Copernicium Confirmed As Element 112

Several sources are reporting that the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has confirmed Copernicium as element 112 on the periodic table of elements with the symbol Cn. "The naming of the new element will be the culmination of a long, fraught journey involving fierce competition, dashed hopes, clever detective work and even a brush with scientific misconduct. With a nucleus containing 112 protons — 20 more than uranium, the heaviest of the naturally occurring elements — it will be the weightiest atom whose existence has been confirmed so far."

Comments

1st 112

[Anonymous Coward]

first post 112 discovered!

Take that china

[Anonymous Coward]

Now there will never be a chinesium (although i guess we could re-name lead).

<troll/>

Re:Take that china

[ShadowRangerRIT]

I realize you were going for a joke, but what does China have to do with this? The article gives no indication of competing claims to discovery by Chinese researchers. A Japanese researcher synthesized it at later date in a different way, but again, there doesn't seem to be any dispute over naming rights.

Re:Take that china

[Anonymous Coward]

try missedthejoke.cn

Re:Take that china

[WrongSizeGlass]

China has sent the world an awful lot of lead tainted products over the years - thus the China/lead joke.

Re:Take that china

[Dancindan84]

.cn is the country code top-level domain for China. He was making a joke. /whoosh

Re:Take that china

[Hurricane78]

Can we make that official? ;)

I also suggest renaming America to PlasticFantastica ;)

(You are eligible to naming European countries. ;)

P.S.: <tag/> would be a tag that is closed in itself. So it would not include anyting before or after it. Not quite what you intended, I guess... ;)

Re:Take that china

[oldhack]

What's this "whoosh" thing?

Re:Take that china

[jpmorgan]

To spoil your joke, if an element was named after China, I don't think this would be a big problem. For example, Americium is Am, and the USA's ISO country code is US.

Re:Take that china

[darthdavid]

The sound of the joke going over your head :P

Re:Take that china

[xs650]

To spoil your spoiler, Americium was named before ISO existed.

Re:Take that china

[Anonymous Coward]

That's because America is the name of a Continent not a country.

Re:Take that china

[Anonymous Coward]

And Chinese people refer to them selves as zhongguo anyway. So they would more likely call it Zh.

Re:Take that china

[Anonymous Coward]

But Uranium doesn't *have* a +2 oxidation state, so how can you make US? Uranium disulphide or uranium trisulphide, but not US.

Re:Take that china

[prod-you]

Whoosh

Re:Take that china

[zygotic mitosis]

Chuck Norris, too, weeps in despair.

Re:Take that china

[beav007]

Not to mention the lead the Chinese Government sends its own citizens. Usually at high speed...

Re:Take that china

[Anonymous Coward]

And there's more than one kingdom united under a single monarch. Yet, somehow, 99.999% of the world's population feels no urgent need to pedantically disambiguate the name of either "United" country as an act of public political masturbation. ;-)

Re:Take that china

[Anonymous Coward]

And there's more than one kingdom united under a single monarch. Yet, somehow, 99.999% of the world's population feels no urgent need to pedantically disambiguate the name of either "United" country as an act of public political masturbation. ;-)

Do you mean the country which the rest of the world calls simply "England" in their native tongues?

Re:Take that china

[keeboo]

To spoil your joke, if an element was named after China, I don't think this would be a big problem. For example, Americium is Am, and the USA's ISO country code is US.

I'm sorry to spoil your patriotic pride, but Americium was named after the continent in contrast to Europium.

Polonium, though, was indeed named after a country, Poland.
And Copernicium is named after Nicolaus Copernicus. Go Poland! :)

Re:Take that china

[dimeglio]

Americium, the most mass market radioactive element. Everyone has at least a few milligrams at home, right in your smoke detectors made in China.

Re:Take that china

[dimeglio]

Intriguing how copernicium was named after copper. Which is itself an element named after Copernicus. Are we that short of historical scientific figures? Ok, so maybe not exactly but one could wonder.

Note that in French copper is cuivre Cu, which actually is used to designate the "brass" section of philharmonic orchestra.

Ah the wonders of the English language: one drives in a parkway but parks in a driveway.

Re:Take that china

[Anonymous Coward]

err, , point of interest. begins a section labelled "tag/". begins a section labelled "tag" and promptly ends it.

Re:Take that china

[pizza_milkshake]

Copernicium is named after Copernicus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernicium#Naming; regarded as the father of modern astronomy and whose heliocentric model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_Revolution is considered as a crucial starting point of the Scientific Revolution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Revolution

Copper is apparently from the Latin cuprum, which is from the word cyprian, a more general word for copper and bronze alloys, itself derived from the name of the island Cyprus where the metal was mined. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=copper http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper#Antiquity_and_Middle_Ages

Re:Take that china

[hardwarefreak]

You've never looked at a periodic table?

Francium, 87, Fr
Americium, 95, Am

Re:Take that china

[jpmorgan]

It's hardly patriotic pride when I'm not American. Dumbass.

