Bob Lazar on physics: what the evidence says · JRE #1315

FACT CHECK // JRE #1315 // EXHIBIT LOG
EPISODE AIRED JUN 1, 2019 · THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE
CLAIM CMRBAL3RSTATUS: PUBLISHED
SUBJECT: PHYSICS
SpeakerBob Lazar
Timestamp27:24
Aired
// 00 · ABSTRACT

The short answer

Lazar claims the element 115 he worked with at S4 was a stable, non-radioactive isotope used as an anti-gravity fuel source. Element 115 (now named moscovium, symbol Mc) was first synthesized in 2003-2004 by a joint Dubna-Livermore team via the nuclear reaction 243Am(48Ca, xn)291-x115, and its identification, like that of all superheavy elements, depends on detecting its characteristic radioactive decay chains in a particle detector -- the opposite of non-decaying.

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Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.

// THE CLAIM · ON TAPE
Element 115, the fuel they had, was stable. In other words, it didn't decay, it wasn't emitting radioactivity
Bob Lazar@ 27:24
Watch on YouTubeJUMP TO 27:24

What the evidence says 01 / RECORD

Lazar claimed the element 115 sample he described handling was a stable isotope that did not decay or emit radioactivity. Element 115 (now named moscovium, symbol Mc) was first synthesized in 2003-2004 by a joint Dubna-Livermore team via the nuclear reaction 243Am(48Ca, xn)291-x115, and its identification, like that of all superheavy elements, depends on detecting its characteristic radioactive decay chains in a particle detector -- the opposite of non-decaying. All moscovium isotopes produced and confirmed to date are extremely short-lived, with half-lives on the order of tens to hundreds of milliseconds up to roughly one second, and physicists studying the region expect any longer-lived isotopes near the theorized "island of stability" to still be radioactive, just less so, not truly stable. No stable or non-radioactive isotope of element 115 has ever been produced or is predicted by current nuclear models. The scientific record therefore directly contradicts the claim that a stable, non-decaying sample of element 115 could exist or have been used as described.

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