Chapter 9
Seeing this, the audience began to fantasize.
"Is it true that it turns stone into gold?"
"Is there really such a thing as a golden elixir?"
"Why do foreigners say that Tang Jin is a good thing?"
"If only I could master the ability to turn stone into gold."
Everyone wants to have the ability to turn stone into gold.
This is equivalent to countless amounts of money!
But for an alchemist, this is just a trail.
And it’s still a trivial trail.
Cheng Bi’s master could easily give Cheng Bi ten golden elixirs.
It shows that this golden elixir is really not that precious.
Because we must remember that the ultimate pursuit of alchemists is the elixir of life.
It is to avoid the corrosion of oxygen, so that the body will no longer age and gain immortality.
Turning stone into gold or anything like that is simply not something they can discern.
Ye Zhen touched his chin, "Actually, the turning of stone into gold was real, but not real."
"Because what was refined back then was not real gold at all."
"It's just something that looks a lot like gold."
"The golden elixir back then was actually made from cinnabar, realgar and some herbs."
"In modern terms, this golden elixir is just a catalyst and reactant.
"It undergoes an oxidation reaction with red copper and finally turns into a compound."
"This arsenic-copper compound looks very much like gold and is called Datang Gold."
"This is how the alchemist uses oxygen!"
Speaking of which, I have to mention foreign alchemy.
Foreign alchemy flourished in the twelfth century.
Why did some people in medieval Europe firmly believe in alchemy?
I have to say that this may be the same monk back then.
This story was spread back and Datang Jin was brought back.
This may be the source of the alchemy of those foreigners back then.
I have to say this is very amazing.
"Why do I say that the alchemists at that time had mastered oxygen and the oxidation reaction.
“Because the most famous one is the Great Return Pill.
Everyone should have seen it in various martial arts novels.
In fact, the Great Returning Pill is real.
The real Dahuandan is made from cinnabar, which is essentially mercury sulfide.
Alchemists back then liked to use cinnabar as a raw material for alchemy.
Because they think cinnabar has magical powers.
This tradition has been passed down to this day.
When we watch some zombie movies, whether it’s drawing symbols or whatever.
All need to use cinnabar, this is the source. "
The audience never thought that these things have such origins.
If it weren't for Ye Zhen's popular science, they might not know it all their lives.
In fact, there are some hidden truths behind many of the things we take for granted.
There are smart viewers who are confused in front of the TV.
"Why is it cinnabar?"
"Why is it this kind of material and not something else?"
Ye Zhen seemed to have heard the question.
"Why did alchemists back then choose cinnabar?"
“The component of cinnabar we now know is mercury sulfide.”
"When the alchemists back then were looking for materials, they refined mercury from cinnabar."
"What is mercury? It is what we commonly call mercury. Now some of our thermometers still have mercury in them."
"Mercury is a magical metal that behaves like a liquid and metal." "It still looks shiny on the outside."
"We modern people find it amazing when we see it. After all, this is the only liquid metal at room temperature."
"The ancients were even more curious about mercury, believing that it contained magical powers."
"In the end they used mercury to do experiments and found that mercury can be antiseptic."
"Putting a corpse in mercury will prevent it from decaying for thousands of years!"
There is now a rumor that it is in the tomb of Qin Shihuang.
There is countless mercury, and this mercury has always been in the tomb of Qin Shihuang.
Why mercury can be antiseptic is because it blocks oxygen and bacteria.
The body was soaked in mercury.
The corpse will naturally not be corroded by oxygen.
Isn't this equivalent to physical immortality?This is very close to what they are pursuing!
"Then the alchemist also discovered a magical phenomenon."
"The mercury refined from cinnabar, if not stored separately."
"After the alchemy furnace cooled down, the mercury turned back into red mercury oxide, which looks very much like cinnabar."
"But it's not cinnabar anymore, it's mercury oxide, and then it turns into mercury when heated."
"This process of oxidation and reduction is considered by alchemists to be the process of bringing the dead back to life."
"All of the above have made these alchemists understand that there is magical power in cinnabar."
"And the elixir refined in this way is called the Great Return elixir."
"The alchemist said that after taking the Great Return Pill, you can repair yourself like mercury."
"Refining it like this nine times will turn it into the Nine-turn Great Return Pill."
"Do you think the emperor can survive by eating this kind of food every day?"
"That's right, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty in his later years also died after taking these 'immortality medicines'."
Ye Zhen completely explained the ins and outs of this.
In order to live forever, human beings want to refine the elixir of immortality.
It really has an indissoluble bond with oxygen.
Ye Zhen said: "Oxygen is highly toxic, and oxygen always causes us to age."
"In order to fight against the erosion of oxygen, how much effort our ancestors made!"
"They all want to live forever and not let oxygen corrode their bodies."
"When oxygen is breathed into our bodies, it is converted into oxygen free radicals."
"The chemical properties of oxygen free radicals are very active and can attack the fatty acids on the cell membrane to produce peroxides. These substances are very toxic substances."
"It will damage nucleic acids, proteins, etc. in the body and cause a series of cell damage."
"The more oxygen free radicals accumulate in the human body, the faster the aging process. The common age spots on the faces of the elderly are caused by the oxidative decomposition of lipids by oxygen free radicals to form malondialdehyde."
"That's why I say oxygen is poisonous."
"Archaea before the emergence of oxygen could live for hundreds of thousands of years, or even thousands of years."
"It was the presence of oxygen that killed this long-lived archaea."
When the child heard this, he asked his mother, "If we don't breathe or inhale oxygen, can we survive?"
"The host brother said oxygen is poisonous."
The child's mother hit the child on the head and said, "Silly boy, you will die if you don't breathe!"
Ye Zhen looked at the time and it was almost time.
However, after listening to Ye Zhen's science popularization, the audience in front of the TV still felt that they still had something to say.
"This is "Into Popular Science" and I am your host Ye Zhen. See you next time." Ye Zhen smiled and waved to the camera.
The cameraman gave Ye Zhen an OK gesture.
Ye Zhen took a long breath.
"I finally got through it." Ye Zhen was hosting a show for the first time! This is the first time in his life!
In his previous life, Ye Zhen was always a socially fearful person.
I like to be alone quietly and enjoy solitude.
But now I've gotten through this first time hosting a show.
Ye Zhen didn't know how well he did.
"I hope it's not too bad." Ye Zhen smiled bitterly.
(End of this chapter)