Kiev. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – January 28, 2021 – Science
Throughout history, the transformation of ordinary things into something else was attributed to magical powers or miracles performed by divine entities – mainly because people did not understand science, and those who did, used it for their own ends.
Closer to our time, this magical power of transforming ordinary things into something extraordinary was called alchemy; it was done by wizards or those who possessed “magic.” There are many fairy tales and stories for children that talk about the transformation of metal (such as steel or bronze) into pure gold.
How it works?
With the development of science and technology, we realized that what is said in fairy tales is actually possible, and this was proved by the bacteria Cupriavidus Metallidurans, which was discovered in 1976; it lives in soil rich in toxic elements (toxic to organic matter).
A group of researchers at Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University has discovered molecular processes that allow gold to be extracted from the metal produced by this bacterium. Although the chemical process behind this is quite complex, we will try to explain it in a simple way.
Most metals attract bacteria, but the study used copper specifically. If the bacteria detect too much copper, it starts releasing an enzyme called CupA, which produces very small gold nuggets – they can only be measured in nanometers.
This bacterium actually plays a key role in the creation of what scientists call recycled gold. It is a decay resulting from the formation of geological gold ores (primary gold).
Get rich in one night?
The bacteria can turn an entire ship of gold chloride dimer into pure gold in a matter of weeks, scientists say. The challenge is making an ecosystem toxic enough for bacteria to thrive and do their job.
The creation of such an environment is not only expensive but also very dangerous for health: according to the scientist, Dietrich Nies, copper and gold in combination are more toxic than separately.
Moreover, experts have not fully studied the bacterium and its ability to turn other metals into gold.
It is likely that the people of antiquity or even the Middle Ages (those who were called wizards and alchemists) understood how bacteria worked and used it to turn metals into gold, or perhaps for other purposes.
We, as a society, claim that the bacterium was discovered in 1976, but we may have lost our knowledge of it over time. Historians began to study historical texts to find references to bacteria in order to better understand the process and other properties that it may possess.
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