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The Mainichi
5 days ago
- Science
- The Mainichi
Scientists obtain unstable gold from lead, practical use uncertain
GENEVA (Kyodo) -- A team of scientists including those from Asian countries has successfully transformed lead into gold, though it disappeared in microseconds, with the discovery published in a U.S. physics magazine last month. The team's spokesperson at CERN, a research organization on the Swiss-French border, said that although it was only an experimental finding, it could help advance human knowledge and enable the development of advanced equipment in the future. Four experiments conducted between 2015 and 2018 at CERN, formally known as the European Organization for Nuclear Research, yielded the results. The team, which included scientists from India, South Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia and Thailand, studied what happens when two lead nuclei come very close to each other in a so-called near-miss collision. After the lead nuclei moved at nearly the speed of light, they confirmed that some protons and neutrons were pulled out of the core part of the atoms. During the experiments using the Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerating machine, lead atoms were observed to lose three of their 82 protons, resulting in atoms of gold with 79 protons. Through such near-miss collisions, the team confirmed the change that produced up to 89,000 gold nuclei per second. The result of the analysis, which involved a total of 167 institutes across the world, was published by Physical Review C of the American Physical Society in May. Marco Van Leeuwen, the research team's spokesperson, said that the gold made in the tests existed only "for a short time, microseconds or even shorter," and weighed a combined 29 picograms. One picogram is a trillionth of one gram. It would take "billions of years to make one gram of gold," he said, but noted that the scientists' work aims to enhance atomic research and may have private sector applications, such as in medical equipment that produces X-ray images. Tatsuya Chujo, a Japanese guest researcher at CERN who participated in the experiments, said, "I was surprised and excited that gold can actually be created from special reactions." "It means that we can basically produce any kinds of elements in the world by this simple and pure reaction using a world class accelerator," said Chujo, a professor at the Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences of the University of Tsukuba.
The Star
20-05-2025
- Science
- The Star
QuickCheck: Can you turn lead to gold?
"Yer a wizard, Harry." "I'm a what?" THIS is the iconic scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when Hagrid reveals to wide-eyed Harry that he is a wizard. Hagrid goes on to explain that, being a wizard, Harry was capable of amazing feats we muggles can only dream about. However, even wizards in the world of Harry Potter have limitations. Bringing back the dead, for instance. Another is turning lead into gold - a feat only achieved by one wizard - Nicholas Flamel (based on the very real Frenchman in the 1300s who developed a reputation as an alchemist after his death). Alchemy - the medieval branch of speculative and philosophical chemical science aimed at turning metals (usually lead) into gold, despite being a subject taught in Hogwarts, was notoriously difficult even for a wizard with magical powers. So, we mere muggles have no hope, right? Can we turn lead into gold? Verdict: TRUE The wiz- er, scientists conducting mind-blowing experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have done the seemingly impossible. In a paper published in Physical Review Journals from the team at A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE), they detailed observing gold atoms forming during high-speed, near-miss collisions of lead nuclei. The result - 89,000 gold nuclei being produced every second, roughly amounting to just 29 trillionths of a gramme. Ok, not something to run to the pawn shop with any time soon, but impressive nonetheless. Whether it was witchcraft or pure hard science (my money is on the former), Mr. Flamel would be proud. References: 1. abstract/10.1103/PhysRevC.111. 054906 2. news/physics/alice-detects- conversion-lead-gold-lhc
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Wait... Did the Large Hadron Collider Just Do Alchemy?
For centuries, great thinkers of the Greco-Roman, Islamic, Medieval, and even early Enlightenment worlds investigated the possibilities of alchemy—the process of transforming base metals (i.e. lead) into 'noble' metals, such as gold. Intellectual heavyweights like Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle frantically searched for recipes regarding the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with the power to transmute metals. Of course, nothing came of these investigations (other than the foundations of modern chemistry), but it turns out all Boyle, Newton, and the countless other intellectuals who pursued this alchemical dream needed was a 17-mile-long particle accelerator capable of flinging atoms at each other 99.999993 percent the speed of light. You know, the usual. In a paper published in Physical Review C from the team at A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), scientists detail how they technically practiced a little bit of alchemy— though not quite like luminaries of times past might have imagined. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is designed to smash particles together, but the machine can also perform what's known as 'near-miss collisions.' Pretty much exactly what they sound like, these near misses are actually more common throughout the universe than head-on particle collisions, and the electric fields surrounding these nuclei can form proton-proton or proton-nuclear interactions as they pass by. In the experiment, scientists created a near-miss collision with lead nuclei, which has a strong electromagnetic force due to its 82 protons. As the lead nuclei travels at near the speed of light, its magnetic field lines are 'squashed into a thin pancake,' according to CERN. This can produce a short pulse of photons that often triggers an 'electromagnetic dissociation.' This process excites the nucleus, which can result in the ejection of neutrons and protons. Using zero degree calorimeters (ZDC) to count the resulting interactions, ALICE tallied how often lead atoms shed one proton (thallium), two protons (mercury), and finally three protons, which is, of course, gold. Although thallium and mercury were more common byproducts of this 'electromagnetic dissociation,' Run 2 of the ALICE analysis, which lasted from 2015 to 2018, showed that the LHC created 86 billion gold nuclei. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, not really—that comes out to roughly 29 trillionths of a gram. These gold nuclei are also incredibly short-lived, only lasting for around a microsecond before smashing into something or breaking apart into other elements. 