A team of Russian and U.S. nuclear scientists has discovered a new superheavy element, the 117th in the periodic table of elements.
“The discovery of element 117 is the culmination of a decade-long journey to expand the periodic table and write the next chapter in heavy element research,” said Yury Oganessian, scientific leader of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in the Moscow region town of Dubna, in a statement.
The team established the existence of element 117 from decay patterns observed following the bombardment of a radioactive berkelium target with calcium ions at the JINR U400 cyclotron in Dubna, the statement said.
(MT)