"...Saudis Buy Up “Mini-Nuke” Material..."

Wired's Danger-Room, here

Mythical red mercury, the supposed fuel for mini-nukes, is still alive and gearing up for a comeback. For the past two decades, people have reportedly peddled the fictional material to would-be bomb makers to dumb to know what they’re buying. The latest scam, reported this month in the Saudi Gazette, involves people buying old Singer sewing machines.

As the Saudi Gazette reported:

The rumors, which first started circulating a few days ago via the Internet and then the word of mouth, led to a rush for sewing machines that could previously have been bought for as little as SR200. … Believers of the rumors say that the presence of a drop of red mercury in the machine’s needle can be verified with a mobile telephone. If the line cuts off when the telephone is placed close to the needle, they say, that proves the existence of the substance.