Scientists discover new element -- No. 118

MediaNews ^ | 10/18/06 | Ian Hoffman

[presidio9]

By firing atoms of metal at another metal, Russian and American scientists have discovered a new element -- No. 118 on the Periodic Table -- that is the heaviest substance known and probably hasn't existed since the universe was in its infancy.

Ununoctium, as the new element is temporarily named, has no known use but inspired almost a decade-long pursuit by scientists on four continents. Controversy in the course of its discovery hobbled the career of one physicist, sparked questions about scientific ethics and almost destroyed the world's most productive team of element hunters.

So far, science has gotten a fair measure of trouble out of Element 118 for something that destroys itself in a few thousands of a second. Yet creating the new element -- all three atoms of it -- confirmed the difficulty of finding a theorized family of super-heavy but stable elements.

``I think of this as any other journey to a new place,'' said Lawrence Livermore lab nuclear chemist and team member Nancy Stoyer. ``Why do you want to go to the moon? Why do you want to go to the top of Mount Everest? Finding it is something new, something interesting.''

Because the three atoms of Element 118 existed on average just under a thousandth of a second, scientists doubt they'll ever know much about it.

They sought an ``island of stability'' that the late master of element hunters, Nobel prize-winning Berkeley physicist Glenn Seaborg, had reasoned should be there -- a cluster of manmade elements with such a harmonious number of neutrons and protons that their nuclei didn't instantly self destruct.

Most of the super-heavy elements that scientists create in atom-smashing machines are so jammed with protons and neutrons that their nuclei look like wobbling footballs and Frisbees, inclined to crack apart easily. Nuclei

[Froufrou]

TeddyKennedyum?

[presidio9]

Well, they both exhibit self-destructive behavior...

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Would fit, since he is of no known use.

[Borges]

Ununoctium

Horrible name.

[wagglebee]

has no known use but inspired almost a decade-long pursuit by scientists on four continents.

I wonder how much American taxpayer money was wasted on this.

[bobjam]

This element was not discovered- it was created.

[wideawake]

I wonder if it's an ungrammatical stab at Latin for "one-night-ium" - perhaps a reference to its impermanence?

[Andy from Beaverton]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1720575/posts

[SF Republican]

How much money was spent to discover/create this 1/1000th of a second event?

[Vaquero]

Skinner: We can buy real periodic tables instead of these promotional ones from Oscar Meyer. Krabappel: Who can tell me the atomic weight of bolognium? Martin: Ooh ... delicious? Krabappel: Correct. I would also accept snacktacular.

[John Will]

Hey, research into the nature of matter is useless, I agree with you.

[martin gibson]

HEY!!! whatever happened to upsidaisyum?

[wagglebee]

I'm not saying that research is useless, I'm saying that it is a waste of taxpayer money to CREATE an element that lasts ONE THOUSANTH OF A SECOND and SERVED NO KNOWN PURPOSE. And for that matter, to spend a decade on it seems like a huge waste of these physicists' talent.

[taxcontrol]

If it only survives for a millisecond or two.... is it really an element? What is the time threshold here? Do microseconds count?

Personally, I would say that any structure that is is not stable for at least 1 second does not qualify as an element. Perhaps a new category of "transitives" could be created to categorize these very short lived atoms.

[Cheburashka]

Ununoctium

Horrible name.
---
It's a temporary name. The discoverers will be allowed to pick a permanent name.

It means 118ium. It comes after Ununseptium(117ium) and before Ununennium(119ium), both of which are still discovered.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Poindexter, dat you?

[Lekker 1]

Well, the left has been searching for that "moderate Muslim" for a decade, and to no avail.

[ryan125]

well it isn't completely useless. It can be a stable element if they have the right number of neutrons inside of it. It sounds from the article they reason it is breaking apart is because the huge number of protons and the shape of the nucleus.

[Enchante]

No. 120 will be "Gorebotium"

The densest matter ever known, named in honor of the dense Gorebots who babble endlessly about nothing....

No. 121 will be "Clintonium" which is even worse.....

Don't even get me started on No. 122, "Carterium" will be so dense that it shares the characteristics of a "black hole"