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According to a recent press conference Russian scientists have made a breakthrough so astounding it could change the universe as we know it in fundamental ways.

The essence of this discovery and the technology is that, we have developed an industrial method of transformation of one chemical element into another elements and isotopes. We present transmutation technology without nuclear reactors, heavy water other things like that, which are used for transmutation in traditional ways. We present biochemical method of elements and their isotopes transmutation.

Source: Russian Team “Actinides” Announces Discovery of Industrial Biochemical Method of Elemental Transmutation (Press Conference and Press Release)

Can these claims be proven or disproved in any way?

There are a number of references to scientific papers and patents on their website:

http://bt-isotopes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PATENT_en.pdf

http://bt-isotopes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/press-release-transmutation.pdf

http://bt-isotopes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Translation-of-speaches-transmutation.pdf

http://bt-isotopes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Kurashov-Sakhno-Maksimov-%D0%9C%D1%8E%D0%BD%D1%85%D0%B5%D0%BD.pdf

Laurel
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Andy Gee
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  • This seems extremely unlikely. However, I'm not sure how to go about proving a negative. I'm not clear why they refer to their method as "biochemical" since there is nothing (that I know of) special about chemistry done by biological systems. Oh, ok, they're using bacteria somehow? The only possibility that occurs to me is finding research that shows this is physically possible with chemistry, and then just assuming that these guys have found bacteria that do the same thing. – gilleain Aug 04 '16 at 13:36
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    If you are asking us to say "No, that's not possible" - well, that would be short-sighted when we are talking about claimed new discoveries. If people knew it was possible it wouldn't be a new discovery. – DJClayworth Aug 04 '16 at 13:53
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    They're working with radioactive materials, which decay into other elements on their own. The patent document says "the schemes of reactions and isotopic transitions do not contradict to, but confirm the existing theory of radioactive decays." And many of their claims seem to be that the bacteria "initiate and accelerate" normal nuclear decay. But I do see some very surprising claims in there: that the bacteria transfer protons, electrons, and alpha particles *into* other atomic nuclei, moving them *up* instead of *down* the atomic table. They call this "decay", which confuses me. – Dan Getz Aug 04 '16 at 14:31
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    So if your problem is with the phrase "biochemical transmutation", you should understand that they're talking about radioactive decay aided by biochemical processes, not "pure" biology and chemistry, with radioactivity excluded. – Dan Getz Aug 04 '16 at 14:36
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    And what I (with my limited understanding) would consider the most controversial claim here would be that bacteria can carry out nuclear fusion. Maybe their other claims are similarly, um, surprising, but I don't know enough to know. – Dan Getz Aug 04 '16 at 14:39
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    Ye-es. I read some more of the patent after commenting, and it seems like they are claiming that the cells are somehow directing these transformations using various cellular structures (eg membranes) - I had assumed that it was simply claiming some kind of novel enzyme. It's quite amusing, although totally made up - either delusional or fraudulent, it's hard to say. – gilleain Aug 04 '16 at 14:39
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    sounds like cold fusion II to me. –  Aug 04 '16 at 17:02
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    Isaac Asimov, http://www.e-reading.club/chapter.php/82002/12/Azimov_-_Asimovs_Mysteries.html could be cited as prior art... – DJohnM Aug 05 '16 at 00:44
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    So basically they're claiming to have invented alchemy? – GordonM Mar 06 '17 at 10:53
  • Chemical modification of nuclear reactions is not a surprise. That is a key part of how nuclear reactors work (moderators like graphite or water reduce the speed of emitted neutrons thereby making some nuclear reactions more likely to happen). The translations of the claims are poor but might be consistent with normal moderation plus bacteria that selectively concentrate specific products. If they are making bigger claims there is no obvious evidence there. – matt_black Jul 08 '20 at 13:47
  • This is obviously nonsense, and I'll post an answer that definitively proves it to be so through demonstrated homeopathy. – PoloHoleSet Jul 08 '20 at 14:29
  • @PoloHoleSet Looking forward to that. – Andy Gee Jul 18 '20 at 03:32

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