Re:Take that china

[jpmorgan]

Yes, along with the continent of Eurasia.

Oh wait. No, there's no continent called Eurasia, and there's no continent called America.

Re:Take that china

[M1FCJ]

Well, England is only one of the nations of United Kingdom. there's also Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (although that's in dispute for a while). Scotland and NI already have their own devolved parliaments and Wales will get one at one point. I'm sure you'd be very popular in the north of the border and call the place England.

Re:Take that china

[damien_kane]

Oh wait. No, there's no continent called Eurasia

Of course there's not; if there were, we would be at war with them. We're at war with Oceania, though. We've always been at war with Oceania.

The naming was the easy part!

[Jugalator]

Now, as for what it will be used for!

Re:The naming was the easy part!

[raftpeople]

I think there was a commercial on QVC last night for some jewelry made of this stuff.

Re:The naming was the easy part!

[WrongSizeGlass]

It will be used for "copernicium plumbing" - plumbing that is too heavy to steal from a construction site.

Re:The naming was the easy part!

[zygotic mitosis]

Naming, yes. The summary is badly informed! The synthesis of element 112 has been confirmed for quite a while. The only story here is that IUPAC has officially endorsed a name for it.

Re:The naming was the easy part!

[selven]

That's some jewelry, with 50% of it disappearing every 9 minutes.

yay!

[Anonymous Coward]

Can't wait 'til they get to element 115!

But But but

[Monkeedude1212]

What about ununbium?

Re:But But but

[Fluffeh]

What about ununbium?

Can't be worse than Unobtainium *gag*.

Thankyou Avatar, for the dumbest name of a substance in movie history.

Re:But But but

[Anonymous Coward]

Unobtanium has been around for far longer than Avatar.

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtanium

Re:But But but

[maxume]

Unobtainium enjoys a long history.

So you would just criticize Avatar for being trite, not thank it for the word.

Re:But But but

[perlchild]

Avatar wasn't the first use of that, they actually reused a name that had been used in literature for decades...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtainium

Re:But But but

[Rei]

On the other hand, they had a pretty interesting scientific backstory for the movie. When I was watching the movie, when the guy set down the "unobtanium" on a platform and it floated, I immediately thought, "Huh... I bet that's supposed to be a room-temperature superconductor. Which would explain the demand." And indeed, that's exactly the intent. According to the backstory, part of the reason for the intense initial interest in the moon was the very high magnetic field strength it displayed. And since superconductors expel magnetic fields, leading to stable levitation, the floating mountains and continents are actually scientifically plausible in such a scenario. The very high magnetic field and the presence of the moon orbiting in the radiation belt of a gas giant leads to very high levels of ionizing radiation at the poles and at the intense local distortions in the magnetic field from the "unobtanium" -- to the degree that they're not just deadly, but also lead to a large current flowing through the planet.

The explanation for the mineral name is that scientists frustrated on Earth used began using the name "unobtanium" in reference to high temperature superconductors (before stable versions were found on Pandora) that it stuck.

Re:But But but

[Hognoxious]

Avatar wasn't the first use of that, they actually reused a name that had been used in literature for decades...

Which makes it less retarded how, exactly?

Re:But But but

[Cryacin]

Exactly you can find it right between the unaffordium and the baloneyum.

Re:But But but

[ArundelCastle]

What about ununbium?

Too much of a double double negative. And speaking of which, I heard Starbucks is still lobbying for Lattenium.

Re:But But but

[Beardo the Bearded]

Yeah, I've used Unobtainium for years, and everyone here at work knows what's meant. (Admittedly, I'm an Engineer.) Okay, not quite true, as two foreign Engineers didn't know what it was.

In Avatar, Unobtanium was the McGuffin -- it didn't matter what it was, just that there was a reason that Homo Sapiens was on a different, hostile planet that wasn't for xenorelations. Water's plentiful on comets, any minerals would be easier to get from asteroids, since there's way less of a gravity well, and so the only reason we'd be there is either to talk to aliens or to get a rare material.

A room-temperature superconductor is pretty much the Holy Grail of Physics.

It doesn't explain why the humans didn't just take the mountains and / or use orbital bombardment.

Re:But But but

[SleazyRidr]

And here was I thinking that the movie writers were too lazy to think of a name and just stuck in the generic term.

Also thanks for the backstory info, makes me want to read the book a whole lot more than the movie did.

Re:But But but

[MostAwesomeDude]

I internally rationalized with the idea that it could be e.g. ununoctium oxide, some theoretical super-heavy ore that got nicknamed "unobtainium" as a pun due to the native resistance to mining operations.

That's a pretty fascinating backstory, though.

Re:But But but

[sconeu]

According to Wikipedia, it's called "Roentgenium".

Re:But But but

[jpmorgan]

Nuclear. Fucking. Weapons. There's no problem that cannot be made to go away with sufficient use of nuclear weapons.

Even nuclear proliferation! Set enough of 'em off and bam, no more problem.

