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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“Yeah, somebody always has to bring up science, finances and logic to the party. Way to spoil our dreams.”
if only you were a leftist, then science, finances and logic wouldn’t matter to your dreams!
“I’ve got some old lead-acid batteries around here maybe they’re worth something.”
they are: at least $10 per battery ...
“Can they make silk from a pig’s ear?”
you’re just determined to crash the silk market, right?
Maybe they will finally make a black hole...
No! I don't mean another DC or Chicago...
““It is possible that our Hadron Collider Experiment will cause the universe to implode, but the chances are very small” — scientist”
supposedly, a few of the scientists who built the Trinity bomb were worried that there might be a finite chance that the entire Earth might chain-react ...
I got your dream for tonight Bob…
The lab coat guys at the Large Hadron Collider decide to create gold, one atom at a time to a increasing mass of 1 US ounce.
This 1 oz of mass is flying around the Large Hadron Collider track at close to the speed of a photon (light).
The magnets of the LHC suddenly fail to contain this 1oz of mass flying close to the speed of a photon and it slams into walls of the LHC and earth (under ground tunnel).
The explosion would be large enough to destroy the Earth.
*This will be your dream for tonight.
I hate it when i have accidents like that- last accident i had mistakenly turned pencil lead into diamonds
If only the Medieval alchemists had thought to build a Hadron Collider!
Gosh; with just a little over 31 grams in a Troy ounce, scientists would only have to repeat this experiment a couple more than a trillion times to produce an ounce of gold.
“marking an unexpected breakthrough in particle physics.”
Not a breakthrough.
Been done before.
It would never pay for itself. I am aware of that.
However, if you are patient even the worse debts can be filtered out of society, if society does the right things to eliminate that debt. After that, if you then bring the gold out, it would affect the price of gold to the degree that it creates an oversupply.
My position is not that it is inherently, as it is not.
‘ It would never pay for itself. I am aware of that.’
Good plan.
Finally, the lead in my butt is worth a fortune, facts are stranger than fiction.
I wouldn’t mind crashing the New Silk Road.
Turning poison into profit
Or an asteroid made of sapphire.
From what I read, they were taking bets among themselves.
See Twilight Zone, “Rip Van Winkle Caper” episode. Original series.
I gather a previous technique involved getting a very thin sheet of lead, on a roller, and bombarding it with particles designed to strip away protons from the lead. Lead atoms have 82 protons, while gold atoms have 79 protons.
As the lead roller turns, more target lead atoms appear. Eventually the roller is melted down, then its gold is separated off.
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