Gold Nuggets Can Be Formed With Electricity, Scientists Claim
Electric discharges underground cause gold atoms to accumulate, which eventually forms gold nuggets, the researchers suggest.
ancient alchemists popping off in their graves rn
First fracking now large amounts of electricity to be pumped underground too!
Gotta get that 5g out
Humanity was not responsible enough with bitcoin to learn how to turn electricity into actual gold. Some nerds going to start setting up Tesla coils in caves soon.
I mean... actual gold isn't crazy valuable these days, is it? It's used in quite a bit of electronics for its corrosion resistance and conductivity IIRC.
Gold prices have risen steadily for a long time, partly because of its use in electronics. Over $2500/ounce now. But another quirk of gold is the ease with which we can make very thin coatings of it over other materials, sometimes only a few atoms thick. So it is commonly used, but in very very small amounts per device.
Okay, for a second, I thought that somebody had figured out how to make gold in a lab, which would then obviously bring down the price dramatically, because it would no longer be a super precious metal.
We can make gold in a lab, it has been done. Let us just say there is a reason those who want $$$$ to build another super collider are not talking about making gold in them.
We've known how to turn lead into gold for ages, you just add a couple of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Long story short: Uses a fuckton of energy, not worth it.
Fun fact: When Ernest Rutherford and colleagues put together the first paper about their findings they avoided the word "transmutation" like the plague. It has been considered impossible since before alchemy became chemistry and even though he was publishing in physics chemists would probably still have had his head.
Libertarians about to get off on having gold mines in their garages.
And you thought GPU crypto-mining farms were using a lot of electricity...
Gold prices after this 📉📉📉
You still need the same amount of gold atoms at the input.
Gold prices after this 📈📉📈