this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] DeathsEmbrace@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

I wouldnt believe shit until they’ve answered the stability behind these reactions. Like the Lead article where they transformed lead into another element maybe Gold…? Ok but now you would have an unstable isotope of gold that would decay.

Edit: I read the article and it’s stable in theory.

[–] neatchee@piefed.social 16 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Homie, Au-197 is what's being created, as stated in the screenshot, and it is the stable isotope of gold. It's the naturally occurring one.

And the reaction doesn't need to be especially stable on its own when it is a bonus byproduct of existing fusion reactor processes. The point is that we can take existing and new reactors, add this process, and immediately gain significantly extra value from the stuff we're already doing.

it's like hybrid electric cars that charge their batteries using the brakes. You're already braking and losing a ton of energy as waste. ANY way to recapture and use that waste energy that yields more value than the materials required to capture it, is an immediate win.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 days ago

If we could go back in time to tell the alchemy conspiracists about disappearing gold that would be wild.

Depends how it decays would it be spitting out protons thus disappearing or spitting out neutrons and be fine?