• Submit A Nut
KnowledgeNuts
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • Facts
  • Finance
  • Misconceptions
  • Differences
  • Bizarre
  • Other
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Facts
  • Finance
  • Misconceptions
  • Differences
  • Bizarre
  • Other
No Result
View All Result
KnowledgeNuts
No Result
View All Result
Home Misconceptions

The Alchemists Were Right (Sort Of)

The Alchemists Were Right (Sort Of)
213
SHARES
1.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
“The matter lies before the eyes of all; everybody sees it, touches it, loves it, but knows it not. It is glorious and vile, precious and of small account, and is found everywhere [. . .] But, to be brief, our Matter has as many names as there are things in this world; that is why the foolish know it not.” —The Golden Tract concerning the Philosopher’s Stone in the Musaeum Hermeticum

In A Nutshell

Alchemy was, at its heart, the science of trying to find a way to turn lead or other common metals into gold. While they never quite got there, today, we have. With the help of a particle accelerator, it’s completely possible to turn lead into gold—a tiny, tiny, tiny amount of gold, but it’s gold nonetheless. While that’s not very practical, scientists are now going in another direction. By changing the properties of ordinary metals into the properties of rarer, more expensive catalysts, they have the potential to revolutionize not only the mining industry, but every industry that relies on rare, precious, or expensive metals.

The Whole Bushel

Related articles

80 Percent Of All Medical Studies Are Lies

80 Percent Of All Medical Studies Are Lies

May 3, 2023
The Great Wall of China Isn’t Visible from Space

The Great Wall of China Isn’t Visible from Space

April 27, 2023

The alchemists were right.

It is completely possible to turn lead into gold . . . but there’s a better option.

ADVERTISEMENT

For centuries, alchemists tried and failed to turn lead into gold. The problem wasn’t with the theory, but with their understanding of how metals worked. In ancient alchemy, gold wasn’t the final goal because it would make people insanely rich, it was the goal because it was thought to be as close to perfection as mankind could get. Gold was completely evolved, it was the symbol of regeneration, and it was a symbol of the triumph over evil. Creating gold was for a much loftier reason than just monetary wealth, and there was a reason they were trying often to make it out of lead.

Lead was common enough, but that’s not the point, either. Lead also represented everything that was the opposite of gold. It was lowly, dark, evil, and it was the most base of base metals. Turning it into gold was more than the transformation of something cheap into something expensive, it was turning something evil into something godly.

Alchemists that were working on the problem were looking at it in terms of the four fundamental elements—earth, air, fire, and water.

What they really needed was a particle accelerator.

At the particle accelerator at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, researchers have been able to turn bismuth, a near-lead-like material, into tiny, tiny bits of gold. The bits of gold are so tiny that the only way they could measure them was by using the radiation given off by the new element as it slowly decayed. Smashing bismuth with a high-speed particle essentially sheared off a bit of gold. While they can definitely say they turned one element into another and caught the centuries-old dream of performing alchemy, it’s really not anywhere near profitable—the whole endeavor cost around $120,000.

Article Continued Below

More recently, though, researchers from Princeton University might have found a way to make alchemy practical. Experimental chemistry has found a way to combine iron atoms with organic molecules, creating a catalyst that will ultimately act in the same way as some pretty expensive materials (like cobalt and platinum) that are used to jump-start chemical reactions like the ones in batteries.

The implications are staggering and could eventually be used to fuel something else—global energy. Researchers are using some of the same principles to take nitrogen from the air and convert it into other forms like fuel and fertilizer. Suddenly, there might not be the need for large-scale mining, or the use of incredibly expensive components when ordinary, base metals can fulfill the same role with the minimal amount of conversion.

Let’s review. For centuries, mankind has labored to turn one metal into another, but science eventually said otherwise. Along the way, though, alchemists made incredible contributions to modern science and laid the groundwork for modern chemistry. Now modern-day scientists used that groundwork to bring it full circle.

Show Me The Proof

Scientific American: Fact or Fiction?: Lead Can Be Turned into Gold
LiveScience: What is Alchemy?
NY Times: A Chemist Comes Very Close to a Midas Touch

Post Views: 1,340
Share85Tweet53
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

80 Percent Of All Medical Studies Are Lies

80 Percent Of All Medical Studies Are Lies

by M.Admin
May 3, 2023
1332

Somewhere around 80 percent of all medical research---the studies that determine what’s good for us and what new drugs are...

The Great Wall of China Isn’t Visible from Space

The Great Wall of China Isn’t Visible from Space

by knowledgenuts
April 27, 2023
7913

Contrary to popular belief that the Great Wall of China is the only man made structure that can be seen...

The Speed of Light is Not Constant

The Speed of Light is Not Constant

by knowledgenuts
April 18, 2023
9393

Most believe that the speed of light is constant and unchanging, but it simply isn’t the case. The speed depends...

Sir Walter Raleigh: To Cloak or Not To Cloak

Sir Walter Raleigh: To Cloak or Not To Cloak

by knowledgenuts
April 5, 2023
1802

Taking the air one day in London, Walter Raleigh saw Queen Elizabeth I in danger of stepping in a mud...

Superstitions Behind Cutting Baby Hair

Superstitions Behind Cutting Baby Hair

by Knowledge Nuts
March 31, 2023
0

With a new bundle of joy comes plenty of choices to make about their care. A baby's first haircut is...

Load More
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

Handicap Parking Eligibility Requirements

Handicap Parking Eligibility Requirements

September 23, 2023
Healthcare Options for Uninsured Individuals

Healthcare Options for Uninsured Individuals

September 22, 2023
Nurturing Financial Smarts in Children: 5 Key Tips

Nurturing Financial Smarts in Children: 5 Key Tips

September 21, 2023

KnowledgeNuts.com: Your go-to source for insightful information and financial guidance. Explore, learn, and empower your future with us.

Categories
  • Artist
  • Artwork
  • Attitude
  • Bizarre
  • Business
  • Creative Insight
  • Design
  • Differences
  • Facts
  • Finance
  • Forgotten
  • Forgotten Horrors
  • Innovation
  • Inspiration
  • Learning
  • Listicles
  • Market
  • Misconceptions
  • Other
  • Personal Finance Tips
  • Places
  • Thinking
  • Uncategorized
Tags
aid bad credit Business car insurance cash flow credit debt difference disability Education family Finance finances Financial Aid food government assistance Health healthcare help history home home loans housing how to make money how to save insurance Invest Japan jobs loan loans make money Misconceptions Money myths personal finance quick cash saving money savings side hustle side hustles student student aid Superstitions taxes
Lost your password?
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Mobile Privacy Policy
  • Mobile Terms & Conditions
  • SMS Opt-in

© KnowledgeNuts.com – A Division of Media Comms Networking.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Facts
  • Misconceptions
  • Differences
  • Finance
  • Bizarre

© 2023 KnowledgeNuts.com