Myths are expensive: red mercury

Mercury - all from childhood a familiar substance inthermometer. Scary poisonous and life-threatening metal silvery white, liquid at room temperature. Even the medieval alchemists tried to turn this unusual substance into gold.

In school, from the lessons in chemistry, we learn aboutperiodic system of Mendeleev, where Hg is an element with an atomic number of 80. Now this fluid metal, known from ancient times, has been well studied. Whatever property of mercury does not interest the man in the street, it will not be difficult to learn more about it. For example, its colorlessness in vapors, the boiling point, the compressibility, etc.

Already in the early 90-ies of the XX century, everywhererumors spread about the creation of a completely new variety of this metal. The subject of gossip was red mercury, more precisely the substance RM 20/20, allegedly produced in the secret scientific laboratories of the USSR. People's faith in the reality of the existence of this substance was supported by all the new stories and scandals associated with its sales. Mythic red mercury cost fabulous money. Vendors asked for 1 kg from 300 to 400 thousand dollars.

And those wishing to pay such sums were,especially in the West, who at that time still had little knowledge of Russian ingenuity. Red mercury was said to have simply fantastic properties - from superdensity (over 20 g / cm³) and super radioactivity to spaceorigin or ability to cure any ailments. The buyer under her view was slipped anything - from mercury amalgam to ordinary mercury, painted with dyes or brick powder.

Many Soviet nuclear physicists have repeatedlydenied the possibility of creating such a substance, explaining that this not only contradicts the laws of nature, but is also impossible at the modern technological level. The addition of mercury compounds to the uranium or plutonium used in the nuclear reaction only reduces their radioactivity and functionality.

Not having a real basis, rumors aboutsubstance RM 20/20 in a few years almost calmed down by themselves. Current observers believe that the excitement, which then caused the red mercury, was created artificially. The source of active promotion of rumors in the media was the monetary interests of many high-ranking people. And also the desire of the West to discredit the nuclear energy of the former Union, bringing to the world community the idea of ​​an atomic terrorist threat from Russia.

And now again in the mass mediainformation can be found on the reality of scientific developments on the creation of red mercury, as a fundamental substance for the development of nanotechnology or "living machines." On behalf of professors and academicians, unique opportunities are revealed to mankind by this technological discovery. Red mercury is called a universal catalyst and an inhibitor of chemical reactions, and fabulous quotations for the "philosophical stone of the 21st century" are mentioned. This proves that people have not disappeared anywhere, ready to cash in on someone's belief in miracles.

</ p>