300 years after alchemy failed, CERN scientists finally turn lead into gold
Centuries after alchemists sought transmutation, CERN scientists have turned lead into gold using the Large Hadron Collider. By colliding lead ions at near-light speed, they briefly created gold atoms, demonstrating nuclear stability limits. While the amount was minuscule and fleeting, this achievement fulfills an ancient dream through modern physics, furthering our understanding of matter's fundamental processes.
Researchers involved in the ALICE experiment at CERN announced that they had successfully transformed lead nuclei into gold through high-speed, near-miss collisions of lead ions. (Image: The ALICE Time Projection Chamber, CERN)
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In the early 1700s, the King of Poland, August the Strong, locked a young alchemist in a laboratory with one simple command: make gold. The alchemist, Johann Friedrich Böttger, tried every trick in the book — but failed. More than 300 years later, scientists at CERN have done what Böttger could not: they've turned lead into gold , for a very brief period.This scientific transmutation didn't happen in a smoky laboratory, but inside the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator: the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Researchers working on the ALICE experiment at CERN announced they had successfully transformed lead nuclei into gold during high-speed, near-miss collisions of lead ions.When lead ions race around the LHC at nearly the speed of light, they occasionally graze past each other without crashing head-on. The powerful electromagnetic fields around these ions interact intensely. In rare cases, this causes a lead nucleus to emit three protons, which briefly changes it into a gold nucleus — the isotope gold-197 Between 2015 and 2018, CERN's detectors recorded around 86 billion gold atoms created this way. But these atoms existed for just microseconds before decaying or transforming into something else. The amount of gold produced was vanishingly small — about 29 trillionths of a gram.Beyond the poetic value, such research helps physicists explore the limits of nuclear stability and the processes that shape matter in extreme cosmic environments, like neutron star collisions.More than a quirky nod to medieval alchemy, this experiment shows how modern science can answer the mysteries that once baffled ancient thinkers. Böttger never made gold, but his failure led to the discovery of European porcelain. Now, centuries later, his dream has been realized — if only for a moment — not by magic, but by physics.The age of alchemy may be long gone, but we never knew what this discovery could lead CERN to in exploring the universe's building blocks.Yes, gold can be made from lead, but only through nuclear transmutation at facilities like CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Although this fulfills the ancient alchemists' dream, it is extremely inefficient, costly, and impractical for producing usable gold, which is used mainly for scientific research purposes.Gold is formed primarily through cosmic processes like supernova nucleosynthesis, neutron star collisions, and magnetar flares, where intense heat and pressure create heavy elements via rapid neutron capture. On Earth, gold forms through hydrothermal processes, where hot mineral-rich fluids deposit gold in rock veins, and through placer deposits from erosion and sedimentation.Pure gold is made by refining impure gold through chemical methods like aqua regia or electrolytic refining, which remove impurities to produce 24-karat gold with up to 99.99% purity.Scientists create gold by changing the atomic structure of other elements, such as mercury, platinum, or lead, through nuclear reactions or high-energy particle collisions, like those in the Large Hadron Collider, which can transmute these elements into gold nuclei. However, the process is highly inefficient and mostly experimental.
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