Four elements added to periodic table
Scientists have now officially added four new elements to the periodic table, completing the discovery of all elements through 118.
All of the elements were created in the lab, by smashing lighter atomic nuclei together. The unstable agglomerations of protons and neutrons last mere fractions of a second before they fall apart into smaller, more stable fragments.
The teams that have been given credit for the discoveries can now put forward proposals for the elements’ names and two-letter symbols. Elements can be named after one of their chemical or physical properties, a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, or a scientist. Priority for discovering element 113 went to researchers in Japan, who are particularly delighted because it will become the first artificial element to be named in East Asia. When the element was first sighted 12 years ago, ‘Japonium’ was suggested as a name.
While creating element 119 is believed possible, beyond that it is thought unlikely that anything heavier can be produced in the lab.
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Scientists have now officially added four new elements to the periodic table, completing the discovery of all elements through 118.
All of the elements were created in the lab, by smashing lighter atomic nuclei together. The unstable agglomerations of protons and neutrons last mere fractions of a second before they fall apart into smaller, more stable fragments.
The teams that have been given credit for the discoveries can now put forward proposals for the elements’ names and two-letter symbols. Elements can be named after one of their chemical or physical properties, a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, or a scientist. Priority for discovering element 113 went to researchers in Japan, who are particularly delighted because it will become the first artificial element to be named in East Asia. When the element was first sighted 12 years ago, ‘Japonium’ was suggested as a name.
While creating element 119 is believed possible, beyond that it is thought unlikely that anything heavier can be produced in the lab.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Lifted a partial quote … ” beyond that it is thought unlikely that anything heavier can be produced ”
Anything that comes out of Washington – ACA, budgets, etc etc. Remember if their lips are moving they are lying.
I hope they find or make a stable unobtanium someday.
At least in the Avatar movie sense.
When I was a child learning the periodic table, it seemed to me that an ‘element’ by definition should be stable. Of what use is a substance that can’t be used? These are interesting experiments, but perhaps not useful ones.
Agreed, what use is an element that can’t exist in the “real world”? Is it really an element in the traditional sense?
Maybe it’s time to have 2 periodic tables, one for natural elements that can exist outside of super-colliders and black holes and also persist long enough to do something useful with. And another for all elements possible under any circumstances or environment.
Pzatchok wrote: “I hope they find or make a stable unobtanium someday.”
Maybe they will name one of these new elements unobtanium. They don’t last long enough to be obtainable/usable by today’s engineers; creating them may only be useful to assist us in understanding and updating our Standard Model of particle physics.