Alchemists rejoice as Cern turns lead into gold — for a flash
In a quiet coup for physics, scientists have achieved what generations of alchemists could only dream of: turning lead into gold.
The feat was achieved not in a dark medieval laboratory, but inside the world's most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Operated by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) and buried deep beneath the Franco-Swiss border, the LHC is perhaps the largest and most complex machine yet built.
The transmutation, detailed in a paper published in Physical Review Journals, was a side-effect of a high-energy experiment in which two beams of lead atoms were smashed together at close to the speed of light.
• Scientists split over successor to Large Hadron Collider
As they screamed past each other, three protons were
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BBC News
18 minutes ago
- BBC News
'They've become extinct, and are we next?': How Jurassic Park made dinosaurs into film stars
In June 1993, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel brought prehistoric monsters to life. Crichton spoke to the BBC about why dinosaurs continue to fascinate us. One of the most celebrated moments in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park has two scientists, played by Sam Neill and Laura Dern, staring agasp at a Brachiosaurus towering above them – it's the first time these characters and the audience have glimpsed the colossus in all its onscreen glory. As John Williams's iconic overture swells, a wave of childlike wonder washes over their faces. And ever since the film premiered 32 years ago, on 9 June 1993, audiences have felt a similar awe. The franchise now includes animated television series, comics, video games, and seven major films, including the latest instalment, Jurassic World Rebirth, which is released in July. But it all started with Michael Crichton's bestselling novel, published in 1990. While writing the novel, Crichton visited a museum in the UK which featured a video exhibit on dinosaurs. "Little boys and girls of three [years old] would scream 'Stegosaurus!' and 'Tyrannosaurus!' when they would appear," Crichton told the BBC's The Late Show in 1993. "You wouldn't think they'd know how to pronounce these words, but they do." Since the discovery of the first dinosaur fossils two centuries ago, and the first official scientific naming of a dinosaur – the Megalosaurus – in 1824, our fascination with these titans of the natural world has never really waned. But it has evolved. "We have in every period some [new] aspect of interest, not so much in our own reinterpretation of the dinosaurs from a scientific standpoint, but from a cultural standpoint," said Crichton. In 1854, a number of supposedly life-sized model dinosaurs, sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and cast in cement, were displayed in Crystal Palace Park in south London. At this point, Crichton believed, "the underlying issue soon became whether these were evidence that ought to be employed for or against Darwinian evolution, so after the initial interest in dinosaurs as simply large extinct animals, they came to be viewed from the standpoint of their religious significance." By the time Crichton wrote Jurassic Park, however, our view of dinosaurs had moved on, both scientifically and philosophically. The podgy beasts sculpted by Hawkins had been replaced in the imagination by fast, agile, birdlike creatures – and the issue of the dinosaurs' extinction was considered of greater philosophical interest than their creation. "The question that we have when we look at dinosaurs is, 'They've become extinct, and are we next,'" Crichton said. In between these two periods, dinosaurs stomped through cinema history. The first onscreen dinosaur starred in an animated film, Gertie the Dinosaur, in 1914. A classic silent film, The Lost World (1925), boasted stop-motion dinosaurs created by Willis O'Brien, who went on to animate the prehistoric monsters who fought King Kong in 1933. The dinosaurs in King Kong then inspired legendary animator Ray Harryhausen to create his own unique dinosaur hybrid for the film 20,000 Fathoms (1953), a Tyrannosaurus-Brontosaurus mix that rampaged through the streets of New York City. Harryhausen would go on to direct his own prehistoric monster film, One Million Years B.C. (1966), in which Raquel Welch and other fur-clad cave-people came face-to-face with dinosaurs. "We were criticised many times that human beings, particularly cavemen… never lived anywhere near the time of the dinosaur," Harryhausen said on The Late Show. "But that's a licence one has to take for the cinema because you have no drama unless you have people in with the dinosaurs." Breaking box-office records The film of Jurassic Park, with a screenplay co-written by Crichton, brought together people and dinosaurs more believably than ever before. Spielberg used a groundbreaking and earth-shaking combination of computer-generated imagery and practical animatronics for his cautionary tale of a corporation miraculously resurrecting long-extinct species. The corporation's CEO, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), intends to use the creatures to populate a wildlife amusement park on an island off the coast of Costa Rica. But when the dinosaurs escape their enclosures, a group of scientists learn the hard way that Hammond's plan may have its drawbacks. The film was a blockbuster hit in the summer of 1993, grossing $357 million domestically and $914 million worldwide in its original theatrical run. It shattered box office records, becoming the highest grossing film ever at the time of