Re:But But but

[Bigjeff5]

You do know that "unobtainium" was a nod to geeks and nerds everywhere right? Since it's commonly used by engineers in "what if" scenarios for what they would design if they had materials that do not exist today, right? You knew that already, right?

Oh you missed that? Sorry.

Why are you here again?

Re:But But but

[Anonymous Coward]

Avatar wasn't the first use of that, they actually reused a name that had been used in literature for decades...

Which makes it less retarded how, exactly?

Because it not new. Slashdot is for new geek stuff.

Re:But But but

[davvr6]

Many luxury goods have been made of solid unobtainium for years.

Re:But But but

[epine]

Nuclear. Fucking. Weapons. There's no problem that cannot be made to go away with sufficient use of nuclear weapons.

Your diction sounds like you're falling into a black hole, so I think you're going to need more than a cowboy hat and a crayon to catapult around the other side.

What kind of mind goes into a parking orbit between words?

I admit, it is kind of menacing to see a blood and guts marine in a stalled humvee bearing down on you with four sumo wrestlers tossing the vehicle forward in three foot increments. Anyone would think twice confronted with that spectacle.

Re:But But but

[turing_m]

On the other hand, they had a pretty interesting scientific backstory for the movie

Ahhhhhhh... now the floating mountains make sense. Thanks for explaining it.

Re:But But but

[MidnightBrewer]

The back story was pretty well thought out, even to how the spacecraft worked (very in-depth, although never explained in the movie). The sad part is they also went into great detail as to how the aliens didn't use DNA to encode their genes, but then go on to base the entire story on clones that combine human DNA with alien DNA.

Re:But But but

[Anonymous Coward]

Your Wikipedia skills seemed to have failed you.

While elements are in the formal verification process newly discovered elements are not named. Instead they are referred to by their atomic number. Ununbium is 112 (un is one, bi is two). Unununium what what element 111 was called before it was renamed to Roentgenium.

Re:But But but

[Lars T.]

You do know that "unobtainium" was a nod to geeks and nerds everywhere right?

And the use in The Core was a wedgie to all geeks and nerds everywhere. At least they didn't use it in Armageddon.

Re:But But but

[Rei]

I'd bet dollars to donuts that that particular plot element was thrown in at the last minute to explain why they had to bring along this incompetent, untrained grunt to take part in a scientific mission. If the didn't have the DNA requirement, they could have used anyone.

I'm sure someone out there was reading over the script and said, "Hey, wait a minute -- why are they bringing HIM of all people?" To which Cameron probably debated the point for a while before ultimately conceding that they had to patch that issue.

The plot to Avatar was nothing special -- pick trope, write script. What made the movie impressive, however, was not just top-notch graphics, but also excellent worldbuilding behind it.

Re:But But but

[Dr. Spork]

Still, the fact that Cameron has script reviewers and patched the plotholes they found already says something good. Oh, if only Lucas had that sort of humility when he was doing the prequels!

Re:But But but

[CharlyFoxtrot]

Don't forget the hardest material known to man fuckyeahsmium.

Re:But But but

[grcumb]

Exactly you can find it right between the unaffordium and the baloneyum.

Bloody Yanks - those of us who remember the Queen's English know it's spelled 'bolognium'...

... or was that 'bologniminium?'

Re:But But but

[Cryacin]

I'm Australian you colonial bastard!

Re:But But but

[RealGrouchy]

I've used Unobtainium for years

Oh yeah? Where'd you get it?

- RG>

Re:But But but

[Anonymous Coward]

No, you idiot , element 118 would be in the noble group and not reactive. No sir, not with oxygen.

Re:But But but

[Beardo the Bearded]

bass bass snare

Re:But But but

[Hognoxious]

Why does that make stupid and unoriginal better than stupid but novel?

Re:But But but

[Anonymous Coward]

You, sir, are an idiot. You're dicktion sounds like, well, oh... Jeez, get a sarcastic comment...

Re:But But but

[Anonymous Coward]

They couldn't "take" the mountains because they only floated in an area of extreme magnetic flux and they couldn't use orbital bombardment against the aboriginals because they had to justify the use of reasonable force to their shareholders and the public back on Earth.

Re:But But but

[SimonGhent]

No, you idiot , element 118 would be in the noble group and not reactive. No sir, not with oxygen.

Radon is also a noble element, but is reactive. Many predictions suggest that 118 would be more reactive, but as only three or four atoms have been detected I wouldn't expect proof any time soon.

It's bad luck to throw words like "idiot" around...

Re:But But but

[Gravitron 5000]

... and so the only reason we'd be there is either to talk to aliens or to get a rare material.

If there's one thing I learned from Star Trek and Captain Kirk, it's that there are better things than talking to be done with aliens.

Re:But But but

[shashark]

"also lead to a large current flowing through the planet."

That could also partially explain bioluminescence of flora and fauna.

