The Real Philosopher's Stone: Turning Lead into Gold

The video explores the concept of the philosopher's stone, a legendary alchemical substance believed to turn metals into gold and grant immortality. It delves into historical and modern attempts at transmutation, highlighting the work of scientists like Rutherford, Soddy, Nagaoka, and Miethe. While ancient alchemists failed, modern science has achieved transmutation through nuclear reactions, albeit with challenges like radioactivity and high costs. The video concludes with insights from these experiments, emphasizing their contribution to our understanding of physics.

Discuss the differences between radioactive isotopes of gold and the natural gold we mine.

What methods were used in the 1980s to produce isotopes of gold from bismuth?

In what ways do modern experiments with transmutation differ from the practices of ancient alchemists?