Posted on 02/02/2016 4:29:12 PM PST by MtnClimber
Chemistry teachers recently had to update their classroom decor, with the announcement that scientists have confirmed the discovery of four new elements on the periodic table. The as-yet unnamed elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 filled in the remaining gaps at the bottom of the famous chart-a roadmap of matter's building blocks that has successfully guided chemists for nearly a century and a half.
The official confirmation, granted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), was years in the making, as these superheavy elements are highly unstable and tough to create. But scientists had strong reason to believe they existed, in part because the periodic table has been remarkably consistent so far. Efforts to conjure up elements 119 and 120, which would start a new row, are already underway.
But exactly how many more elements are out there remains one of chemistry’s most persistent mysteries, especially as our modern understanding of physics has revealed anomalies even in the established players.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
There’s always dark matter to describe.
Possibly that’s where stupidium, a super dense and highly common form of matter will be eventually found.
There are only 0’s and 1’s. ;p
I know the ones on one side are pretty darned Nobel. They aren’t making more of that.
Are any of them named Dylithium? Without Dylithium we will never get star drives working...
I give it about 100 billion years.
If the universe is finite, then what does it end to? One assumes the big bang occurred at a single point, and the expansion reaches a certain limit and then contracts...what is beyond the limits of that expansion? Is it then the mobius strip theory of space?
What is beyond the limits is outside of the universe and perception. It may be truly nothing. Maybe it’s everything. But what ever it is, it impossible to know from here. Here we be finite.
But there can be only ones
In Introduction to Computing Theory (senior undergrad class — why do they always label the hardest topics “Introduction to”?), we learned that there are a “countably infinite” number of integers (or natural numbers). You can enumerate them forever, without getting to the end.
However, if you consider real numbers, you can enumerate forever and never even get from 0 to 1. Therefore, this infinite is infinitely more infinite (or something, I never really did get that).
Some of the transuranic elements are very unstable but other are relatively stable. Neptunium for example has a halflife of over 2 million years.
Yes. The so called Island of Stability.
I read a decent bit of SciFi, and then forget most of it. One of the few really memorable pieces I’ve read was Tau Zero by Poul Anderson. Based on your posts, if you haven’t read it, I’d recommend you check it out.
Will you need that in the form of a question?
I am partial to Xenon, warrior princess.
A minuscule amount of U 238 decays by beta to Np 238 which decays to Pu 238 also by beta. Pu 238 decays by alpha to U 234 then to Th 230, etc.
An oldie, but a goodie!
The heaviest element known to science was recently
discovered by investigators at a major
U.S. research university. The element, tentatively
named Administratium, has no protons or electrons
and thus has an atomic number of 0. However, it
does have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75
vice neutrons and 111 assistant vice neutrons,
which gives it an atomic mass of 312. These 312
particles are held together by a force that
involves the continuous exchange of meson-like
particles called morons.
Since it has no electrons, administratium is
inert. However, it can be detected chemically as it
impedes every reaction it comes in contact
with. According to the discoverers, a minute amount
of administratium causes one reaction to take over
four days to complete when it would have normally
occurred in less than a second.
Administratium has a normal half-life of
approximately three years, at which time it does
not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization
in which assistant neutrons, vice neutrons and
assistant vice neutrons exchange places. Some
studies have shown that the atomic mass actually
increases after each reorganization.
Research at other laboratories indicates that
administratium occurs naturally in the
atmosphere. It tends to concentrate at certain
points such as government agencies, large
corporations, and universities. It can usually be
found in the newest, best appointed, and best
maintained buildings.
Scientists point out that administratium is known
to be toxic at any level of concentration and can
easily destroy any productive reaction where it is
allowed to accumulate. Attempts are being made to
determine how administratium can be controlled to
prevent irreversible damage, but results to date
are not promising.
They did the same thing in graduate applied physics. Introduction to solid state physics, intro to accelerator physics, etc. Because the best they can do is introduce you to it. The more you know, the more you realize that you cannot possibly know it all. The sum of knowledge is too vast on any particular subject. So you learn what you can, specialize in what interests you and hopefully you can make a contribution to further that sum.
Absolutely true. However, science has been unable to find an 'end' to the Universe, or to prime numbers. Science has predicted the size and mass of the Universe but had to come up with dark energy and dark matter to explain how galaxies stay clustered.
Their estimate on the size of the Universe is more 'faith' than 'science'.
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