10 Things We Learned From Eric Weinstein On The Joe Rogan Experience

Though it is only touched upon briefly in the latter part of the episode, the story of the Nuclear Boy Scout referenced by Weinstein is too fascinating not to warrant its own entry in this list.

David Hahn was an American boy scout that was entirely fascinated by chemistry, and nuclear power in particular. At a young age, Hahn embarked on an attempt to collect samples of all of the elements in the periodic table, including the radioactive ones.

Now, I'm no nuclear scientist, but I know enough that as well as being completely unsafe, stockpiling radioactive materials is probably a quick way to end up on a government watchlist.

Incredibly enough, despite his relative inexperience, Hahn was something of a nuclear scientist, and by scavenging materials from everyday items, managed to create a homemade neutron source at the age of just 17.

Unsurprisingly, as soon as authorities caught wind of what Hahn was getting up to in his backyard, they initiated an emergency response protocol and quickly removed all of his materials.