sound. These are the folks who seek red mercury.
18
Excellent ! :-) The Pulp Fiction McGuffin in essence !
Red Mercurians are ludicrites, and I trust they take this paper for one more piece of disinformation luring them away from alchemist superpowers.
Actually mercury comes mostly in nature as mercury sulfur, which is bright red and has been called red mercury by early chemists.
It just does not boom.
But then....
Red Mercurians are ludicrites, and I trust they take this paper for one more piece of disinformation luring them away from alchemist superpowers.
Actually mercury comes mostly in nature as mercury sulfur, which is bright red and has been called red mercury by early chemists.
It just does not boom.
But then....
3
Make that mercury sulfide.
2
It's all fun until they turn that same thinking to obtaining stuff that really does blow up. which they undoubtedly have. Making ISIS into cartoon characters doesn't help us understand them, which we need to do as we are presented with such different ideas of how to deal with them.
And not one mention of the movie Red?
And not one mention of the movie Red?
This is laughable, but it isn't any more ridiculous than believing a man turned water into wine, walked on water, and came back to life after being dead for a few days.
Seems like few people are concerned about verifiability when it comes to their own beliefs.
Seems like few people are concerned about verifiability when it comes to their own beliefs.
12
Well really John T., there's nothing laughable about walking on water. I've done it all the time, every time the weather has consistently held at less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Interesting, let them waste their time and money on some modern alchemist's fallacy. That said, per usual, I suspect the article will only further reinforce the 'truth' among believers that the 'powers that be' are running a vast disinformation campaign which some gullible dupe from the NYTimes swallowed hook-line-and-sinker.
5
How can we laugh off red mercury? Every believer knows that "With God, all things are possible".
6
So it seems that our terrorist friends and the modern GOP have something in common...belief in the things you want to be true regardless of the facts. Different bubbles, same result.
59
Ahaa! If the New York Times debunks it as a hoax, then it must certainly be true, and we are all the victims of an even greater conspiracy than we thought!
7
The "red mercury" story may be confused with "fulminating mercury."
Wikipedia: "Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO)2, is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and blasting caps.
First used as a priming composition in small copper caps after the 1830s, mercury fulminate quickly replaced flints as a means to ignite black powder charges in muzzle-loading firearms. Later, during the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, mercury fulminate or potassium chlorate became widely used in primers for self-contained rifle and pistol ammunition. "
Wikipedia: "Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO)2, is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and blasting caps.
First used as a priming composition in small copper caps after the 1830s, mercury fulminate quickly replaced flints as a means to ignite black powder charges in muzzle-loading firearms. Later, during the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, mercury fulminate or potassium chlorate became widely used in primers for self-contained rifle and pistol ammunition. "
3
The WMD in Iraq scam was easy to pull off after reading this. It catered to the bulk of the voting public who believe in narcissistic psychopaths having all the answers. The thing is typical and not an aberration. Psychopaths know it's scam but pretend that they were fooled.
14
4
can somebody tell me why we are printing this article instead of letting terrorist idiots continue to chase their tails and spend their money?
36
Did you bother reading the article? I don't think this piece is going to change their minds.
"Even a visit to Wikipedia — whose entry on the subject began, ‘‘Red mercury is a hoax substance of uncertain composition’’ — would surely be enough to raise questions for anyone disbursing Islamic State cash. I told Abu Omar that I had spoken with several nonproliferation experts, and they roundly agreed: Red mercury was a scam. Did he believe otherwise?
Abu Omar listened patiently. His face gave nothing away. Then he replied politely, as if addressing the uninformed. ‘‘I have seen it with my own eyes,’’ he said."
"Even a visit to Wikipedia — whose entry on the subject began, ‘‘Red mercury is a hoax substance of uncertain composition’’ — would surely be enough to raise questions for anyone disbursing Islamic State cash. I told Abu Omar that I had spoken with several nonproliferation experts, and they roundly agreed: Red mercury was a scam. Did he believe otherwise?
Abu Omar listened patiently. His face gave nothing away. Then he replied politely, as if addressing the uninformed. ‘‘I have seen it with my own eyes,’’ he said."
8
Because it highlights the intensity and degree to which ISIS (and others) will go to find methods and materials to kill, maim and cause mayhem. Red mercury may be the odd diversion, but a much larger portion of their time is spent successfully procuring AK47s, RPGs, plastic explosives and other more easily obtained items that can and do kill. That there is intent and action of this kind on the part of ISIS is very useful for the rest of us to know and come to grips with. Know thine enemy.
Because the information in the article can be considered to be disinformation, designed to lead people to falsely believe that red mercury does not exist, so the article will not change the behavior of those who believe that red mercury does exist.
