Add new elements to the periodic table

Scientists claim to have discovered a new superheavy element, called 118, although it only lasted for a fraction of a second after several months of experimentation.

Element 118
(Photo: apsidium.com)

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, USA, and the Russian Nuclear Research Institute in Dubna speculate that the new element is a noble gas beneath radon in the periodic table.

In the latest experiments, the group attacked the element califoni with 1019 calcium ions to create two atoms of element 118. These atoms, or ununoctium, only existed for 0.9 million seconds. Next, this element gradually decays into element 116, then 114.

Finally, element 118 became the fifth new element found by scientists to date (113, 114, 115, 116 and now 118).

In 2002, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California also claimed to find element 118, but were later proved to be fraudulent.

"Everything we do is thoroughly tested. We do everything we can to make sure there is no mistake in processing data and avoiding an international fraud," said Ken Moody, head of the research team. Rescue at Livermore, said.

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