CERN physicists observe lead transmutation into gold

Physicists using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN have observed the transmutation of lead into gold during high-energy particle experiments. While often described in media as an accidental achievement of alchemy, the process is a known physical phenomenon occurring during collisions intended to simulate conditions following the Big Bang.

By colliding lead nuclei at speeds approaching the speed of light, researchers create intense electromagnetic fields. In certain peripheral collisions, these fields can cause a nucleus to eject exactly three protons. Since lead has 82 protons and gold has 79, this loss results in the creation of gold atoms.

Despite the scientific interest, the scale of production is infinitesimal. The amount produced is approximately 29 zeptograms, making it economically irrelevant to the global gold market. The phenomenon is detected using zero-degree calorimeters that calculate the presence of gold based on the number of released protons.