Re:But But but

[Anonymous Coward]

http://failblog.org/2010/01/10/avatar-plot-fail/

Re:But But but

[Tim C]

It doesn't explain why the humans didn't just take the mountains and / or use orbital bombardment.

That was one of the things I didn't like about Avatar; in real life once we were thrown off the planet, we'd have gone back in force and either invaded or just bombarded the site from orbit. Kind of made it hard to have the warm fuzzy feeling that we were obviously meant to leave the cinema with.

Re:But But but

[Langalf]

Actually, if you read some of the back-story, they tried mining the mountains about 30 years previously. Darn things were so unstable, they flipped one over and dumped $$billions of mining equipment several hunded meters to the ground, killed a bunch of miners, and decided maybe digging in the ground was a better idea.

Re:But But but

[jo_ham]

Xenon is a noble gas too, and it reacts with Fluorine to form stable XeF2 and XeF4 (just don't get the solid form of it wet), and can also form oxides - XeO3 and XeO4 are two of the stable forms.

A bold-face, italic is a big word to throw around casually. Just because your high school science teacher told you that noble group elements are totally unreactive does not mean it's entirely true.

Either way, noble group elements can form oxides. Yes sir, with oxygen.

I can see now why you posted AC. How embarrassing!

Re:But But but

[Rei]

And the evolution of their communication network. If you're a giant tree with roots that extend out for hundreds of meters, you're certainly going to have a relevant amount of current flowing through you. Any voltage drops or induced frequency modulation your tissue causes will affect the current being received at the next tree over. Seems a vastly more efficient method of communicating than how species on Earth do (for most immobile species, airborne chemical signals -- for example, acacias warn each other of predation by releasing chemicals that signal other acacias to produce more toxins). The bandwidth and latency from chemical communication is *extremely* poor, but you could obviously support tremendously high bandwidth communication by modulating an electrical signal. And since it's already flowing through them...

Also, trees closer to the energy sources would have stronger currents flowing through them, while distant ones would have less. So evolution could happen closer to the source of energy, and then an evolved increased sensitivity to it could allow the signal to be perceived further and further away over time.

Just like animals on our planet have evolved to interpret or co-opt the chemical and auditory communication of other species, animal species on Pandora would naturally be expected to do the same with electrical communications.

Re:But But but

[mhajicek]

It doesn't explain why the humans didn't just take the mountains and / or use orbital bombardment.

As far as taking the mountains, presumably the EM interference made navigation and operation of technology there difficult and dangerous. That doesn't mean they couldn't mine the mountains, just that it might not be nearly as profitable. As for orbital bombardment they probably didn't have the right kinds of ships handy at the time. In theory they could bring them, but that would take a lot of time and money. Perhaps we'll see that in Avatar 2.

Later that night...

[weaponx86]

Uranium was seen at a local club with Copernicium, probably to make her feel better about herself.

Re:Later that night...

[Rei]

Interestingly enough, uranium isn't the heaviest naturally occurring element. It occurs in two ways. One is extremely small amounts of natural Pu-244 The other is muromontite, which is a beryllium and sometimes uranium-containing form of allanite, making it a natural breeder reactor.

Re:Later that night...

[tyrione]

Uranium was seen at a local club with Copernicium, probably to make her feel better about herself.

Bystanders overheard Uranium note what a large prick Copernicium sported.

Re:Later that night...

[Anonymous Coward]

Interestingly enough, uranium isn't the heaviest naturally occurring element. It occurs in two ways. One is extremely small amounts of natural Pu-244 The other is muromontite, which is a beryllium and sometimes uranium-containing form of allanite, making it a natural breeder reactor.

You must look deep inside for the answers you seek. Trust in yourself and be one with the force.

Re:Later that night...

[necro81]

Even more interesting is that, while it is the heaviest in the periodic table, uranium is not the "heaviest" material you can hold. That would go to the densest material, which does not exactly correspond to atomic number. Behold:

Al: 2.7 g/cc
Fe: 7.8
Pb: 11.3
U : 19.1
W : 19.3
Pu: 19.8
Pt: 21.4

So while uranium is indeed really "heavy" (which is why depleted uranium is great for artillery projectiles), it's not quite the heaviest around.

But here's the real head scratcher: if you had a 1-kg ingot of each of the above metals, then which would be heaviest?

Re:Later that night...

[dkf]

That would go to the densest material, which does not exactly correspond to atomic number. Behold:

Al: 2.7 g/cc
Fe: 7.8
Pb: 11.3
U : 19.1
W : 19.3
Pu: 19.8
Pt: 21.4

You made a nice little table but missed out on the top two densest elements. The densest known element is Osmium, which clocks in at 22.61 g/cc. The second densest is Iridium, at 22.56. (I mostly know these facts from doing general knowledge crosswords...)

On Earth

[ircmaxell]

20 more than uranium, the heaviest of the naturally occurring elements

Minor quibble... it's the heavies of the naturally occurring elements on Earth. Heaver elements usually require different conditions (higher energy levels, gravity differences, etc) that can be found on earth. But there's nothing to say they can't be found elsewhere...