'It is impressive to see that our detectors can handle head-on collisions producing thousands of particles, while also being sensitive to collisions where only a few particles are produced at a time, enabling the study of electromagnetic 'nuclear transmutation' processes,' ALICE spokesperson Marco Van Leeuwen said in a press statement. According to CERN, the subsequent Run 3 produced double the amount of gold, but trillions less than required to make just a single piece of gold jewelry—probably not what ancient alchemists had in mind. However, ALICE isn't interested in finding some mythical transmutation stone. Instead, this collaboration probes the physics that results from heavy ion collisions, which create gluon-quark plasma similar to what likely permeated the universe only a millionth of a second after the Big Bang. Tracking even these trace amounts of 21st century alchemy can be a big boon for future experiments and colliders. 'The results also test and improve theoretical models of electromagnetic dissociation which, beyond their intrinsic physics interest, are used to understand and predict beam losses that are a major limit on the performance of the LHC and future colliders,' ALICE collaborator John Jowett said in a press statement. This past month, CERN completed a feasibility study regarding LHC's successor, currently named the Future Circular Collider (FCC). Once performing high-energy collisions by 2070, the FCC will produce science—and, as it would seem, alchemy—in ways beyond the wildest imagination of those famous fathers of modern science. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Engadget
11-05-2025
- Science
- Engadget
Scientists find lead really can be turned into gold (with help from the Large Hadron Collider)
One of the ultimate goals of medieval alchemy has been realized, but only for a fraction of a second. Scientists with the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, were able to convert lead into gold using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's most powerful particle accelerator. Unlike the examples of transmutation we see in pop culture, these experiments with the LHC involve smashing subatomic particles together at ridiculously high speeds to manipulate lead's physical properties to become gold. The LHC is often used to smash lead ions together to create extremely hot and dense matter similar to what was observed in the universe following the Big Bang. While conducting this analysis, the CERN scientists took note of the near-misses that caused a lead nucleus to drop its neutrons or protons. Lead atoms only have three more protons than gold atoms, meaning that in certain cases the LHC causes the lead atoms to drop just enough protons to become a gold atom for a fraction of a second — before immediately fragmenting into a bunch of particles. Alchemists back in the day may be astonished by this achievement, but the experiments conducted between 2015 and 2018 only produced about 29 picograms of gold, according to CERN. The organization added that the latest trials produced almost double that amount thanks to regular upgrades to the LHC, but the mass made is still trillions of times less than what's necessary for a piece of jewelry. Instead of trying to chase riches, the organization's scientists are more interested in studying the interaction that leads to this transmutation. "It is impressive to see that our detectors can handle head-on collisions producing thousands of particles, while also being sensitive to collisions where only a few particles are produced at a time, enabling the study of electromagnetic 'nuclear transmutation' processes," Marco Van Leeuwen, spokesperson for the A Large Ion Collider Experiment project at the LHC, said in a statement.
Newsweek
09-05-2025
- Science
- Newsweek
Alchemist's Dream Realized As Lead Turned Into Gold at Large Hadron Collider
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Fulfilling the dream of medieval alchemists, physicists have observed the transmutation of lead into gold—through nuclear physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's most powerful particle accelerator. For centuries, this idea of turning lead into gold—chrysopoeia—seemed out of reach. The two metals share a similar density, but modern science later proved they are distinct elements and chemically non-interchangeable. However, gold can be produced, albeit in microscopic amounts, at the heart of ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment), one of the four main instruments on the LHC at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The ALICE experiment is dedicated to heavy-ion physics and investigates matter under extreme energy densities. During high-energy collisions of lead nuclei at the LHC, scientists can momentarily recreate quark–gluon plasma, a state of matter that existed just millionths of a second after the Big Bang. Still, gold is not born from these direct crashes. Instead, it forms in a more subtle scenario—when lead nuclei almost collide head-on, but miss. "It is impressive to see that our detectors can handle head-on collisions producing thousands of particles, while also being sensitive to collisions where only a few particles are produced at a time, enabling the study of electromagnetic 'nuclear transmutation' processes," ALICE spokesperson Marco Van Leeuwen, said in a statement. An image of the tunnel inside a large hadron collider. An image of the tunnel inside a large hadron collider. Getty Images In near-miss encounters, intense electromagnetic fields surrounding the rapidly moving lead nuclei generate brief pulses of photons. T When these photons interact with nuclei, they cause a phenomenon known as electromagnetic dissociation, in which protons and neutrons are ejected from a nucleus. In rare cases, three protons are knocked out of a lead nucleus, leaving behind gold in its place. The ALICE team used specialized instruments known as Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDC) to measure these rare events. By detecting the number of protons and neutrons ejected in collisions, researchers were able to distinguish between the creation of other heavy elements like thallium and mercury—and gold. Sadly, the resulting gold nuclei do not stick around for long. Traveling at nearly the speed of light, they smash into the walls of the collider or its components and disintegrate almost instantly into smaller particles. Still, the numbers are impressive: during Run 2 of the LHC (2015–2018), about 86 billion gold nuclei were produced. Run 3 has already nearly doubled that count. Yet despite this, the total mass of gold created is vanishingly small—trillions of times less than what would be needed to make, say, a wedding ring. While that may dash the hopes of some, the experiment opens a new window into how elements are formed and how electromagnetic fields can manipulate atomic nuclei. It also highlights the extraordinary sensitivity of the ALICE detector, which was designed not for gold-making, but to probe the universe's earliest moments. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about particle physics? Let us know via science@ Reference ALICE Collaboration, Acharya, S., Agarwal, A., Aglieri Rinella, G., Aglietta, L., Agnello, M., Agrawal, N., Ahammed, Z., Ahmad, S., Ahn, S. U., Ahuja, I., Akindinov, A., Akishina, V., Al-Turany, M., Aleksandrov, D., Alessandro, B., Alfanda, H. M., Alfaro Molina, R., Ali, B., ... Zurlo, N. (2025). Proton emission in ultraperipheral Pb-Pb collisions at $sqrt{{s}_{NN}}=5.02$ TeV. Physical Review C, 111(5).
