FuzzyUK
Active Member
It's got to be a hoax, right?
http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2012/gold-loving-bacteria-show-superman-strength/
http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2012/gold-loving-bacteria-show-superman-strength/
Efftup
Senior Member.
It looks like it's real, BUT, not quite like the over the top headlines and article say.
Basically Alchemy is supposed to be transmuting base metals into gold. Turning Gold chloride into Gold (using a bacteria) is therefore NOT Alchemy, bio-alchemy or neo alchemy. It's just basic chemistry.
It seems they have found bacteria that can handle the toxicity of Gold Chloride (which is presumably the Superhuman strength in the title of the article, as I can't imagine what the hell else this is talking about) and presumably react somehow with the gold chloride to use up the chlorine and be left with pure (24K) Gold.
According to a youtube video I just found the process is COST PROHIBITIVE for mass production of gold.
So basically they found something quite cool and interesting in microbiology but couldn't do anything useful with it which is why they made it into an ART exhibition.
SO they have the installation in place where the bacteria take a week to produce some gold. then they take some kind of prints of the resultant tiny amounts of gold So it's like Gold "art" made by bacteria. Interesting but not ultimately of much use to anyone.
This video also shows how gold can be attained from Chloroauric acid using Sodium Metabisulfite:
Basically Alchemy is supposed to be transmuting base metals into gold. Turning Gold chloride into Gold (using a bacteria) is therefore NOT Alchemy, bio-alchemy or neo alchemy. It's just basic chemistry.
It seems they have found bacteria that can handle the toxicity of Gold Chloride (which is presumably the Superhuman strength in the title of the article, as I can't imagine what the hell else this is talking about) and presumably react somehow with the gold chloride to use up the chlorine and be left with pure (24K) Gold.
According to a youtube video I just found the process is COST PROHIBITIVE for mass production of gold.
So basically they found something quite cool and interesting in microbiology but couldn't do anything useful with it which is why they made it into an ART exhibition.
SO they have the installation in place where the bacteria take a week to produce some gold. then they take some kind of prints of the resultant tiny amounts of gold So it's like Gold "art" made by bacteria. Interesting but not ultimately of much use to anyone.
This video also shows how gold can be attained from Chloroauric acid using Sodium Metabisulfite:
Trailspotter
Senior Member.
No, it is not a hoax. The bacterium is real and has been known for decades under different names.
From Wikipedia article:
Info from the Joint Genome Institute:Cupriavidus metallidurans strain CH34, (renamed from Ralstonia metallidurans[1] and previously known asRalstonia eutropha and Alcaligenes eutrophus[2]) is a nonspore-forming, Gram-negative bacterium which is adapted to survive several forms of heavy metal stress.[3][4] Therefore, it is an ideal subject to study heavy metal disturbance of cellular processes. This bacterium shows a unique combination of advantages not present in this form in other bacteria.
http://genome.jgi-psf.org/ralme/ralme.home.html
Last edited:
