Alchemy Arrives in a Burst of Light | Quanta Magazine

“The idea sounds like magic, pure and simple. You create a light beam that can make substances vanish, give them properties they shouldn’t possess, or turn them into a perfect mimic of another substance entirely. It’s 21st-century alchemy, in principle capable not just of making lead resemble gold, but of turning ordinary materials into superconductors.”

Read the Article | Quanta Magazine | Philip Ball

Addendum

On a different note yet still related:

Alchemy, Science, and Innovations in the Decorative Arts /Met Museum

David Teniers the Younger: Interior of a Laboratory with an Alchemist /Science History Institute / Public Domain/