26 Jun 2024

The Philosopher's Stone

From Sci Fi / Sci Fact, 5:00 am on 26 June 2024
The Philosopher's Stone as shown during a Warner Bros Studio tour on the Making of Harry Potter

The Philosopher's Stone, designed by Warner Bros for the Harry Potter movie Photo: By Karen Roe from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK - The Making of Harry Potter 29-05-2012Uploaded by SunOfErat, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30481877

The Philosopher's Stone is not just a Harry Potter plot device, it is something that has been talked about and dreamed of since the middle ages.

Dr Erin Leitao

Dr Erin Leitao Photo: @L’Oreal FWIS (For Women in Science)

Something that could change metal into gold and offer immortality though the elixir of life.

Dr Erin Leitao, MacDiarmid Institute Associate Investigator and Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at Auckland University, talks about the history of this idea and whether we're any closer to making one now.

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