3
Why write a piece that disabuses homicidal maniacs of the wild goose they chase?
4
If you think an article in the NY Times will dissuade such people, then you have a lot to learn about the religious mindset.
15
They mostly can't read English, nearly entirely don't read the New York Times, and all of them are too religiously deluded to accept what goes against whatever fool thing they believe in. It's nice that we can count on them to be so bone-headed.
7
Our homicidal maniacs or theirs? Red mercury or Japanese enriched plutonium, licensed by the US? Take your pick, Hamlet: elixir or poison?
Alt doomsday scam: a doomsday scam story in otherwise reliable newspapers as click bait.
So, now it will take about one day for at least one GOP Presidential candidate to declare that Obama has allowed ISIS to seek "red mercury."
So, now it will take about one day for at least one GOP Presidential candidate to declare that Obama has allowed ISIS to seek "red mercury."
49
I am still waiting for the first House Republican investigation into the security threat posed by djinn.
1
Red mercury. Trickle down economics. Global warming denialism. Some scams have a life of their own.
9
‘‘And there is green mercury, which is used for sexual enhancement"
That was the end of this article for me.
That was the end of this article for me.
2
Swell. Now that they know it doesn't exist they won't spend their time and money trying to obtain it and will be able to engage in more fruitful endeavors. Like killing people.
We should consider helping them out by shipping them some dimethylmercury to share with their friends.
We should consider helping them out by shipping them some dimethylmercury to share with their friends.
2
What a fantastic article! I'm a huge fan of Homeland, which this year seems to have had an uncanny, if not eerie, vision of the future in creating the Season 5 screenplay--and I found reading this almost as exciting as watching Quinn escape near death with the help of a Syrian physician.
But while at times hilariously funny (I mean, "Godwatch" as a name?), it all goes to show that PT Barnum's comments about suckers couldn't be more appropriate here. Yet, the very fact that so many are lured in, in an area of the world that is increasingly combining medieval superstition with ruthless military intensity and desire to pull off the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, really isn't very funny. While red mercury--and all the other mercury colors with amazing properties--may be a hoax, I'm more concerned about other substances that ISIS could get its hands on. Like small pox, ebola, bubonic plague or other pathological weapons of mass destruction to be inserted into conventional weaponry.
Anyway, I thank Times writer CJ Chivers for such excellent, enthralling writing. I found myself alternating between sarcastic comments and genuine concern as to the substance's potential reality, as in, "what if it were true and you could nuke a city in a second with a sandwich bag sized bomb laced with a substance dismissed so readily by the world's major scientists?"
But while at times hilariously funny (I mean, "Godwatch" as a name?), it all goes to show that PT Barnum's comments about suckers couldn't be more appropriate here. Yet, the very fact that so many are lured in, in an area of the world that is increasingly combining medieval superstition with ruthless military intensity and desire to pull off the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, really isn't very funny. While red mercury--and all the other mercury colors with amazing properties--may be a hoax, I'm more concerned about other substances that ISIS could get its hands on. Like small pox, ebola, bubonic plague or other pathological weapons of mass destruction to be inserted into conventional weaponry.
Anyway, I thank Times writer CJ Chivers for such excellent, enthralling writing. I found myself alternating between sarcastic comments and genuine concern as to the substance's potential reality, as in, "what if it were true and you could nuke a city in a second with a sandwich bag sized bomb laced with a substance dismissed so readily by the world's major scientists?"
23
A twee bit pinched to find "Godknows" (not "Godwatch") hilarious, don't you think? Your parents selected your name with a deity root but this blighted soul most likely got his name from missionaries working in the fields of the lord. Many Africans have given names that might be easy to snicker at but given the uneven circumstances between you and the victims of Christian proselytizers it comes off as very small. Like to think in this day and age that no one finds any given name hilarious let alone highlighting your insensitivity in highly visible post. Not a good look for someone high up the food chain.
1
Even on the internet, I can't find a reference, but I am sure that Red Mercury was a villain that superman fought--or was that Red Kryptonite?
3
A fool and his money are soon parted!
6
Sort of like the purchasing agents for the US Department Defense!
5
A fool and his money are soon partying........
2
And here at home, no need to be a fool to be parted from your own money. Ask Madoff. That was smart money begging him to take all of it.
My initial thought while reading this is we can't possibly have much to worry about from a bunch of jihadists who are dumb as a box of rocks. But then I started thinking about some of the equally idiotic and disproven dogma espoused by our Republican Party (massive tax cuts for the rich will make the economy soar, The Laughable (Laffer) Curve, walls on the Mexican border, climate change is a hoax) and I had my very own Wile E. Coyote moment.
Reading CJ Chivers is always a treat.
Reading CJ Chivers is always a treat.
