Science Quickly
How to Make Gold, Flamingo Food Tornado, and Kosmos-482 Lands
May 19, 2025
Discover the mysterious crash landing of the Soviet spacecraft Kosmos-482, adding intrigue to the world of space exploration. Learn how physicists have temporarily turned lead into gold at the Large Hadron Collider—magic, but in a scientific lab! Dive into the heartwarming news of declining overdose deaths, thanks to increased naloxone access. Plus, marvel at the unique underwater feeding strategies of flamingos and the clever ways chimps use leaves as tools. Science brings unexpected tales every time!
08:09
AI Summary
AI Chapters
Episode notes
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider have briefly turned lead into gold, challenging traditional notions of elemental conversion.
- The significant decline in overdose deaths, influenced by increased access to naloxone, highlights ongoing challenges in public health.
Deep dives
Astounding Alchemy at the Large Hadron Collider
Recent experiments at the Large Hadron Collider have demonstrated a temporary transformation of lead into gold, challenging conventional beliefs about elemental conversion. By colliding lead nuclei at nearly the speed of light, physicists were able to create conditions where the powerful electric field from one nucleus could knock out three photons from another, resulting in the formation of gold nuclei. While the collider produced an impressive estimate of 89,000 gold nuclei per second, this newfound gold exists only for a microsecond before disintegrating. Previous experiments at CERN further supported these findings, but the recent high-energy conditions yielded far more gold than ever before.
