Wiktionary
n. A supposed substance for use in the creation of nuclear bombs and other weapons, about which there are various conspiracy theory.
Wikipedia
Red mercury is a hoax substance of uncertain composition purportedly used in the creation of nuclear bombs, as well as a variety of unrelated weapons systems. In reality, no such substance exists.
It is purported to be mercuric iodide, a poisonous, odorless, tasteless, water-insoluble scarlet-red powder that becomes yellow when heated above 126 °C, due to a thermochromatic change in crystalline structure. However, samples of "red mercury" obtained from arrested would-be terrorists invariably consisted of nothing more than various red dyes or powders of little value, which may have been sold as part of a campaign intended to flush out potential nuclear smugglers.
The "red mercury" hoax was first reported in 1979, and was commonly discussed in the media in the 1990s. Prices as high as $1,800,000 per kilogram were reported.
The Red Mercury is the rarest of Austrian newspaper stamps. It was issued for the mailing of newspapers in Austria and Lombardy-Venetia.
Red mercury is a hoax substance of uncertain composition purportedly used in the creation of nuclear bombs.
Red mercury may also refer to:
- Red Mercury (newspaper stamp), an Austrian postage stamp
- Red Mercury (film), a film produced in the United Kingdom, first released in 2005
Red Mercury is a 2005 British film starring Stockard Channing, Pete Postlethwaite, Juliet Stevenson, Ron Silver and David Bradley, and directed by Roy Battersby.
Usage examples of "red mercury".
Thanks to red mercury he would be able to fit his bomb into a briefcase.
The key to it was a fancy new stuff called red mercury: a compound of antimony and mercury baked in a nuclear reactor, capable of releasing hundreds of times the energy contained in the same mass of TNT.
The rental car was an easy mark, Hertz must have a million of those red Mercury Capris, but this was the one with the Philadelphia Inquirer folded up nice and neat in the window and, if I know my Lauren, it's got a bottle of Jack Daniel's in the glove box.
Both cars pulled out of the parking lot, Keith's red Mercury and Meg's gray Toyota.
His uncle stopped the red Mercury in front of a lawn that sloped up to a ranch house, as he called it.