101
This SOUNDED like a promising and timely article - but in reading it felt like it was stretched out and and could have been summed up in a much shorter way.
What was it that PT Barnum once said?
And this is supposed to be surprising? That terrorists are as or more gullible than the rest?
What was it that PT Barnum once said?
And this is supposed to be surprising? That terrorists are as or more gullible than the rest?
5
Hilarious stuff, reminds me of how Isaac Newton was taken in by the healing powers of mercury. He drank it himself, which may be how he managed to perform optics experiments by inserting a flat needle under his eye to move it around. Mercury, naturally, is actually rather toxic and destroys nervous systems. They'd also use it in Newton's day to cure blocked intestines, and it actually could work, except that it'd give people mercury poisoning at the same time.
So this is a heartening story too because it highlights how religious terrorists are not James Bond supervillains. They're just not that intelligent, in order to believe in their ridiculous theology, one can't be very analytical. Mercury, the metal, has absolutely no explosive properties, no matter what color dye is added to it. No potential nuclear uses, what they really should be trying to acquire is uranium-235. Luckily there's very little chance of that.
So they come up with murderous, hare-brained schemes, and use weapons that they could never build (like AK-47's), and try to do as much damage as they can, but they'll never hold the world hostage nor take it over. Their deranged religion prevents them from being innovators.
It's really lucky for us, because if they were more like a clever guy like myself (and I'm no genius), they could put together very destructive schemes that would do lasting damage to countries' economies and infrastructure.
So this is a heartening story too because it highlights how religious terrorists are not James Bond supervillains. They're just not that intelligent, in order to believe in their ridiculous theology, one can't be very analytical. Mercury, the metal, has absolutely no explosive properties, no matter what color dye is added to it. No potential nuclear uses, what they really should be trying to acquire is uranium-235. Luckily there's very little chance of that.
So they come up with murderous, hare-brained schemes, and use weapons that they could never build (like AK-47's), and try to do as much damage as they can, but they'll never hold the world hostage nor take it over. Their deranged religion prevents them from being innovators.
It's really lucky for us, because if they were more like a clever guy like myself (and I'm no genius), they could put together very destructive schemes that would do lasting damage to countries' economies and infrastructure.
5
They already did. We call it "9/11."
4
Dear Passion for Peaches,
Heck I don't need a reminder about that, people I know died from it, I witnessed it, it was the worst day of my life.
But all that was, was a fluke that's not repeatable (cockpit doors now have locks), and it killed less than 3,000 people (this is not actually a large number), destroyed two large buildings and damaged a third. It didn't significantly impact our economy, the great recession started six years later due to other factors. It did nothing to our infrastructure. And fourteen years later, around the world, the terrorists have not managed to match the destruction of that event.
Heck I don't need a reminder about that, people I know died from it, I witnessed it, it was the worst day of my life.
But all that was, was a fluke that's not repeatable (cockpit doors now have locks), and it killed less than 3,000 people (this is not actually a large number), destroyed two large buildings and damaged a third. It didn't significantly impact our economy, the great recession started six years later due to other factors. It did nothing to our infrastructure. And fourteen years later, around the world, the terrorists have not managed to match the destruction of that event.
5
Addendum for nitpickers: to clarify, by "they" I meant terrorists.
So then why would you relieve the ISIS of this burden by debunking it? Shouldn't the CIA be spreading this rumor (or maybe they did and it has passed it's sell by date) instead?
3
a brief google search would enlighten you
2
I was surprised that Cinnabar, a sulphide of mercury that was used as a red pigment since ancient times, didn't come up in the recounting of some traditional sources of the legend.
Cinnabar pigment used to be extremely valuable. It's hard to find now because the mercury is of course toxic.
Cinnabar pigment used to be extremely valuable. It's hard to find now because the mercury is of course toxic.
13
That is a great observation, Neal. The "cold" form of "red mercury" mentioned in the article could indeed be cinnabar. It was considered a metaphysical element and was sometimes placed in graves and tombs. That was something th reporter should have researched and included.
6
Actually, REAL cinnabar not too hard to find, IF you know where to look. It's widely available through art supply shops that sell paint pigments, and yea, it's "expensive" so to speak. but not prohibitively. It's also available at old mining sites in places like California. BUT, you run the risk of poisoning yourself as you extract the ore.
4
I tried finding some on the internet last year, without luck. I did find a lot of geological specimens of the ore for sale. China seems to be the last place where the pigment was manufactured - and no doubt still is. I don't think it's imported to the US, but there are other pigments labeled as such. I'm sure there are great old art supply stores here that still have a stock of the real thing.
It was the preferred pigment for seal ink - the thick paste used with chinese and japanese seals or "chops".
