CERN fulfills the alchemists' age-old dream

A team of researchers from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has unexpectedly succeeded in transforming lead into gold using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), reports the zdnet.fr website. Although it is not a commercially applicable method, the result marks a spectacular advance in particle physics.

• The experiment designed to recreate the Universe after the Big Bang

Initially, the aim of the project was to analyze the behavior of subatomic particles under extreme conditions, similar to those existing immediately after the Big Bang. To this end, the researchers caused collisions at speeds close to that of light between lead nuclei, inside the 27 km tunnel of the LHC.

• Accidental, but historic discovery

Following these collisions, an unexpected phenomenon was observed: the transformation of lead into gold. The three-proton difference between the two elements was essential in this process. "Transforming lead into gold was the dream of medieval alchemists. This dream has been realized at the LHC," the researchers wrote in the paper published in Physical Review Journals.

• How the transformation occurs

During the experiments, the collisions are not always head-on. In some cases, the lead ions simply rub against each other, generating an intense electromagnetic field. This causes a pulse of energy that leads to electromagnetic dissociation - the process by which the lead loses three protons and thus transforms into gold.

• A symbolic achievement, not a practical one

Although it seems revolutionary, the researchers point out that this is a tiny amount of gold produced. Between 2015 and 2018, all the collisions generated only 86 billion gold nuclei - that is, about 29th of a trillionth of a gram. "From a practical point of view, this process is completely inefficient and extremely expensive," concluded Futurism.com. While it won't change the economics of gold, this discovery opens up new avenues of research in nuclear physics and understanding fundamental interactions between particles.