Posted on 01/21/2026 1:43:49 PM PST by yesthatjallen
In a remarkable twist that bridges ancient ambition with cutting-edge science, physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider have achieved what medieval alchemists only dreamed of: turning lead into gold. While attempting to recreate conditions moments after the Big Bang, researchers on the ALICE experiment in Switzerland inadvertently produced minuscule quantities of the precious metal, marking an unexpected breakthrough in particle physics.
The Accidental Discovery
The extraordinary transformation occurred during experiments where beams of lead nuclei were fired at each other at velocities approaching the speed of light. While the primary goal was to study the primordial state of the universe, the scientists discovered they had created approximately 29 trillionths of a gram of gold as a byproduct of their collisions.
This modern alchemy works on a fundamental principle: lead atoms contain exactly three more protons than gold atoms. By removing precisely three protons from a lead nucleus, the element transforms into gold. The challenge lies in the immense forces required to achieve this proton removal.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at britbrief.co.uk ...
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And, just like that, Gold went to $50 an ounce...
Heh.
Now if they could only create lead-free gasoline from lead - THAT would be impressive.
Sold!
Gold’s collapse is inevitable, either by molecular machines, or via mining of asteroids.
Unlikely ... This isn’t as new as they make it out to be. The gold is being made 1 atom at a time ... and it costs many times the price of gold to make it.
Is this like where it takes a ton of lead to create one-hundredth of an ounce of gold?
Now then if the energy needed for the experiment did not cost trillions more in value than the value of the 29 trillions of a gram of gold.......
Stacking silver over here not saying nothing.
I’m in!.. now off to buy truckloads of lead before the word gets out
What can they do "accidentally" that is not so good?
Oh, for an old time alchemist to be reborn.
No ... it takes an insanely expensive particle accelerator, and an insanely expensive amount of electric energy to run it. But making gold ... even one atom at a time ... is cool.
Way cool
CALLING SHELDON COOPER
Yeah, somebody always has to bring up science, finances and logic to the party. Way to spoil our dreams.
I wonder what this will lead to?
Oops!
I’ve got some old lead-acid batteries around here maybe they’re worth something.
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