Re:On Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

20 more than uranium, the heaviest of the naturally occurring elements

Minor quibble... it's the heavies of the naturally occurring elements on Earth. Heaver elements usually require different conditions (higher energy levels, gravity differences, etc) that can be found on earth. But there's nothing to say they can't be found elsewhere...

Hey jackass, how many people do we have trying to identify new elements anywhere else besides Earth?

Re:On Earth

[ircmaxell]

Actually, a lot more than you'd think. First, there's the analyzing of Emission Spectrum from distant worlds and stars. Second, there have been several probes to the moon, mars and other celestial bodies that have attempted to (and some succeeded) look at and identify the chemical makeup of what it was looking at. Third (as if that wasn't enough) we have theoretical physicists that can (and do) calculate the makeup of the rest of the known (and known) universe. So surely it does matter to SOME people...

Re:On Earth

[arndawg]

I don't remember much from high-school chemistry but isn't it something about "man-made" atoms is so unstable that they won't be able to exist naturally?

Re:On Earth

[reverseengineer]

And (even more minor quibble) it's not even technically true that uranium is the heaviest naturally occurring element on earth. Trace amounts of some transuranic elements are found in deposits of uranium ore, particularly at the natural nuclear reactor at Oklo, Gabon as a result of neutron irradiation of uranium, the same principle as used in breeder reactors.

Re:On Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

RTFS!

"whose existence has been confirmed so far."

Re:On Earth

[ShadowRangerRIT]

Technically, it's inaccurate on Earth as well. Trace amounts of plutonium are found in concentrated uranium ore, particularly those deposits that have acted as a natural nuclear fission reactor, the most famous being the Oklo reactor.

Re:On Earth

[ceoyoyo]

Considering the half lives of the ultra-heavy elements, they don't exist anywhere other than labs except for brief periods in supernovae.

Re:On Earth

[ircmaxell]

The bit you quote is in reference to the existence of the Copernicium element, not that Uranium is the heaviest naturally occurring element...

With a nucleus containing 112 protons - 20 more than uranium, the heaviest of the naturally occurring elements - it will be the weightiest atom whose existence has been confirmed so far.

Notice the em dashes? They delineate the parts of the sentence... So, way to go quoting information out of context in an attempt to prove an irrelevant point... Thanks for trying...

Re:On Earth

[WrongSizeGlass]

Oh, there are others, believe you me ...

shhh ... don't tell anyone ... but if you want I'll forward one of their newsletters to you. Don't be alarmed by the old date on it. They tell me that intergalactic mail is sloooow and it takes a while to get here. The crazy part is sometimes I have to renew my subscriptions several times between newsletters due to some kind of odd differences of planetary orbital durrations. It's a good thing they take cash, because frankly, the bank will only cash my checks for 90 days after their written.

Re:On Earth

[f8l_0e]

Well, studying meteorites that are here on earth is still a way of discovering elements potentially not from this earth. While you mull that over, I suggest some self reflection.

Re:On Earth

[Tubal-Cain]

It's not the fact that they're "man-made" that makes them unstable, we just don't often bother using colliders to make atoms that would exist naturally.

Re:On Earth

[wizardforce]

Except that the larger elements have much shorter half-lives. Unless there's a stable (or nearly so) element, we won't find anything hiher than ~Americium we won't find a quantity of higher elements worth mentioning. Uranium is the heaviest element in nature in any quantity (Plutonium and Americium occur in trace quantities due to spontaneous fission and the neutron irradiation that results) Supernovae and black holes might have the conditions neccessary to forge super heavy elements but the stability of these elements is the real problem.

Re:On Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

On a cosmic timescale? pretty much. When you have something with a half-life measured in fractions of a second, you would need an initial mass close to the entire mass of the universe to survive in detectable amounts through the 5+ billion years it takes for super nova outflow gas to cool and condense into a planet capable of evolving life to go about looking for it. Stuff like this most likely does occur naturally in supernova produced nebula's, it just won't last very long when we are considering the age of the universe.

Re:On Earth

[mister_playboy]

Hey jackass, how many people do we have trying to identify new elements anywhere else besides Earth?

Actually, Helium was discovered not on Earth, but the Sun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium

Re:On Earth

[TapeCutter]

"Hey jackass, how many people do we have trying to identify new elements anywhere else besides Earth?"

Helium was first discovred in the Sun, donkey breath.

Re:On Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

If you aren't a troll, you need to work on your reading comprehension.

Re:On Earth

[C0vardeAn0nim0]

is not the "man made" factor that makes them unstable.

plutonium is man made and is a helluva lot stabler than heavier atoms. thing is, at those high atomic numbers, it takes a whole lot of neutrons on the nucleus to make the atom stable, more neutrons than the colision of two lighter atoms provide. the result is a heavy element that lacks the neccessary neutrons to be stable. putting extra neutrons there is the tricky part.

Re:On Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

And have they stumbled across any heavier elements? No? Didn't think so.

