Big Picture Science - Beyond the Periodic Table
You interact with about two-thirds of the elements of the
periodic table every day. Some, like carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, make up our
bodies and the air we breathe. Yet there is also a class of elements so
unstable they can only be made in a lab. These superheavy elements are the
purview of a small group stretching the boundaries of chemistry. Can they
extend the periodic table beyond the 118 in it now? Find out scientists are
using particle accelerators to create element 120 and why they’ve skipped over
element 119. Plus, if an element exists for only a fraction of a second in the
lab, can we still say that counts as existing?
Guests:
- Mark Miodownik – professor of materials and society at the University of College London and the author of “It’s a Gas: The Sublime and Elusive Elements That Expand Our World.”
- Kit Chapman – Science historian at Falmouth University, author of “Superheavy; Making and Breaking the Periodic Table.”
- Jennifer Pore – Research Scientist of Heavy Elements at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/beyond-the-periodic-table
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