THEY JUST CAN’T SEEM TO GET LITHIUM-7 RIGHT…

Well, this one jumped out at me over at phys.org, but first, before we get to that, a little review. For those of you who've read Grid of the Gods or The Nazi International, you'll already know the lithium-7 problem, so a brief review for those who don't. Lithium-7 is, for me at least, at the center of a bit of an historical mystery. In the early 1950s, the US military tested one of its newly acquired toys - the hydrogen bomb - at a test in the South Pacific. The particular test I have in mind was of a bomb code-named "Castle Bravo", and this quickly became one of the most infamous cases of miscalculation in history, for the bomb, when fired off, ran away to almost twice its pre-test predicted yield.

Oops.

When the military came out with its explanation, it became the thermonuclear version of the Warren Report. The military's "miscalculation"  (consider it the difference between a really big bang and a really really really REALLY big bang) was due, we were told, to the bomb engineers not having factored in fusion reactions of lithium-7 in the lithium-deuteride that was the fuel for the fusion stage of the bomb. They were calculating only the lithium-6 reaction, which comprised about 40% of the lithium in the lithium-deuteride mixture. Now we're confronted by another unpleasant set of possibilities here: (1) either they didn't know that the lithium-7 would enter into the fusion reaction, or (2) they forgot....

Now...this means the US military made a really, big, colossal "oops"....

Well, this thermonuclear Warren Report gets worse if one factors into the picture the historical context that I outlined in Nazi International and then later Grid of the Gods, namely, that over a year prior to the Castle Bravo test, a former Nazi scientist, Dr. Ronald Richter,  working on fusion in Juan Peron's Argentina for Peron's government, claimed to have obtained fusion reactions...at temperatures far under what the conventional thermonuclear physics models would theoretically allow. This early "cold fusion" claim was, of course, roundly denounced in the world press, and Richter was denounced as a fraud...

Peron quickly appointed an Argentine nuclear physicist to head a commission to investigate Richter's claims, one Dr. Jose Balseiro. Dr. Balseiro quickly denounced Richter's claims, since he claimed to be achieving fusion reactions at temperatures far below those the standard model required for fusion reactions to occur.  Richter faded from view...

Until Castle Bravo, when suddenly, after the test, the US Air Force paid the Nazi scientist a quiet (and secret) visit. Why? Because Richter had claimed he was getting fusion reactions with lithium-7. Now the important point here is Dr. Balseiro's reaction to Richter's claims, for he never mentions any problem with the idea of lithium-7 reactions, but merely mentions his problem being with the temperature at which Richter claimed to be getting them. In other words, lithium-7 fusion reactions were common knowledge, both to the "fraud" Richter, and to the "orthodox nuclear physicist" Jose Balseiro. And therefore, it is possible that the US military knew it too, and that the "lithium-7" miscalculation story is just that, a story.

So this throws the whole lithium-7 miscalculation of the Castle Bravo yield into a cocked hat.

Well, the lithium-7 mystery just got a little worse for the standard model, at least, according to phys.org:

New ideas add further mystery to why there is less lithium-7 in the universe than expected

Now, I hope you caught that last sentence, for in it, one smells the faint whiff, not of science, but of dogma:

"Astrophysicists have suggested a lot of theories to explain the dearth of helium-7, but thus far, none have panned out, and none of them are proposing that the original ideas used to describe how much there should be, are wrong." (Emphasis added)
But what if, as Richter suggested, lithium-7 has some peculiar properties of lattice assisted nuclear reactions, or "cold fusion"? In that case, the cosmological picture might just change, and perhaps might throw into question some aspects of the standard model... maybe even completely imperil it. And maybe that is why Richter had to be denounced, and why the standard model must be defended, tooth and nail...there might be just "too much energy", as in the Castle Bravo test, to be had.
And just as a radically speculative idea: What if Richter actually did what he said he did, and achieved fusion reactions with lithium-7  at temperatures far below the requirements of the standard model? That would mean that, if one weaponized his technology, one might be capable of producing thermonuclear bombs without the necessity of acquiring the a-bomb as its fuse to create the extremely high temperatures to initiate a fusion reaction.
In this respect, it has always been interesting to me that both the USA and the USSR began covert programs to create just such a clean "fusion bomb" without the need for an a-bomb to set it off, after the Castle Bravo Test, and after the claims of Richter, and after the US Air Force's secret visit to interview Richter in the wake of the test...
See you on the flip side...
Posted in

Joseph P. Farrell

Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and "strange stuff". His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into "alternative history and science".