Re:On Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

Californium can be found in spectra of astronomical objects

Re:On Earth

[red_pill1987]

well, i belive its theorised that someone in the 120s theres an island of stablity where it might be find an element that might last for a length of time worth note http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_stability

Re:On Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

For this purpose half an hour is astounding, and two seconds would be "worth note". There aren't going to be any more elements that sit around for long enough for you to make things out of them, at best they'd be transient states of some kind of bomb, and we already have enough kinds of bomb.

The problem is that when the elements are super-dense, even if you find one that won't break in two and shoot off gamma radiation, you instead get large lumps dropping off, alpha radiation. Neither leaves you with a stable element.

Re:On Earth

[ChrisMaple]

Uranium is only the heaviest natural "stable" element on earth when condsidered on an atom-by-atom basis. Several elements have a higher specific gravity: Osmium, Iridium, Tungsten, Gold, Platinum, Rhenium.

Re:On Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's refer to your original (in this particular thread anyhow ;)) cowardly post:

Hey jackass, how many people do we have trying to identify new elements anywhere else besides Earth?

That they haven't "stumbled across" any does not mean they are not looking for them. They are examining and documenting what is out there, and if they happen to find #119 on the periodic table you can bet they would document it and announce their findings. I'm sure if they come across what appears to be "new" elements they will not ignore their findings.

Re:On Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

Why the name calling, cocksocket?

Re:On Earth

[OolimPhon]

Worked for Helium, didn't it?

Re:On Earth

[lxs]

So you're not a believer in the Island of Stability I take it?

Re:On Earth

[shadowknot]

Hey jackass, how many people do we have trying to identify new elements anywhere else besides Earth?

Actually, Helium was discovered not on Earth, but the Sun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium

By a French astronomer (Pierre Janssen) during a total eclipse. I'm guessing that since eclipses aren't exactly apparent when down there he wasn't exactly scraping around on the surface of the sun when he discovered. it. So it was discovered on Earth by observing the sun.

Re:On Earth

[Alioth]

It's only an "island of stability", relatively speaking as I understand it. That's to say elements in the "island of stability" have half lives measured in a few tenths of a second to a few seconds, rather than milliseconds.

Re:On Earth

[zippthorne]

Nothing except p-chem. Which does not strictly exclude the possibility, but does suggest that higher elements are probably pretty rare: Stable solutions in the higher elements are difficult to find. You usually end up with extremely short half-lives. Isotopes with short half-lives are unlikely to be found far from whatever phenomenon generated them.

natural?

[planckscale]

So what I don't understand is if this particle would ever naturally occur? During the big bang? In a supernova? And if not then why continue to spend money and time on the task of building bigger and bigger particles? What use will they be if only to exist for a fraction of a second?

Re:natural?

[Monkeedude1212]

I believe that our drive to construct bigger elements helps confirm that our scientific model is correct - and should we discover any discrepancies (like say the UV Catastrophe) than that only helps us understand things better, since we reform our theories to fit the results.

Re:natural?

[MartinSchou]

Because knowledge is a good thing? As it happens, Copernicium_285 has a halflife that is higher than elements 109 and up.

I find it interesting, but apparently you seem to think that knowledge is a bad thing.

Why? Who cares.
Could finding out possibly be of use? Who cares.
Suppose we find perfectly stable elements? Why bother?

Re:natural?

[EdZ]

It's theorised that somewhere in the 1xx range lies one or more "islands of stability", where one or more undiscovered heavy elements exist with either very long half-lives, or stable nuclei.

Re:natural?

[gurps_npc]

Actually, your basic belief is false. Not all larger particles exist only for a fraciton of a second. There are cycles and some elemental numbers that we can not yet created have been theorized to be stable for long time periods. In addition, we do NOT have a reasonable sample of all 'naturally' occuring particles. We only got what this particular are of the universe happens to have. As such, it is quite likely that there are places in the galaxy where some of these large, stable elements exist in large quantities.

Re:natural?

[pclminion]

If super-heavy elements are discovered which have longer half-lives (and this is suspected to be the case), these elements would be extremely valuable simply for their density if nothing else. Ion drives use heavy, inert atoms as their reaction material -- xenon, for instance. The efficiency of any propulsion system goes up as the per-particle mass of the propellant increases. So one application of stable, super-heavy elements would be as reaction material for ion thrusters. It doesn't even have to be stable for that long -- just long enough for the mission at hand.

Of course, we'd have to develop a way of creating the nuclei more than just a few at a time.

Re:natural?

[delt0r]

Long periods of time, is however defined as milliseconds or so. Yes that would qualify for the island of stability, since its much longer than 10^-20 seconds. There may even be something that could last a second or so... but the calculations are really not all that definite.

Cp

[Anonymous Coward]

It couldn't keep the symbol Cp because of the other thing this stands for...Captain Picard of course.

Re:Cp

[kobiashi maru]

or computer player

another name that would have been good...

