The birth of Unuseptia

Last week from the laboratory of nuclear reactions to them. G.N. Fleurov of the United Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna near Moscow was the news of the successful completion of the synthesis of the 117th element of the Mendeleev table . It was obtained in a collision of accelerated calcium-48 ions with a target from Berkli-249. The synthesis of this transuranic element took place on the accelerator of heavy U-400 ions and lasted 140 days.

The experiment was attended not only by Russian scientists from Dubna and the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, but also by their American colleagues from Livermanship and Okridge National Laboratory and the University of Vanderbilt. The results of these joint research will be published in the authoritative American journal Physical Review Letters. The head of the experiment is Academician Yuri Oganesyan in detail about the progress of the study:

He changes our idea of the nucleus, about the nuclear structure, it expands the boundaries of this material world

- There was no substance as a suitable target. Such a substance could be obtained only on a very powerful reactor that was in America. We offered them to make a joint element. They accepted this proposal. Their reactor worked for 250 days in order to accumulate 22 milligrams of this artificial 97 element called Berkeley, which was then brought to Russia, a target was made here. On our powerful accelerator, it was irradiated by a unique bunch of calcium-48, which we possess. And on our equipment that can distinguish and identify individual atoms of these elements, we observed the formation and decay of 117 elements six times.

The half-life of Berkli-249 is only 320 days, so it was important for scientists to organize the intercontinental delivery of this highly radioactive product in the shortest possible time, bypassing all possible bureaucratic obstacles related to safety rules and customs control.

Transuran elements, which include UNUNCEPTIONS, are radioactive and located in the periodic system of Mendeleev after uranium. All the isotopes of such elements known for today have a half -life period significantly less than the age of the Earth, so they are absent in nature and are obtained only by artificially. In the twentieth century, 17 similar elements were discovered. According to academician Yuri Hovhannisyan, it is too early to talk about the use of UNUNSEPTIA:

-So far, it has no practical application, because in 140 days 6 atoms are too few to use it somewhere. It has, rather, a different meaning. It changes our idea of the nucleus, about the nuclear structure, it expands the boundaries of this material world, which is fundamental not only for the experiments that are made in the laboratory, but also for many related areas, such as chemistry, astrophysics, and atomic physics.

It may very well be that the Mendeleev table and the periodic law are a special case of a more general law that changes as soon as you step over, say, through the 114th element

The deputy dean of the chemical faculty of Moscow State University named after M.Yu. Lomonosov Professor Alexander Anisimov :

- The use of transuranic elements is a very thin thing. It is difficult to predict anything. Although, radio chemists are able to determine some properties of new elements by such minimal quantities. Maybe in medicine the element will find application - for directed effects on the affected fabrics.

In recent years, some scientists have expressed the opinion that filling out free cells in Mendeleev’s table will soon end. Academician Yuri Oganesyan, on the contrary, is sure that there are still many discoveries ahead, many of which can be associated with a violation in the sequence of chemical elements:

- In principle, frequency is fair to a certain point. Maybe she will leave. When and where she goes, this is a question. It may very well be that the Mendeleev table and the periodic law are a special case of a more general law that changes as soon as you step over, say, through the 114th element.

According to the rules of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Chemistry, so that the new element is recognized as existing, its receipt should be recorded in more than one laboratory. Therefore, experiments to confirm the achievements of Russian scientists will continue abroad. Only at their successful completion of UNUNCEPTION (which means "117th") will be able to get its own name.