It was the preferred pigment for seal ink - the thick paste used with chinese and japanese seals or "chops".
It's always good to spread information on killer materials for budding home-style bombers around the world.
1
I don't think you read the article, phillip. I'm not sure we need to worry about home-style bombers or terrorists acquiring an imaginary substance.
5
'Red mercury' and 'tax cuts' for the rich.
The perfect solution to every nihilist hellbent on destroying civilization.
The perfect solution to every nihilist hellbent on destroying civilization.
154
Socrates, I'm still howling!!!!!!
6
Great article! seems like someone's practical joke has taken a life of its own.
Re-affirms my belief that the human race is looking for a' short cut' or the proverbial silver bullet which does not exist ... no hard slog for these jihadists, they'd rather blow themselves up.
Weak sauce on the 'Wispy beard' reference ... just one step away from characterizing an entire race as 'terrorists'.
Re-affirms my belief that the human race is looking for a' short cut' or the proverbial silver bullet which does not exist ... no hard slog for these jihadists, they'd rather blow themselves up.
Weak sauce on the 'Wispy beard' reference ... just one step away from characterizing an entire race as 'terrorists'.
1
Thought that line was a little jarring. Like you would (or should) never say "his cornrows hinted at his criminal tendencies" so I don't know why that got a pass here.
1
Wonderful to see the ultimate scammers scammed.
Remember how less than a teaspoon of anthrax caused death and panic in W DC and NYC. Well the Russians had multiple reactors each over 5 meters wide and 12 meters high so they could quickly make vast amounts of the stuff for any major war. I believe it was 60 Minutes that did an expose and they showed the reactors and also a super cheap electric refrigerator that had samples and starter batches of anthrax. The only security device was a rusty hasp with an equally rusty lock.
Also being a former nuclear weapons custodian in the US Navy, nuclear weapons must be periodically refreshed and if not they will not explode. Russia has several missing suitcase size nuclear bombs that are missing but not a big deal because they have been gone for years.
Get this - the USMC version of this tactical weapon had a trip wire switch!
Remember how less than a teaspoon of anthrax caused death and panic in W DC and NYC. Well the Russians had multiple reactors each over 5 meters wide and 12 meters high so they could quickly make vast amounts of the stuff for any major war. I believe it was 60 Minutes that did an expose and they showed the reactors and also a super cheap electric refrigerator that had samples and starter batches of anthrax. The only security device was a rusty hasp with an equally rusty lock.
Also being a former nuclear weapons custodian in the US Navy, nuclear weapons must be periodically refreshed and if not they will not explode. Russia has several missing suitcase size nuclear bombs that are missing but not a big deal because they have been gone for years.
Get this - the USMC version of this tactical weapon had a trip wire switch!
2
Dear Butch Burton,
About the anthrax, there's no reason to fear poor security measures. Anthrax exists in nature, anywhere that had a significant cattle population. People in places like Russia contract anthrax naturally all the time. If people really wanted to get spores to use as weapons, there'd be nothing to stop them from digging up cows that died of it and using those. Of course there'd be nothing to stop them from contracting anthrax in the process either.
About the anthrax, there's no reason to fear poor security measures. Anthrax exists in nature, anywhere that had a significant cattle population. People in places like Russia contract anthrax naturally all the time. If people really wanted to get spores to use as weapons, there'd be nothing to stop them from digging up cows that died of it and using those. Of course there'd be nothing to stop them from contracting anthrax in the process either.
3
Butch, I'm still howling!
The reporting and writing here are excellent (with the exception, which another poster mentioned below, of that strange "wispy beard" comment). I wish that I could say it was comforting to learn just how stupid and gullible evil people can be. But we all know that stupid people do stupid and destructive things. And I do not like being reminded how much of my tax money goes to fund the hunting down of phantoms. This has been a depressing read for the start of my day.
I wish that the media would stop attributing any degree of rational thought or dignity to the deeply evil leaders or acolytes of the "Islamic State." In the aftermath of the Paris terroristic attacks, many news outlets used the word "mastermind" to refer to that now-dead individual (he will not be named) who organized mass murder. Now I see that CNN has changed that sobriquet to "ringleader." To my way of thinking, that is still too flattering a name.
I wish that the media would stop attributing any degree of rational thought or dignity to the deeply evil leaders or acolytes of the "Islamic State." In the aftermath of the Paris terroristic attacks, many news outlets used the word "mastermind" to refer to that now-dead individual (he will not be named) who organized mass murder. Now I see that CNN has changed that sobriquet to "ringleader." To my way of thinking, that is still too flattering a name.
6
There is a gran of truth. Mercury fulminate is explosive. It is used in munition primers. But it isn't red, it's bluish-white and not radioactive Cinnabar is a red mercury compound that was used for years as a cosmetic, a paint coloring and in medicine. It is dangerous to use because of the very serious health risks. It is not explosive.
