Cl
“Atomic number seventeen,” Minsky says. “Atomic weight 35.453(2)… nonmetallic classification… yellowish-green color… halogen group. You’ve heard of it, right?”
“Of course.”
“Well, years back, in one of the original neutrino detectors, they filled a hundred-thousand-gallon tank with it. The smell was horrific.”
“Like a dry cleaner’s,” Viv says.
“Exactly,” Minsky says, pleasantly surprised. “Now remember, you only see neutrinos when they collide with other atoms – that’s the magic moment. So when the neutrinos plowed into a chlorine atom just right, the physicists suddenly started finding…” Minsky points down to the periodic table, pressing his paperclip against the box next to chlorine. Atomic number eighteen.
Cl-Ar
“Argon,” Viv says.
“Argon,” he repeats. “Atomic symbol Ar. Seventeen to eighteen. One additional proton. One box to the right on the periodic table.”
“Wait, so you’re saying when the neutrino collided with the chlorine atoms, they all changed to argon?” I ask.
“All? We should be so lucky… No, no, no – this was one little argon atom. One. Every four days. It’s an amazing moment – and completely random, God bless chaos. The neutrino hits, and right there, seventeen becomes eighteen… Jekyll becomes Hyde.”
“And this is happening right now in the air around us?” Viv asks. “I mean, didn’t you say neutrinos are everywhere?”
“You couldn’t possibly see the reactions with all the current interference. But when it’s isolated in an accelerator… and the accelerator is shielded deep enough below the ground… and you aim a beam of neutrinos just right… well, no one’s come close yet, but think about what would happen if you could control it. You pick the element you want to work with; you bump it one box to the right on the periodic table. If you could do that…”
My stomach twists. “… you could turn lead to gold.”
Minsky shakes his head – and then again starts laughing. “Gold?” he asks. “Why would you ever make gold?”
“I thought Midas…”
“Midas is a children’s story. Think of reality. Gold costs what? Three hundred… four hundred dollars an ounce? Go buy a necklace and a charm bracelet, I’m sure it’ll be very nice – nice and shortsighted.”
“I’m not sure I-”
“Forget the mythology. If you truly had the power to transmute, you’d be a fool to make gold. In today’s world, there are far more valuable elements out there. For instance…” Minsky again stabs the periodic table with his paperclip. Atomic symbol Np.
Np
“That’s not nitrogen, is it?” I ask.
“Neptunium.”
“Neptunium?”
“Named after the planet Neptune,” Minsky explains, forever the teacher.
“What is it?” I ask, cutting him off.
“Ah, but you’re missing the point,” Minsky says. “The concern isn’t what is it? The concern is what it could be...” With one final jab, Minsky moves his paperclip to the nearest element on the right.
Np-Pu
“Pu?”
“Plutonium,” Minsky says, his laugh long gone. “In today’s world, it’s arguably the most valuable element on the chart.” He looks up at us to make sure we get it. “Say hello to the new Midas touch.”