One of science’s early white whales was alchemy: the practice of turning other metals into gold. But as science progressed, people slowly came to realize that this was impossible. And so, scientists turned their efforts to other things, like developing semi-sentient robots that will tell you they love you.

However, maybe they shouldn’t have stopped so soon. According to a recent paper from scientists at Marathon Fusion, there may actually be a way to turn mercury into gold after all.

Maybe.

In short, the scientists use a type of nuclear fusion reaction that produces very fast-moving particles called neutrons. These neutrons hit a certain type of mercury (198Hg) and knock out two of its own neutrons, turning it into stable gold (197Au). This process can also happen in a fusion power plant without messing up the power production. According to the company, “using our approach, power plants can generate 5,000 kilograms of gold per year, per gigawatt of electricity generation, without any compromise to fuel self-sufficiency or power output.”

So, alchemy might be real. Let’s just hope that other ancient beliefs are still false — I don’t want my doctor bloodletting me anytime soon.