Uneducated people conflate things and believe the most bizarre tales. I'm glad that the suppliers for terrorists are spending so much time hunting for "Red Mercury."
Uneducated people conflate things and believe the most bizarre tales. I'm glad that the suppliers for terrorists are spending so much time hunting for "Red Mercury."
16
Throw in a little red squill and white phosphorus.
Cool it with a baboon's blood, then the charm is firm and good.
Cool it with a baboon's blood, then the charm is firm and good.
1
dinitrogen tetroxide
1
Shssssssss..... we prefer they keep looking for something that doesn't exist.
36
Isn't that Saddam's line?
Don't get fooled again.
I have Blue Mercury available for Bitcoin.
It's a 1955.
I have Blue Mercury available for Bitcoin.
It's a 1955.
49
That's pretty rare. Are you selling it by the gram?
1
There is actually a real worry: Missing radioactive material. When 9-11 happened, the millions of unexamined containers which enter US ports every year and the loss of weapons-grade radioactive material with the fall of the USSR together suggested that an atomic bomb - or at least a "dirty bomb" - could enter the US. To prevent this, a screening program was planned. The implementation, after a decade and a half, screens only a tiny fraction of containers at the present time. Should our kids be getting those "duck and cover" drills?
Well Frank, whatever the case, there's no sense in "duck and cover" drills. If people are in the blast zone it doesn't matter what position they're in when they get hit by the shockwave of air the density of steel. If they're in the fallout zone they'd need to cover under two feet of lead or the equivalent, not easy to come by. And outside of the fallout zone they'd be fine.
1
The only useful tip for atomic bomb survival I ever saw came from the non-fiction book Hiroshima Maidens. Wear white. Ideally, a white burkha, but anything is helpful...no patterns, though, just plain white. It protects you from flash burns quite effectively. You may die of radiation sickness later, but at least you'll die with your skin still on your body. Ugh. Burns are the worst.
Red mercury a scam? How do you think Keyser Söze made his fortune?
29
Along with their extraordinary capacity for senseless violence, human beings are such seriously weird creatures. The combination is lethal. When we finally become star-faring, the rest of the universe had better run for cover.
20
Sorry, Bill, but I think our species will wipe itself out long before we develop even interstellar travel capability.
6
Ask an American scientist about red mercury and you will get a truthful answer.
3
Haven't they asked Dr. Samuel Cohen? He gave them the right answer! :-)
Wispy beards are simply wispy beards, not an indication of jihadist sympathies. I am surprised to see such overt stereotyping in the NYT.
8
That's right: they can also indicate a predilection for craft beer and artisan toast.
6
Wispy beards are ugly, and I'm all for discrimination against men who wear them.
11
NL - are you currently protesting at Yale, Dartmouth or Princeton?
This is a great article, but I'm genuinely interested in what Al-Kurdi's reaction generally was. 'Chlorine' is a gas, so I'm assuming this is some unnamed compound like calcium hypochlorite and a catalyst?
2
My guess is cal-hypo and something as simple as either ammonia or muriatic acid. Both raise an immediate, choking cloud of caustic fumes.
2
Pray they don't get their hands on ice-nine.
153
Perfect reference.
9
Now which presidential candidate will pick up on that and suggest it as a panacea for global warming?
6
Wispy beards are simply wispy beards, not indications of jihadist sympathies. Surprised to see such overt stereotyping in the NYT.
2
Unsurprising that deranged souls who fervently believe that killing innocent strangers is a direct ticket to eternal paradise in the bosom of a god who ordained the bloodshed, would also believe in a magical elixir called "red mercury."
“Men are so quick to blame the gods: they say
that we devise their misery. But they
themselves- in their depravity- design
grief greater than the griefs that fate assigns.”
― Homer, The Odyssey
“Men are so quick to blame the gods: they say
that we devise their misery. But they
themselves- in their depravity- design
grief greater than the griefs that fate assigns.”
― Homer, The Odyssey
56
The Catholic Church believed and promoted the same horror for centuries. The Muslim fanatics did not invent it.
7
Did some one opine that Muslims invented this stupidity? Each and every deist/dualist worldview have had their historic moment of killing in the name of god or a "higher" cause.
4
When I lived in West Africa in the early 1980s, people would occasionally approach me to ask if I could procure them some "mercure rouge" (red mercury). (Perhaps they thought as a foreigner I would have access to such things). As I recall, it was believed to be useful for conjuring up large amounts of paper currency through some kind of sorcery.
8
Today's "honey pot" for would-be jihadists!
