From Gold Dust to Stardust: Unveiling the Modern Alchemy of Science
The Alchemical Dream: From Myth to Modern Science
The allure of alchemy, the age-old quest for turning base metals into gold, has long captivated the human imagination. Interestingly, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, not by design but as a byproduct of its experimental pursuits, has brought this ancient dream one step closer to reality, albeit on a scale far smaller than the alchemists of old could have imagined. During its Run 2 from 2015 to 2018, the LHC produced about 86 billion gold nuclei, a fascinating scientific feat that translates to just a mere 29 picograms in mass. Such examples highlight the profound difference between scientific possibility and practical implementation.