its release. Jurassic Park "delivers where it counts, in excitement, suspense and the stupendous realization of giant prehistoric reptiles", said Variety's 1993 review. In 2018, it was added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". More like this:• How a child star saved a Hollywood star from bankruptcy• The film that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a superstar• Hitchcock reveals the secret to his masterpieces None of the sequels or spin-offs has been quite so significant, but all of the films have been Brachiosaurus-sized hits. Spielberg directed The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), and then Joe Johnston took the reins for Jurassic Park III (2001). That film appeared to be the end of the big-screen series, but eventually Jurassic World (2015) roared into cinemas, beginning another trilogy: at the time, it was the third highest-grossing film ever released. Dinosaurs still instil childlike wonder, it seems, and as long as they do, the Jurassic Park franchise won't remain extinct for long. -- For more stories and never-before-published radio scripts to your inbox, sign up to the In History newsletter, while The Essential List delivers a handpicked selection of features and insights twice a week. For more Culture stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Study reveals exact number of times women should have sex per week 'to be happiest'
Women who have sex at least once a week are the 'happiest' in their relationship, according to a new study. Scientists found 85 per cent of women who had a weekly romp were 'sexually satisfied', according to a study of nearly 500 heterosexual women. In contrast, only 66 per cent of wives and girlfriends who had sex once a month reported the same level of relationship bliss. And the figure fell to 17 per cent among those women who had intercourse less than this. Author of the new study Alexandra Janssen, a researcher at the University of Manchester, said the findings show the importance of regular intimate relations. 'Women having sex less than once a week were far less likely to be satisfied in their sexual relationships,' she told The Sun. 'Therapists working with women to improve their sexual relationship satisfaction might focus on increasing the frequency of sex.' Ms Janssen's study also found that women who rated sex as 'very important' had happier love lives than those who did not. She said: 'It seems unlikely that low self-rated importance of sex causes low sexual satisfaction. That may cause women to rate the importance of sex as low as a coping strategy.' Other findings from the study, published in the International Journal of Sexual Health, found that of the women surveyed those aged 18-24 were most likely to report being sexually satisfied. In contrast, women over the age of 45 were the least likely to report being happy with their intimate relationship. Satisfaction was also higher for women who reported more regular orgasms and rated sex as an important part of their life. The study was based on a survey of 483 women from New Zealand who had been in a committed relationship within the past year. The authors noted their study did have some limitations. One was that being a survey, there was no way to verify if what the women reported was true. Another was that the group of women surveyed was not very diverse, which could limit the scope findings to other groups. YouGov figures reveal that six in 10 Britons have sex less often than once a week. One in 10 claim to have sex weekly, and 15 per cent claim to be sexually intimate more often. Regular sex doesn't just boost your mood, multiple studies have concluded that it is great for our overall health, and can even potentially help us live longer. A study by Michigan State University found women aged between 57 and 85 who still enjoyed sex were less likely to have high blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Similarly, a study by Indiana University found women with healthy sex lives produce higher levels of antibodies, which can help fight off infections. Another 2013 study, by UK-based neuropsychologist Dr David Weeks, found that regular intercourse can make you look younger. He questioned more than 3,500 people about their sex lives over 10 years. Results revealed those who have regular, healthy sex lives look up to seven years younger than people who do not get intimate two-to-three times a week. Dr Weeks concluded that this was due to the release of feel good chemicals that released during intimate moments that boost circulation and reduce stress, as well as the production of human growth hormones, which promote skin elasticity.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Every secondary school in the UK set to learn new AI skills
The UK government is launching a £187m 'TechFirst' scheme to equip secondary school pupils with AI skills for future jobs, aiming to reach one million students with learning resources. Research indicates that AI will influence the roles of approximately 10 million workers by 2035, prompting the government to invest in AI education. The TechFirst program includes a £24m TechYouth initiative to provide AI skills training in every secondary school across the UK over three years. Sir Keir Starmer is initiating a government partnership to train 7.5 million UK workers in essential AI skills by 2030, with tech giants like Google and Microsoft providing free training materials. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle acknowledged that AI is not flawless and can produce unreliable information, emphasising the need for understanding how it works and the importance of future AI legislation.
