Researchers claim discovery of superheavy element

[seriously disabled]

An international team of researchers may, just may, have made a radical breakthrough that could rewrite physics and chemistry textbooks.

 

They claim to have discovered a naturally occurring element with an atomic number (number of protons) of 122 — 30 notches on the periodic table ahead of uranium, long considered the heaviest naturally occurring element.

 

For decades, physicists have been making artificial elements in supercolliders, only to see most of their creations disintegrate within a short time.

 

Most elements above atomic number 100 are inherently unstable and get progressively more usntable as you travel upward. The highest discovered one, ununoctium or atomic number 118, has a half-life of 89 milliseconds.

 

But according to theory, there exists an "island of stability" further out along the periodic table where certain configurations of protons and neutrons would create superheavy but also superstable elements.

 

So a team led by Amnon Marinov of the Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem took a different approach. They figured that if superheavy, superstable elements really are possible, then they ought to already exist in nature.

 

Taking a relatively large amount of thorium, a natural element with the atomic number 90, they fired each and every nucleus in the pile through a mass spectrometer, which catches the atomic weight of nuclei (protons plus neutrons) by analyzing how beams of ions pass through them.

 

The two isotopes of thorium, with atomic weights of 230 and 232, were most abundant, as were various impurities in the sample.

 

But there was something else—something with an atomic weight of 292, something never before seen.

 

The researchers aren't certain, but they figure their unknown substance probably has an atomic number of 122, whose slot on the periodic table already has the temporary name "ununbibium," or "one-two-two-bium."

 

They also figure its half-life is at least 100 million years—meaning the shores of the long-sought "island of stability" may finally have been reached.

 

They're ruled out various errors, and are ready to defend their paper, posted Thursday on the math and physics Web site arXiv.org:

 

Superheavy element found

 

The hunt for superheavy elements has focused banging various heavy nuclei together and hoping they’ll stick. In this way, physicists have extended the periodic table by manufacturing elements 111, 112, 114, 116 and 118, albeit for vanishingly small instants. Although none of these elements is particularly long lived, they don’t have progressively shorter lives and this is taken as evidence that islands of nuclear stability exist out there and that someday we’ll find stable superheavy elements.

 

But if these superheavy nuclei are stable, why don’t we find them already on Earth? Turns out we do; they’ve been here all along. The news today is that a group led by Amnon Marinov at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found the first naturally occuring superheavy nuclei by sifting through a large pile of the heavy metal thorium.

 

What they did was fire one thorium nucleus after another through a mass spectrometer to see how heavy each was. Thorium has an atomic number of 90 and occurs mainly in two isotopes with atomic weights of 230 and 232. All these showed up in the measurements along with a various molecular oxides and hydrides that form for technical reasons.

 

But something else showed up too. An element with a weight of 292 and an atomic number of around 122. That’s an extraordinary claim and quite rightly the team has been diligent in attempting to exclude alternative explanations such as th epresence of exotic molecules formed from impurities in the thorium sample or from the hydrocarbon in oil used in the vacuum pumping equipment). But these have all been ruled out, say Marinov and his buddies.

 

What they’re left with is the discovery of the first superheavy element, probably number 122.

 

What do we know about 122? Marinov and co say it has a half life in excess of 100 million years and occurs with an abundance of between 1 and 10 x10^-12, relative to thorium, which is a fairly common element (about as abundant as lead).

 

Theorists have mapped out the superheavy periodic table and 122 would be a member of the superheavy actinide group. It even has a name: eka-thorium or unbibium. Welcome to our world!

 

This may well open the flood gates to other similar discoveries. Uranium is the obvious next place to look for superheavy actinides. I’d bet good money that Marinov and his pals are eyeballing the stuff as I write.

 

The paper, “Evidence for a long-lived superheavy nucleus with atomic mass number A = 292 and atomic number Z @ 122 in natural Th” is available here:

 

Source:

 

http://arxiv.org/pdf/0804.3869v1

 

http://www.rdmag.com/News/2008/04/Researchers-claim--discovery-of-superheavy-element--ldquo;unbibium-rdquo;/

 

http://www.scientificconcerns.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2053&hilit=superheavy&start=20

 

My question is: Could the LHC produce new superheavy elements which don't decay and which could pose a risk to us?

Edited December 8, 2009 by Uri

[npts2020]

I don't see how the LHC could produce a large enough quantity of anything like that to pose any danger outside of the immediate local effects of radioactivity.

[Mr Skeptic]

Hm, I hope they did find it. I suppose they didn't detect thorium decaying in their mass spectrometer and so hitting where Ubb would hit?

 

My question is: Could the LHC produce new superheavy elements which don't decay and which could pose a risk to us?

 

Do you have any idea how little of an element can be made via a particle accelerator? Even if it was the most toxic thing know, it would pretty much be harmless due to such a small quantity. Also, they don't call them atom smashers for nothing.

[Zolar V]

"as th epresence"

you gots a typoo

[DJBruce]

"as th epresence"

You have a typeo.

 

You sir have fallen victim to Skitt's Law.

 

As for the original topic, as already pointed out the amount of material produced would be so small that it would be of not threat. It would be incredible interesting if they were able to reach the island of stability, however, I am somewhat hesitant to believe this until it has been reproduced by other scientists.

[A Tripolation]

You sir have fallen victim to Skitt's Law.

 

You do realize that you made a typo within your correction of Zolar V's post, right? That's too good to not be intentional.

And yes, my grammar is flawless and I didn't misspell a word in this post.

I win.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

You did split an infinitive though.

[A Tripolation]

What? Where?

[Mr Skeptic]

What? Where?

 

You do realize that you made a typo within your correction of Zolar V's post, right? That's too good to not be intentional.

And yes, my grammar is flawless and I didn't misspell a word in this post.

