Atoms into gold: alchemy's modern resurgence

For thousands of years, the practice of alchemy — chemically transforming minerals into gold — has been attempted and failed. While it is generally considered a pseudoscience by modern standards, recent developments have some researchers reopening the potential golden door. At the heart of this resurgence in alchemy is nuclear power, which itself has seen significant advances in the 21st century. But will it make alchemy possible, or is this just another pipe dream?

What kind of modern alchemy is being attempted?

Several ideas have been proposed with the intention of turning minerals into gold using nuclear power. The most notable comes from Marathon Fusion, which released an action plan detailing its purported ability to "synthesize stable gold from the abundant mercury isotope." Know