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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