13 Comments

  1. Dirty John on August 6, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    see paper on “red mercury” at about chemistry dot com… maybe it does work. i hope not.



  2. Alex on August 6, 2012 at 10:24 am

    As long as it is used on an enemy of Israel. The US supports endless wars for Israel, it all started a decade ago after a false flag attack.
    9/11, US and Israel:
    http://www.amazon.com/America-Deceived-II-Possession-interrogation/dp/1450257437



  3. CopperBlue66 on July 31, 2012 at 3:34 pm

    Remarkable that you happen to be addressing the Castle Bravo test. In the past two days I have been researching this to find out more and why it was much bigger than they expected – Lithium-7 – and how it caused an international incident with the radioactive fallout hitting a Japanese fishing boat and Marshall Islanders. How did they screw up so majorly I wondered – and then, quite coincidentally, I heard your interview with Henrik Palmgren and look up your blog – and you are addressing Castle Bravo and Lithium-7. This is weird.



  4. pugetopolis on July 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    The real reason we’re going back to the Moon? “Researchers and space enthusiasts see helium 3 as the perfect fuel source: extremely potent, nonpolluting, with virtually no radioactive by-product. Proponents claim it’s the fuel of the 21st century. The trouble is, hardly any of it is found on Earth. But there is plenty of it on the moon.”
    http://www.metafilter.com/30878/Helium3-on-the-Moon

    ”This, they say, would solve the whole lithium-7 problem” http://annesastronomynews.com/astrophysicist-team-suggests-axions-could-explain-dearth-of-lithium-7-in-dark-matter-theory/



  5. markLouis on July 29, 2012 at 12:11 pm

    Scientists aren’t worried if lithium-7 reactions get a little out of hand. They’re confident they can cool things down just by applying a little ice-9 to the heat. What could go wrong?



  6. Robert Barricklow on July 29, 2012 at 8:40 am

    There is not only the “weaponization” aspect, but also the alternative energy aspects as well. They want monopoly of power, not only in force, but energy sources. All part of power/control.



  7. Jedi on July 29, 2012 at 8:04 am

    …I dont think the mass is ready for this stuff Doc



    • HAL838 on July 29, 2012 at 8:22 am

      I don’t think it is about your dense black mass



    • HAL838 on July 29, 2012 at 8:24 am

      Isn’t it time for you to phone home
      Many here are all-ready in retreat mode



  8. Owl on July 29, 2012 at 6:09 am

    “Astrophysicists have suggested a lot of theories to explain the dearth of helium-7, but thus far, none have panned out, and none of them are proposing that the original ideas used to describe how much there should be, are wrong.” (Emphasis added)

    LITHIUM-7

    Ummmm,,,for the non-physics educated, are helium-7 and lithium-7 the same or one is part of the other? Sorry if that is elementary to physics experts.

    Thanks for any clarification.



    • HAL838 on July 29, 2012 at 6:34 am

      I may be out of line here, but I think
      Dr Farrell meant LITHIUM-7 throughout.

      Even the ‘gods’ became fatigued now & then.

      A correction please Joseph, if I am wrong.

      :”)



      • Karl on July 29, 2012 at 11:26 am

        No, read the article he refers to – helium-7 is expected to collide into lithium-7. The short explanation here is a bit confusing.



        • HAL838 on July 29, 2012 at 2:33 pm

          Thank you Karl
          He did seem to run over into 2 different subjects

          and my physics never went past undergrad

          all those ionic elements tend to stick in my craw



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