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 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 in its nucleus, could be used to synthesize gold particles. "On paper it looks great and everyone so far that I talk to remains intrigued and excited," Department of Energy plasma physicist […]