[Anonymous Coward]

Fibonaccium

Re:another name that would have been good...

[Sinning]

Perfect! My kingdom for a mod point!

Re:another name that would have been good...

[agbinfo]

That's reserved for element 144.

Re:another name that would have been good...

[Conchobair]

I think we missed the chance for that with element 89 (Actinium), however we will have a chance again with element 144. I like the idea though.

Re:another name that would have been good...

[Bigjeff5]

That's the great thing about Fibonacci, he keeps coming round again!

Re:another name that would have been good...

[circletimessquare]

thats element 1123 or 11235

Re:another name that would have been good...

[Anonymous Coward]

How long before Unununununununium?

Finally...

[gestalt_n_pepper]

My breathless wait is over.

Cool name

[Archaemic]

Cool, now Copernicus has an element named after him.

...remind me again, what did Copernicus do that was related to nuclear physics?

Re:Cool name

[bcmm]

...remind me again, what did Copernicus do that was related to nuclear physics?

Element names are used to honour people and places for all sorts of reasons, and Copernicus clearly deserves it.

Röntgen's contributions were not exactly nuclear physics either, and Alfred Nobel wasn't even a physicist (neither was Vasili Samarsky-Bykhovets).

Re:Cool name

[spun]

Copernicus is widely credited as being a key figure in the birth of the scientific revolution. Which lead to nuclear physics, among other things.

Re:Cool name

[WrongSizeGlass]

...remind me again, what did Copernicus do that was related to nuclear physics?

Dude, he only invented Newton ... and we all know Newton invented gravity and cool PDA's. This is /., try to keep up ;-)

Re:Cool name

[reverseengineer]

He collaborated on the same work in nuclear physics that Alfred Nobel is known for.

Honestly, the parent does have a point though- other than nobelium and copernicium, there seems to be a clear trend from americium (#95) onward to name elements either for their place of discovery or after important nuclear scientists. Although, you could make the case that Einstein was not primarily a nuclear physicist, and the nucleus wasn't even known when Mendeleev drew up his table, they had made important contributions to the understanding of atoms. Copernicus is certainly deserving of the honor, and there's nothing to forbid it in terms of the IUPAC rules- I just think it's interesting that a 300-year gap exists between Copernicus and the next scientist so honored. Next up: newtonium?

Re:Cool name

[MrTripps]

He did kinda start the whole scientific revolution thingy. That might have a little to do with nuclear physics.

Re:Cool name

[b4dc0d3r]

Nucleus is to Sun
    as
Electron cloud is to Planet

Re:Cool name

[Anonymous Coward]

Obamanium

We are slowly...

[cbuosi]

We are slowly getting there: http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Periodic_table

Re:We are slowly...

[Anonymous Coward]

poor metals

(quote from link)

<joke cliché="cliché">
Damn, you'd think the other elements would at least give them some food, or something.
</joke>

Beryllium

[WrongSizeGlass]

When I first heard "Beryllium" I got rather excited ... it sounded "beer-ilicious indeed!" ... until I saw how it was spelled and thought "damn, that even looks like it will taste bad".

Re:Beryllium

[Beardo the Bearded]

That's okay, I kept trying to hug mercury.

Re:Beryllium

[TapeCutter]

Beer atoms

Re:Beryllium

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, sorta like prawns.

Great, but...

[mea37]

...does it run linux?

Re:Great, but...

[Beardo the Bearded]

It will in a Beowulf cluster.

Re:Great, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

No it's an element you fucking clown.

Element 420

[Anonymous Coward]

Element 420 is named Mybongium.

Re:Element 420

[Anonymous Coward]

And whoa man, it will be like, huuuuge, as big as my hand man.

Three elements away...

[Anonymous Coward]

... from Elerium-115.

Oh, and I want one of those Hovertank/Laser units too.

Uranium Not The Heaviest Natural Element On Earth

[careysub]

Since plutonium, element 93, is found in uranium ores (being bred there by neutron capture) and Pu-244 (half-life 80.8 million years) has also survived in detectable quantities from the formation of the Earth, uranium is not the heaviest natural element on Earth.

...and

[Anonymous Coward]

...will it blend?

Re:Uranium Not The Heaviest Natural Element On Ear

[Cro Magnon]

Minor nit, but IIRC, plutonium is element 94. Neptunium is 93.

Is the atomic weight...

[zawarski]

...'delicious' or 'snacktackular'?

E-115

[Anonymous Coward]

All I care about is making sure element 115 gets named Elerium.

Re:Uranium Not The Heaviest Natural Element On Ear

[WeatherGod]

Nitpick, Pu is element 94.

A true injustice

[Aurisor]

The element's discoverer was, quite understandably, crushed by his lack of recognition.

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1621

We Have An Element!

[Arancaytar]

Reminds me of this flash fiction by Mike Swanwick. :D

What's that whooshing noise?

[Anonymous Coward]

> try missedthejoke.cn

All I get is an NXDOMAIN?