5
Well, now we know what the title of the next Bond movie will be . . . . :-)
7
Too late, it's already been in the Bruce Willis movie "RED"
Red Mercury sprinkled on Yellow Cake is divine...
123
Don't forget to add Agent Orange to the pan to preserve freshness!
2
Red Herring is the common name of the mix...
Cinnabar is the red mercury sulfide ore commonly used to extract pure mercury. It is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese red lacquer artifacts. Mixed with gold powder, it allowed the first gold plating technique, invented by the Chinese around 400 BC for ritual bronzes. (I hope this information will help dealers in Red Mercury wrap their sales pitch with some cultural background)
Cinnabar is the red mercury sulfide ore commonly used to extract pure mercury. It is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese red lacquer artifacts. Mixed with gold powder, it allowed the first gold plating technique, invented by the Chinese around 400 BC for ritual bronzes. (I hope this information will help dealers in Red Mercury wrap their sales pitch with some cultural background)
Red mercury has been known to us dermatologists for decades as being capable of inducing an allergic dermatitis within the areas of its deposition. We know it as "cinnabar", and it had been used for many years because of it's deep red color.
22
Cinnabar is an ore that contains mercury. It is not mercury itself.
2
My hope for the future has been restored with this delightful article - and it didn't even bring up The Philosopher's Stone or The Holy Grail! Nor did it bring up that astonishing book, "Foucault's Pendulum" by Umberto Eco. Oh, please, please, find some way to work all of that into your future up-date. I won't be surprised if the jihadists have never heard of any of that, all that being Christian in origin, but perhaps that would make them more vulnerable to fall for them? Nothing succeeds like a myth from a different religion and the Philosopher's Stone, alone, kept the Christian mystic-scientists busy for centuries! Of course, they went bonky from sniffing all those mercury vapors, but so much the better! Anything that keeps the jihaddies out of the sex-slave markets, buying one-year-old baby girls to rape is a good thing!
Yes, my hope for the future has been restored! May they chase their own tails forever! May they track down every myth - ah! The Third Reich had some doozies, too! Oh, please, please - tell them about runes! And Thor's Hammer sounds like an EXACT match for a Singer sewing machine! Yes!
Oh, yes, this all has possibilities....!
Keep us informed!
My thanks for a delightful story!
Yes, my hope for the future has been restored! May they chase their own tails forever! May they track down every myth - ah! The Third Reich had some doozies, too! Oh, please, please - tell them about runes! And Thor's Hammer sounds like an EXACT match for a Singer sewing machine! Yes!
Oh, yes, this all has possibilities....!
Keep us informed!
My thanks for a delightful story!
45
Oh goodie, this one goes right along side Black Helicopters and Area 51. On the bright side, I'll bet this scam has drained more that few dollars from various nefarious causes like ISIS or Al Qaeda.
12
I keep hearing that problems in the Middle East are a direct result of US and Western actions alienating local populations. Perhaps there's some truth there. But when we're dealing with a population that wholeheartedly believes in an an alchemical substance brought to the ME after "the American occupation" of the Soviet Union that can be used to "summon jinni," I don't think we should hedge our bets on winning the war over their hearts and minds.
136
"I keep hearing that problems in the Middle East are a direct result of US and Western actions alienating local populations."
I've never heard that. I've heard that US actions have exacerbated problems, but I've heard no one say that all problems in the Middle East are the result of US actions. If anyone did say that, it would elicit nothing but laughter.
I've never heard that. I've heard that US actions have exacerbated problems, but I've heard no one say that all problems in the Middle East are the result of US actions. If anyone did say that, it would elicit nothing but laughter.
3
In any population in any part of the universe, you will find a subsection that believes in outlandish things. If someone were to come to America and examine some of our more ludicrous beliefs, they would come to the same conclusion. Please don't take one anecdote about something desperate people who are fighting for a brutal jihadist organization believe, and make any judgments on a "population."
3
"Abu Omar, a Syrian whose wispy beard hinted at his jihadist sympathies"
Really? Having a beard indicates "jihadist sympathies"?
Really? Having a beard indicates "jihadist sympathies"?
65
Many religions believe that a beard is a sign of religious devotion. The Muslims, Sikhs and Rastas are examples. It isn't working in my case though.
4
My 18 year old son has a wispy beard; it indicates that he can grow one, a fact of which he is very proud. I wouldn't put too much emphasis on beards on boys.
3
Only if it's wispy
3
I have an old sewing machine that spins Red Mercury yarns for sale half price, only $25k!
Also selling Dark Matter by the gram, one kilo will turn your enemy into a black hole.
Even better, offering genuine Kryptonite, guaranteed to bring any superpower to its knees...
Also selling Dark Matter by the gram, one kilo will turn your enemy into a black hole.
