Lost Nazi Uranium Found In a Dutch Scrapyard 205
colin_faber writes "Lewis Page of the Register is reporting that forensic nuclear scientists at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre traced the two pieces of metal found in a Dutch scrapyard — described as a cube and a plate — back to their exact origins and dates. Apparently both came from ores extracted at the 'Joachimsthal' mine in what is now the Czech Republic from the former Nazi nuclear-weapons programme of the 1940s." The article runs through the roadblocks that, unknown to the Allies, the Nazi regime erected against their possible success in any nuclear bomb development during the war.
Many boffins died ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Furthermore the Germans were hampered by having driven many top physicists out of the country with their anti-Semitic policies, and also by drafting other boffins into the army to fight as ordinary soldiers.
Politics (Score:5, Insightful)
The issue of Heisenberg, and any theoretical physicist being treated like a pariah (and thus dooming Nazi Germany's atom bomb program) is very instructive. The Nazi's made a political and ideological decision, to wit:
They would then cast about trying to find every white atheist physicist who had doubts about 20th century physics, and then give them huge grants, fat think tank jobs, and would promote their work to the moon and back. On the other hand they would work to suppress the contributions of people like Lise Meitner, who used the 'Jewish physics' to provide them with proof of the first lab fission reaction.
I suppose there's some sort of argument pro or con of climate change in this... exercise for the reader.
Re:quick, someone call Clive Cussler! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Politics (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Many boffins died ... (Score:5, Insightful)
I think the quote from Heisenberg in the article is particularly interesting:
In other words, simple-minded tyrants think that the best way to motivate people is to say, "Make this happen or die." (And less powerful but just as simple-minded people in the workplace use "Make this happen or lose your job.") But one result is that no one is willing to suggest the idea of anything moderately risky, for fear that they'll be put to work on making that happen, and punished when it can't be done.
Re:quick, someone call Clive Cussler! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Many boffins died ... (Score:1, Insightful)
Probably, but then part of the rise in power came through the hatred. So if Hitled would not have disliked the Jews so much, he might not have been elected...
I guess a good part of the reason why Hitler was elected was the failure of the political system of the Weimar Republic to cope with the circumstances (political instability, economic crisis, the harsh conditions of the Versailles treaty). This all lead to the wish for a "strong man" who would bring stability and reconstitute independence. This national side was IMHO more vital for the fact that the Nazis achieved 34% in the last free elections than the anti-semitic side. It also was the main reason why Hitler managed to gain popularity throughout the 30s - because he was quite successful in lifting a lot of restrictions imposed by the Versailles treaty - and got away with it.
Re:Doesn't address the most interesting issue (Score:4, Insightful)
G-d is a way of saying "God" without actually writing the name in a medium in which it will eventually be destroyed. Presumably, the poster was thanking their god for not allowing the Nazi's to get the bomb.
Unless you were just being intentionally obtuse, as so many strident atheists are, and trying to draw attention to it - in which case, I ask you, please stop doing that. It makes it really easy for everyone to get pissed off at the rest of us who are atheist but don't feel the need to be jerks about it.
Re:Many boffins died ... (Score:3, Insightful)
A notation appended to my Evil Overlord list now -
"I will never say 'Make this happen or die.' I will say 'Whatcha Got?' "
Pug