Hassium has just become the heaviest element ever to have its chemistry
studied—and it follows the pattern of the periodic table. The artificial
element, first manufactured 17 years ago, has atomic number 108 and is made one
atom at a time by smashing together nuclei of lighter elements. “Together, we
have studied the chemistry of very, very few atoms,” says Heino Nitsche of the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, a member of the
international team that studied hassium. “This is very fundamental chemistry
showing that the periodic table even applies for these heavy elements.”
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
91ɫÇéƬ
Less than 4 minutes of vigorous exercise a day could halve your dementia risk
News
91ɫÇéƬ
Parkinson’s may be driven by ‘vicious cycle’ that disrupts brain waste drainage
News
Space
Hubble Space Telescope is falling to Earth – should NASA save it?
News
Space
A robot called GIMLI will explore a lunar cave for a future moon base
91ɫÇéƬ
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles