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See 6 Planets Align in the Night Sky This August

On August 10, six planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will line up in an arc in the night sky. Four of these planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn—can be seen with the naked eye, while Uranus and Neptune will be visible through a very strong pair of skywatching binoculars or a backyard telescope. While August 10 marks the beginning of this planetary parade, these six planets will be visible until the final days of August, when Mercury sinks lower on the horizon an

Startup Claims Its Fusion Reactor Concept Can Turn Cheap Mercury Into Gold

Keep checking those gold prices—scientists have more news about the coveted metal. An energy startup claims it has the recipe for modern-day alchemy: turning mercury into gold inside a nuclear fusion reactor. Last week, Marathon Fusion, a San Francisco-based energy startup, submitted a preprint detailing an action plan for synthesizing gold particles via nuclear transmutation—essentially the process of turning one element into another by tweaking its nucleus. The paper, which has yet to undergo

Fusion Startup Says It's Figured Out How to Turn Mercury Into Gold

A fusion energy startup claims to have found a way to turn mercury into gold. As the Financial Times reports, San Francisco-based Marathon Fusion says that the same process that could one day represent a limitless source of clean energy could also be used for literal alchemy. As detailed in a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, nuclear transmutation — effectively changing an element or isotope into a different one by ripping out protons from its nucleus — could be used to synthesize gold particles.

Breakthrough non-toxic method developed to extract gold from e-waste

Forward-looking: A team of Australian researchers has unveiled a breakthrough method for extracting gold that could dramatically reduce the environmental and health hazards long associated with mining and electronic waste recycling. The innovation, developed at Flinders University, offers a safer and more sustainable alternative to the use of toxic chemicals like mercury and cyanide, which have historically dominated the gold recovery industry. Gold, prized for its rarity and versatility, is es

Something Big Is Twisting Mercury’s Crust

Mercury has it rough. Not only is it the smallest planet in the solar system, it’s also the closest to our Sun. This unfortunate position has caused Mercury to develop cracks and fractures across its surface, and generate stresses to its crust, a new study has found. Mercury is dry, rugged, and heavily cratered; the planet appears deformed with towering cliffs and ridges, as well as fracture lines that run along its surface. The origin of Mercury’s scars has long been a mystery: How did the pla