I win.

 

I agree, too good not to be intentional. For those who don't know, here are some grammar tips:

some-basic-guidelines-on-writing-well.html

 

Skitts law must be upheld.

[Phi for All]

And yes, my grammar is flawless and I didn't misspell a word in this post.

I win.

 

You did split an infinitive though.

And now you are the victim of Danth's Law.

 

Not to be a Nazi about it....

 

Skitts law must be upheld.

Classic.

[A Tripolation]

I agree, too good not to be intentional. For those who don't know, here are some grammar tips:

 

Dammit!!!

[Mr Skeptic]

Not to be a Nazi about it....

 

You didn't!

[A Tripolation]

And now you are the victim of Danth's Law.

 

Ah, we could do this forever, and I would still win every time.

 

Haha, Mr Skeptic forgot an apostrophe, let's all point and laugh at him.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Haha, Mr Skeptic forgot an apostrophe, let's all point and laugh at him.

I am fairly certain this is a comma splice.

[swansont]

You did split an infinitive though.

 

But that's what happens in an infinitive accelerator. You get participles and antiparticiples, lots of commas, and if you're lucky, evidence of the Roget boson (The saurus particle, as it's called).

[Phi for All]

But that's what happens in an infinitive accelerator. You get participles and antiparticiples, lots of commas, and if you're lucky, evidence of the Roget boson (The saurus particle, as it's called).

Roflcopters. Swansont wins.

[A Tripolation]

I am fairly certain this is a comma splice.

 

I actually really don't think it is. I think it's acceptable in this context.

And Swansont just pwned us all.

[seriously disabled]

Do you have any idea how little of an element can be made via a particle accelerator? Even if it was the most toxic thing know, it would pretty much be harmless due to such a small quantity. Also, they don't call them atom smashers for nothing.

 

I also don't think the LHC is so dangerous as Ivan Gorelik makes it out to be. However I do believe the LHC is potentially a world class weapon of mass destruction, whereas all possibilities need to be taken seriously because we're really entering into new territory here.

 

Ivan Gorelik (aka Magnetic) thinks the LHC could produce a magnetic trap, also called a magnetic hole which would consume the earth in a few minutes. Respectful physicists call him a clown and in this case I really hope the clown is dead wrong.

[SH3RL0CK]

I also don't think the LHC is so dangerous as Ivan Gorelik makes it out to be. However I do believe the LHC is potentially a world class weapon of mass destruction, whereas all possibilities need to be taken seriously because we're really entering into new territory here.

 

Ivan Gorelik (aka Magnetic) thinks the LHC could produce a magnetic trap, also called a magnetic hole which would consume the earth in a few minutes. Respectful physicists call him a clown and in this case I really hope the clown is dead wrong.

 

I fail to see how this could be a weapon of mass destruction, please elaborate if you have anything specific to collaborate this.

 

Cosmic rays routinely hit the earth at energies many orders of magnitude greater than the energies from the LHC, and there are no problems from these. The LHC is buried deep underground, there is simply no way for any particles or energy from the LHC to be focused anywhere except the specific location of the LHC. People who are not standing within the LHC (and access to it is, I'm sure, restricted), then are safe from the radiation and particles generated by it. Frankly, there is no possibility of harm from the LHC.

[seriously disabled]

I fail to see how this could be a weapon of mass destruction, please elaborate if you have anything specific to collaborate this.

 

Cosmic rays routinely hit the earth at energies many orders of magnitude greater than the energies from the LHC, and there are no problems from these. The LHC is buried deep underground, there is simply no way for any particles or energy from the LHC to be focused anywhere except the specific location of the LHC. People who are not standing within the LHC (and access to it is, I'm sure, restricted), then are safe from the radiation and particles generated by it. Frankly, there is no possibility of harm from the LHC.

 

So does Ivan Gorelik's theory on magnetic holes (aka magnetic trap) raise a serious risk or is it plain crack?

[Mr Skeptic]

So does Ivan Gorelik's theory on magnetic holes (aka magnetic trap) raise a serious risk or is it plain crack?

 

There is no way anyone can take it seriously if the only prediction he can make from his theory is that of a doomsday scenario. Where are the other predictions of his theory, that can be verified easily without destroying the world? Real theories predict large amounts of things.

 

---

 

Also, the number of cosmic rays that have been hitting earth and other planets or stars at similar energies really puts some doubt to any theories of harm that may come from the LHC. Where are the stars exploding or disappearing for no reason? No, they all follow a life cycle.

[swansont]

So does Ivan Gorelik's theory on magnetic holes (aka magnetic trap) raise a serious risk or is it plain crack?

 

Crack, stemming from gross abuse of basic physics.

[seriously disabled]

There is some concern that the LHC could produce stable strangelets, elementary particles of a substance thought by some physicists to live in the core of a neutron star.

 

Wikipedia says that there is no danger of the LHC producing stable stranglets because the probability of the creation of stranglets decreases at higher temperatures. Here another reference written for the layman says the same.

 

What I don't get is why does the probability of the creation of strangelets decreases at higher temperatures when inside the core of a neutron star temperatures can reach 10 billion kelvin but there stranglets are supposed to be produced?

[Zolar V]

You sir have fallen victim to Skitt's Law.

 

As for the original topic, as already pointed out the amount of material produced would be so small that it would be of not threat. It would be incredible interesting if they were able to reach the island of stability, however, I am somewhat hesitant to believe this until it has been reproduced by other scientists.

 

intentionally

[swansont]

But that's what happens in an infinitive accelerator. You get participles and antiparticiples, lots of commas, and if you're lucky, evidence of the Roget boson (The saurus particle, as it's called).

 

I've fleshed this out a bit, in case anyone's interested.

 

http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/4377