Even better, offering genuine Kryptonite, guaranteed to bring any superpower to its knees...
107
I think that is Red Matter that turns you into a black hole. I saw it featured in the Historical Documentary called Star Trek a few years back. Remember: Never surrender. Never give up!
It'd be funny if it wasn't for all the tons plastic explosives and innumerable AK47s and RPGs these guys can buy.
It'd be funny if it wasn't for all the tons plastic explosives and innumerable AK47s and RPGs these guys can buy.
4
I have adamantium containers you can put it in, because it melts through unobtainium containers!
6
Do purchasers have to spell Rumpelstiltskin?
This is discriminatory and unacceptable in the NYT: "Abu Omar, a Syrian whose wispy beard hinted at his jihadist sympathies..." "Wispy beards" do not hint at anything other than wispy beards.
174
Maybe not in LA. But are you so sure about Syria?
2
"Hinted" is THE perfect word for this description. The writer painted a picture for the reader while keeping reasonable distance from what you're are calling discriminatory.
6
You are so wrong. The way you fashion your beard and your hair, the hat and clothes you wear, and so on, do indeed indicate tribal, religious, and occupational affiliations, even in LA. In the Middle East these days you can be killed for wearing the "wrong" hat or beard in the wrong neighborhood.
In your favor tho, a wispy beard may be no more than a genetic inability to grow a full orthodox beard. (Abu Omar, eat you heart out!)
In your favor tho, a wispy beard may be no more than a genetic inability to grow a full orthodox beard. (Abu Omar, eat you heart out!)
11
For once, scientific illiteracy works in our favor. Hurray?
116
There is actually a British movie that was done about 15 years ago or so called Red Mercury. So this scenario has been floating around for a while.
3
And an episode of MI-5 (Spooks in the UK) from Series 3, episode 2 titled "The Sleeper."
2
Red Mercury aligns with fantasies of war and power because it invokes archetypal forms familiar to Jungians: Hermes (Mercury) and Mars (allegorized by the color red). It's the perfect Holy Grail for terrorists who slip through the world like Hermes but imagine themselves as Warriors.
The reification of a psychological complex of fantasies into a "real" material form is indicative of the epistemological break that susceptible subjects go through to become fundamentalists. In more innocuous forms we can see this in snake handlers and other fetishists, in those cases the fetish may even harmlessly channel some pathology away from violence.
While a hitter wearing a magic necklace in baseball game may aid performance via a placebo effect, IS is performing an altogether different kind of alchemy. Red Mercury, if deconstructed via depth psychology, is a personification for the kind of slippery and violent outsiders empowered by fantasies of trans-formative power that work to destroy the "polis" - the urbane and poly-valent places we live, work and play in.
The reification of a psychological complex of fantasies into a "real" material form is indicative of the epistemological break that susceptible subjects go through to become fundamentalists. In more innocuous forms we can see this in snake handlers and other fetishists, in those cases the fetish may even harmlessly channel some pathology away from violence.
While a hitter wearing a magic necklace in baseball game may aid performance via a placebo effect, IS is performing an altogether different kind of alchemy. Red Mercury, if deconstructed via depth psychology, is a personification for the kind of slippery and violent outsiders empowered by fantasies of trans-formative power that work to destroy the "polis" - the urbane and poly-valent places we live, work and play in.
15
Red mercury has been the subject of films, books, newspaper articles, and high-level political intrigue, yet, according to much-publicized statements from British, Russian, and U.S. government officials, no material matching the properties of red mercury exists, and no such material is used in the construction of nuclear weapons. How, then, did red mercury become the nuclear commodity of choice for con artists and unwitting buyers?
http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/nuclear-trafficking-hoaxes/
http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/nuclear-trafficking-hoaxes/
1
Precisely because there are unwitting buyers. And military-political leaders who have not yet read the book Physics and Technology for Future Presidents.
3
So I have only one relevant question. These people overall are mostly unsophisticated, and on their journeys to obtain such material and as mentioned in some cases it may already exist, why haven't they blown themselves up. I know it's a silly question, but we're not talking about nuclear physicists handling these items, in most cases, individuals that lack any real knowledge. Anyway, just curious why we are yet to see a headline of "oops, terrorist organization wipes (name your country of choice) off the map while fiddling with rare explosive devises"? I feel like we should see this happen more often, no?
5
Nonproliferation tracking works - so they don't have 'rare explosive devices'. They seem to do pretty well blowing themselves up conventionally. I'm sure that happens unintentionally all the time, too, but ISIS is hardly going to release press statements about failed bomb-makers.
7
Perhaps this article can best be summed up by: "if you believe blowing up a market with a suicide bomb will get you virgins in heaven, you'll believe anything."
280
So, do the women who blow themselves up get virgins, too?
