A startup says it has a process for turning mercury into gold
A fusion energy start-up claims to have solved the millennia-old challenge of how to turn other metals into gold. Chrysopoeia, commonly known as alchemy, has been pursued by civilisations as far back as ancient Egypt. Now San Francisco-based Marathon Fusion, a start-up focused on using nuclear fusion to generate power, has said the same process could be used to produce gold from mercury. In an academic paper published last week, Marathon proposes that neutrons released in fusion reactions could be used to produce gold through a process known as nuclear transmutation. The paper has not yet been peer-reviewed but has had a positive reception from some experts in the field. “On paper it looks great and everyone so far that I talk to remains intrigued and excited,” Dr Ahmed Diallo, a plasma physicist at the US Department of Energy’s national laboratory at Princeton who has read the study, told the Financial Times. (via FT)
A raccon broke into a liquor store and was found passed out face down in the bathroom
A drunken raccoon was found asleep amid its work at the ABC liquor store in Ashland, Virginia, a trail of broken bottles and spilled booze leading to its resting place by the staff toilet. "Officer Martin safely secured our masked bandit and transported him back to the shelter to sober up before questioning," Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter posted to social media. "After a few hours of sleep and zero signs of injury (other than maybe a hangover and poor life choices), he was safely released back to the wild, hopefully having learned that breaking and entering is not the answer. … Just another day in the life at Hanover Animal Protection!" The Associated Press talked to the animal control officer who responded to the call and found the plastered procyonid. "I personally like raccoons," she told them, "He fell through one of the ceiling tiles and went on a full-blown rampage, drinking everything." (via Boing Boing)
Three octogenarian nuns have won the right to stay in their abbey instead of a nursing home
When three octogenarian nuns escaped their senior center in September, their unlikely quest for freedom set off a bitter standoff with the abbot who leads their Roman Catholic order. The three rebel nuns forced their way back into the Austrian abbey where they had lived for decades, before the senior center. That put them at odds with the abbot, who had wanted to keep them out, while capturing the global imagination with their lively social media feed and even prompting the involvement of Catholic leaders in Rome. ow, after a monthslong standoff in which the nuns refused to return to the care home, the standoff seems to have a winner.Abbot Markus Grasl appeared to admit defeat on Friday, announcing in a statement that, after talks with Rome and the local archdiocese, he would finally allow the sisters to continue to live in the abbey at Castle Goldenstein, close to Austria’s border with Germany. (via the NYT)
Hi everyone! Mathew Ingram here. I am able to continue writing this newsletter in part because of your financial help and support, which you can do either through my Patreon or by upgrading your subscription to a monthly contribution. I enjoy gathering all of these links and sharing them with you, but it does take time, and your support makes it possible for me to do that. I also write a weekly newsletter of technology analysis called The Torment Nexus.
He broke into their house on Thanksgiving but they fed him pie and gave him a bed
John started up the hill, hoping the light indicated the occupants of the home were inside. As he got closer, he saw the outline of a clapboard farm house. The light he’d seen from below was an outdoor porch light. Instinctively, John turned the door knob. It opened. The door was unlocked. He glanced around the kitchen, and his eyes settled on a pile of dishes stacked by the sink, in need of washing. Figuring the least he could do was assist with some household chores, John finished up cleaning and drying these dishes. Then, he found a pen and paper and wrote a note explaining who he was and why he was there, just in case he fell asleep on the couch before the owners returned. He debated whether helping himself to the house’s food was a step too far. He’d just ventured toward the fridge and opened the door when he heard the sound of voices. “I could have sworn I turned all the lights off when we left,” a woman was saying. (via CTV)
Switzerland has a potato and cheese pie called Cholera but no one is sure why
A cholera is a pastry filled with potatoes, vegetables, fruits and cheese, which originated in the Valais region of Switzerland and is most popular there. The origin of the unusual name for the dish remains unclear. A folk etymological explanation purports that during an epidemic of the diseaseof the same name in 1836, people in the region improvised a dish involving pastry and whatever food they had at hand, as normal trade was disrupted. After the epidemic subsided, chefs returned to the concept of putting regional ingredients in a savoury tart, and the "cholera" dish has lasted since. However, various other linguistic theories try to link the origin of the name to Chola or Cholu (Valais German for coal) as the pastry would be baked on coals. Cholära is also the Valais German term for a room within a bakery where coal would be gathered. (via Wikipedia)
A time-lapse video of an aurora from space
Acknowledgements: I find a lot of these links myself, but I also get some from other places that I rely on as "serendipity engines," such as The Morning News from Rosecrans Baldwin and Andrew Womack, Jodi Ettenberg's Curious About Everything, Dan Lewis's Now I Know, Robert Cottrell and Caroline Crampton's The Browser, Clive Thompson's Linkfest and Why Is This Interesting by Noah Brier and Colin Nagy. If you come across something you think should be included here, feel free to email me at mathew @ mathewingram dot com