Re:What's that whooshing noise?

[Anonymous Coward]

Whoosh!

Missing URL

[Anonymous Coward]

It would appear that missedthejoke.cn has been slashdotted... (/whoosh!)

113 Should be Unobtainium!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully it will be found by Weyland-Yutani...

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

copper

[yoyoq]

copernicus was named after copper (dad was a copper smith or something) so this makes two elements named after copper. not very original.

Re:copper

[pclminion]

Uh... Copper isn't named after copper. It *is* copper. So we have one element named copper, and another element named after a person who was named after copper. I don't see the problem. The point is the person, not the copper.

Re:copper

[Blain]

Actually, copper's name is derived from Cyprus. So Copernicium is an element named for a person named for an element named for an island.

That's enough for me to get over my love of ununbium.

Tribute to Tom Lehrer

[kobiashi maru]

"these are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard, and there may be many others but they haven't been discovered"

What about...

[HForN]

The element of surprise?

Re:What about...

[kenj0418]

The element of surprise?

It has an atomic weight of: 0.o

America is the name of a Continent

[formfeed]

Right! The name of the country is Merika.

Re:Uranium Not The Heaviest Natural Element On Ear

[Bigjeff5]

Pu-244 does not have 244 protons, it still only has 94 protons.

The article was speaking of base atomic weight, they certainly weren't suggesting heavier isotopes did not exist. They were talking about the element itself, not its potential isotope. The element Plutonium has an atomic weight of about 188, Coppernicium has an atomic weight of about 224. Coppernicium is the heavier element. If you'll read more carefully, they are careful to refer to proton count so nit-pickers like you can understand their meaning.

It's like someone says "The Honda Acura weigh 3,000 pounds, and the Toyota Corolla is heavier at 3,500 pounds", and you come out and say "Nuh uh! My dad's got an Acura that weighs 6,000 pounds! It's got a ton and a half of lead in the trunk!" It doesn't really mean you're right, even though there are Acuras that weigh more than Corollas.

Copernicium

[physburn]

Sound two much like copper. But of course Copernicus was such champion of science that he well deserves a element named after him. Elements 110 and 114 are special numbers of protons. So with the right number of Neutrons an isotope of Coperniclum may be somewhat stable. Most of the Elements heavier that 100 decay in milliseconds. The right number of neutrons is something like 184, so its Cp-296 that is golden target to look for. So far nuclear scientists have not come anywhere near making an atom that neutron heavy.

---

Nuclear Chemistry Feed @ Feed Distiller

transuranic elements

[Anonymous Coward]

All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic, heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold; Lead; Copper; Jet; Diamond; Radium; Sapphire; Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.

Re:Uranium Not The Heaviest Natural Element On Ear

[jonaskoelker]

Since plutonium, element 93, is found in uranium ores (being bred there by neutron capture) and Pu-244 (half-life 80.8 million years)

Holy cr*p, dewd. 80 million years, that's a long time.

So, if they ever discover an element with a negative half-life, will they call it Banach-Tarskium?

What did they do?

[Snaller]

How about a better heading? They chose this name in July of 2009 ! What's new?

Who is the 'heavy' here ?

[barath_s]

uranium, the heaviest of the naturally occurring elements

Uranium Density = 19.05 g/cc

Osmium Density = 22.59 g/cc Lanthanide contraction

Iridium Density = 22.56 g/cc

Naturally occurring mineral : Chengdeite : Ir3Fe (an Alloy) Density = 19.3 g/cc

Though Elemental Platinum also occurs in nature and has a density = 21.09

We need a better wording than heavy for most protons in nucleus. How about uranium, the most protonic naturally occurring element.

Re:Who is the 'heavy' here ?

[Richy_T]

Heaviest -> most massive, Densest -> most dense. No better wording needed. Especially given that it specifies "elements" and not "single element materials"

You did remember to specify that your densities were at STP didn't you?

Scientific misconduct?

[bunratty]

Scientific misconduct, eh? I've known all along these so-called physicists are making up these elements for fame and fortune. As long as they keep claiming to find elements they'll keep getting grant money and be rolling in dough!

Great...

[aldld]

Does this mean that I'll have to buy a new periodic table? I bet it's a scam by the people who make periodic them!

Indeed he was

[Kupfernigk]

Look at my sig. I'm a systems modeler, and before that my work included research into copper alloys, so I borrowed Kupfernigk's actual name, not the Latinisation, for my sig (since he built a mathematical model of the Solar System). "Kupfer" is still the German word for copper.

So, to nitpick, since transuranics use the actual form of scientist's names, it should really be Kupfernigkium, Kf.

(Otherwise, Einsteinium would have to be Unopetrium.)

As they get bigger...

[Ponyegg]

When element 419 is created can we name it Nigerium?

I just want to know how it's pronounced

[Dracophile]

KOP-er-NEEK-ium? I don't even know what the rules are on this sort of thing.

GREAT!

[Anonymous Coward]

Lets put it in weapons.