8
No, the women get a car and a driver's license.
3
This should not have been published. Maybe the smart won't be tricked, but most people are idiots and keeping the idiots chasing fools gold would probably stop 90% of would be terorists.
5
This information is nothing new. There is already loads of information showing red mercury to be false for anyone remotely curious enough to seek it, yet in spite of that they choose to believe it. If that hasn't changed their mind already, this won't either. They'll just rationalize this as American propaganda to deter them from seeking the weapon that will finally assure them victory.
9
Those who are chasing after this elusive ingredient will not be deterred by a simple NYTimes Magazine report. In fact, it will provide evidence of once again, that the Evil Empire of the West is attempting to corrupt minds of true believers.
The more discussion about how Red Mercury does not exist will actually further fuel the desire to obtain it. Denial of its existence is actual proof of it.
Crazy, I know, but that's how conspiracy theorists view open discussion that disagree with their mindset. I'm certain those who are willing to blow themselves into pieces to kill the general public are even less likely to accept a Western Newspaper's claims as truth.
Instead, this article and all the snarky comments will be viewed as simply more propaganda set to distract them from their ultimate goal of obtaining the ultimate ingredient for the ultimate weapon to destroy the infidel hoard.
love it. :)
The more discussion about how Red Mercury does not exist will actually further fuel the desire to obtain it. Denial of its existence is actual proof of it.
Crazy, I know, but that's how conspiracy theorists view open discussion that disagree with their mindset. I'm certain those who are willing to blow themselves into pieces to kill the general public are even less likely to accept a Western Newspaper's claims as truth.
Instead, this article and all the snarky comments will be viewed as simply more propaganda set to distract them from their ultimate goal of obtaining the ultimate ingredient for the ultimate weapon to destroy the infidel hoard.
love it. :)
16
To the credulous, the more news stories claiming that the thing they want is non-existent the more they believe it is all a plot to keep them from getting the stuff. I've worked with people, some uneducated some highly educated who believe that if the government claims something doesn't exist then it must exist.
11
The red mercury hoax represents yet another anti-science aspect of the Republican Party's collection of fear toys, and the only reason Americans haven't added red mercury to their list of existential threats to Freedom and Grandma is because they're science illiterate.
70
I know you didnt just blame the Republicans here. I mean come on man. I know there is a lot of political stuff out there right now but really. Get a grip on your comments here. Not every conversation is an opening to blame the party that you align yourself with the least. Have some dignity, just dog out the jihadists here not the Republicans.
2
Red mercury is a mythical substance, supposedly possessing massive destructive power. It is sometimes referenced in pre-chemistry alchemical texts, though what substance or process it is a codeword for differs from text to text. No credible evidence of the substance's existence has been put forward
6
Great, now alchemy's become a factor in terrorist plots.
45
I find the idea of "wasting terrorists time" intriguing.
1
Thinking of all the time, money, energy and other resources wasted by terrorists in search of this mythical substance, it would seem quite logical to let them keep looking for it and not even attempt to debunk it.
5
Maybe we should flood the market with "red mercury" and elaborate instructions and diagrams on how to make the "Doomsday Bomb" with it. Make it all very, very expensive but readily available. Lets rob the jihadists!
10
You have to make them hunt for it though. If it's too easy to get, it's almost certainly the cheap filler, rosebud mercury, which is totally inert. I was in retail. I know these things.
1
The substance may be a scam, but the intent is not. ISIS needs to be absolutely destroyed, ideally yesterday not tomorrow.
40
Samuel T. Cohen may well have had a sense of humor and a good feel for psychology as well as a serious concern about nuclear terrorism. Launching a meme as good and durable as "red mercury" would have required a gut knowledge of what appeals to terrorists. The Samuel T. Cohen Memorial Wild Goose Chase.
34
The real-life search for Red Mercury evokes the fictional search in Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow," his late-WWII-situated novel, pursued by parties on all sides, for the Schwarzgerät ("black device"), ostensibly a component to be installed in V2 rocket serial numbered 00000, made from a heretofore unknown plastic named Imipolex G.
Death, and the lust to wreak Death, imitates Art.
Death, and the lust to wreak Death, imitates Art.
6
Wanna scam?
The Bomb Didn’t Beat Japan… Stalin Did
Have 70 years of nuclear policy been based on a lie?
http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/30/the-bomb-didnt-beat-japan-stalin-did/
The United States holds the record to this day of killing the the most people in the shortest amount of time in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, some 150,000 in seconds, and then went on to set the record for #2 over Nagasaki on the 9th.* ISIL is just trying to follow the American example and maybe set a new record.
* Matthew White in "The Great Big Book of Horrible Things" (2012) W.W.Norton & Company