More elements discovered...? 

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Did you know that there's been a few additions to the familiar peridioc chart of elements?

The first 92 elements on the table exist naturally. The rest -- which now extend to element 118 -- were created by scientists in atomic nuclei collision with the aid of particle accelerators. Aptly named, these machines accelerate atoms to nearly 1/10 the speed of light and smash them into other so-called "target" atoms. Sometimes the nuclei of two colliding atoms fuse and a new element is formed.

Its basically modern alchemy. Now the newest addition to the official pantheon is Ununbiam (latin for 112 -- its temporary anyway.)

To produce element 112..., scientists accelerate charged zinc atoms - zinc ions for short - with the help of the 120 m long particle accelerator at GSI and "fire" them onto a lead target. The zinc and lead nuclei merge in a nuclear fusion to form the nucleus of the new element. Its so-called atomic number 112, hence the provisional name "element 112", is the sum of the atomic numbers of the two initial elements: zinc has the atomic number 30 and lead the atomic number 82.

The atomic number indicates the number of protons the atom has in the nucleus.  So, whats it do?

Recent experiments strongly suggest that element 112 behaves as a typical member of group 12, demonstrating properties consistent with a volatile metal 

These new atoms don't last long though.

The most stable isotope discovered to date is ²⁸⁵112 with a half-life of ~30 s. In total, about 60 atoms of ununbium have been detected using various nuclear reactions (see below). An unconfirmed isotope, ^285b112, has a possible half-life of ~9 minutes, and would be one of the longest-lived superheavy isotopes known to date.

The search continues too.  As noted above, elements up to 118 have been discovered, and they're currently trying for heavier elements.  The idea is that above the stable natural elements there are pockets of "special combinations" of unknown elements that will be artifical but stable.  Called "islands of stability" (see image below), these regions are slowly emerging from theory as new elements are formed in the lab.

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The discovery of superheavy elements at the beginning of this century by Oganessian's group also confirmed the existence of the Island of Stability, a theoretical region of the periodic table, which distinguished chemist and Nobel laureate Glenn Seaborg considered as one of the keystones of fundamental science. The "sea-and-island" analogy arose because these superheavy elements lie in an area of the periodic table where other elements are unstable, disappearing in much less than the blink of an eye. The superheavies, in contrast, are somewhat more stable than their shorter-lived cousins.

"The decay properties of all the isotopes that we have made so far paint the picture of a large, sort of flat 'Island of Stability' and indicate that we may have luck if we try to go even heavier," said Ken Moody, Livermore's team leader.

So, is there any practical side to this?

It is difficult to anticipate what practical uses might come out of the search for new superheavy elements. For now, the focus is on discovery, not application. However, some previously synthesized elements have yielded tremendous benefits for people. One example, element 95 -- Americium -- discovered in 1944, is used in smoke detectors and in medical and industrial radiography.

We'll just have to wait and see what develops but some people are already rewriting the perioic table in anticipation of pushing atomic formation as far as it can go (theorized to go as far as Element 210) 

Stay Tuned...