Dean
Adept Dabbler
One of the comic-book elements of Lazar's 1989 account was that the purported captured spacecraft were powered by "element 115," an element that he claimed could not be synthesized on Earth. Since then element 115, moscovium (also known as ununpentium) has been synthesized, but the heaviest and most stable isotope synthesized (moscovium-290) has a half-life of only 0.65 seconds.
In my post above, I noted that Lazar's "United Nuclear" website sells T-shirts and coffee mugs that depict "Lazarium," which I said "is what Lazar calls element 115, which the rest of the world knows as moscovium." Looking today more closely at the United Nuclear catalog, I see that the term "Lazarium" is being applied by Lazar specifically to a hypothetical "stable isotope" of element 115, although no such stable isotope has actually been synthesized.
A worthwhile podcast by Stuart Robbins (Exposing PseudoAstronomy no. 133, June 2, 2015) focused on Lazar's various claims regarding Element 115. According to Robbins, "the predicted maximum stability of the most stable version, ununpentium-291, is only seconds." However, in a post above, Thomas R. Morrison (while making it clear that he rejects Lazar's story) wrote, "According to the macro-microscopic nuclear model used by the world’s leading superheavy elements research facility – the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia (which is how element 115 got the name Moscovium), the center of the island of stability is around the doubly magic nuclear number Z = 114 and N = 184, so the most stable isotope of element 115 is probably Moscovium-299, not 291. And according to the research director of the JINR, Dr. Yuri Oganessian, who’s widely considered to be the world’s leading researcher on this subject, isotopes near the center of the island of stability could have half-lives on the order of thousands or even millions of years . . ."
You will note that the "Lazarium" T-shirt and mug have incorporated this predicted stable atomic weight of 299.
The Robbins podcast can be heard at Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast - Shownotes Episode 133
A complete Robbins transcript: Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast - Shownotes Episode 133
In my post above, I noted that Lazar's "United Nuclear" website sells T-shirts and coffee mugs that depict "Lazarium," which I said "is what Lazar calls element 115, which the rest of the world knows as moscovium." Looking today more closely at the United Nuclear catalog, I see that the term "Lazarium" is being applied by Lazar specifically to a hypothetical "stable isotope" of element 115, although no such stable isotope has actually been synthesized.
A worthwhile podcast by Stuart Robbins (Exposing PseudoAstronomy no. 133, June 2, 2015) focused on Lazar's various claims regarding Element 115. According to Robbins, "the predicted maximum stability of the most stable version, ununpentium-291, is only seconds." However, in a post above, Thomas R. Morrison (while making it clear that he rejects Lazar's story) wrote, "According to the macro-microscopic nuclear model used by the world’s leading superheavy elements research facility – the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia (which is how element 115 got the name Moscovium), the center of the island of stability is around the doubly magic nuclear number Z = 114 and N = 184, so the most stable isotope of element 115 is probably Moscovium-299, not 291. And according to the research director of the JINR, Dr. Yuri Oganessian, who’s widely considered to be the world’s leading researcher on this subject, isotopes near the center of the island of stability could have half-lives on the order of thousands or even millions of years . . ."
You will note that the "Lazarium" T-shirt and mug have incorporated this predicted stable atomic weight of 299.
The Robbins podcast can be heard at Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast - Shownotes Episode 133
A complete Robbins transcript: Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast - Shownotes Episode 133
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