MadSci Network: Physics
Query:

Re: David Hudson and 'Orbitally Rearranged Monatomic Elements'

Date: Thu May 29 10:42:44 2003
Posted By: Fred M. Niell, III, Grad student, Physics, Univ. of Michigan
Area of science: Physics
ID: 1053438835.Ph
Message:

I must preface this answer with a bit of history. David Hudson's work came to my attention while I was in college. His scientific work appears to have ended sometime in the mid to early eighties, when he began to believe he found rare heavy earth elements in our foodstuffs and stated claiming these elements provided our cells the ability to sustain life and ultimately led to the development of intelligent life. Such claims are prima facia preposterous. Web sites attributed to this man appear to sell colloidal silver and gold solutions with curative properties. This is irresponsible and dangerous, as there is no scientific evidence to support those claims.

You can read the story for yourself in a few places.

The evidence I have read on the web points to only a few facts, and many, many speculations. There is clearly a man named David Hudson who has spent some time working on the mono-, di-, poly- atomic forms of numerous transition metals. However, claims of high-Tc superconductivity, zero-field Meissner effects, and the entire transmutation claim ocurring naturally in the Arizona desert dirt are entirely apocryphal. Some 90's research showed interesting physical-chemistry related quantum orbital effects in some heavy transition metal forms. However, his claims are outlandishly far beyond the scientific findings of any researchers.

It is true that spectroscopic analysis will show odd results as the various molecular metal-metal bonded states of transition metals are reduced in a hot arc. However, nuclear activation spectroscopy does not rely on electrons for matter identification. Hudson claims to have spent ridiculous sums of money on professional analysis of his dirt samples, but for no lab to have carried out a nuclear activation study is quite odd. The scientific basis of his claim is that transition metals prepared in mono-, di- and poly- atomic metal-bonded states have electrons in very strange quantum states that will fool conventional spectroscopy. These quantum states may have commercially useful properties. However, that is the extent of the claim in his patents.

It appears that people inclined to fantastic conspiracy stories do not make the distinction between scientific research and a patent claim. One must keep in mind that a claim in a patent must try to encompass not just the current state of the technique described, but any further progress made on the invention in the forseeable future. It is easy to stretch one's imagination beyond what is written in Hudson's patents. There are claims to the possible usage of his materials in a number of solid state, superconductive, and other technologies. This by no means implies that Hudson has high Tc superconductive soil in his Arizona farmland.

The second half of Hudson's story is quite bizarre. His "lectures" on the purported health benifits of what he has started calling the "philosopher's stone" are beyond explanation. In these stories, wild claims are made about the properties of these admittedly strange materials. The claims of mass disappearing and radiation phenomena are ridiculous, not to mention the supposed health benefits. It has been shown many times recently, due to the resurgence of the "quack" medical practice of administering colloidal silver, that solutions of heavy rare earth and transition metals are usually somewhat hepatotoxic, and have no theraputic benefits. Taken in large enough doses, these are probably ultimately lethal.

The explanation of the transmutation he claims to have observed is highly suspect. I will have to do a little research, but it seems entirely unlikely that the quantum states involved with his mono- and di- atomic metals would be capable of distorting the nucleus to the point of spontaneous fission. The electrons simply cannot pull hard enough on the nucleus to create deformation of "2:1" as claimed on one website. That is ridiculous. Also, his claims that 110 grams of frozen grape juice contain 150mg of Rhodium and 240 mg of Iridium are bizarre. I have no way to explain what he is talking about. Iridium, Rhodium, Osmium and others all show a low toxicity, but in the doses that are claimed to be theraputic, I would be quite wary.

In any event, science in general should try and be objective. Anytime a scientific explanation begins to quote the book of Revelations and the Illuminati, you have to start to take the entire thing with a grain of salt. I spent some time looking for legitimate research, and could find none. There appears to be no substantive research on the physics of these admittedly confusing metal-metal bonded metal salts.

I hope this answers your questions!
-Fred


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