Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




TECH SPACE
New superheavy elements can be uniquely identified
by Staff Writers
Mainz, Germany (SPX) Sep 05, 2013


Position of the transactinide elements in the periodic table.

An international team of researchers presents fresh evidence that confirms the existence of the superheavy chemical element 115. The experiment was conducted at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research, an accelerator laboratory located in Darmstadt.

Under the lead of physicists from Lund University in Sweden, the group, which included researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM), was able to present a way to directly identify new superheavy elements. Elements beyond atomic number 104 are referred to as superheavy elements.

They are produced at accelerator laboratories and generally decay after a short time. Initial reports about the discovery of an element with atomic number 115 were released from a research center in Russia in 2004. The then presented indirect evidence for the new element, however, was insufficient for an official discovery.

For the new experiment, scientists at the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry at Mainz University took a sample of the exotic element americium. They deposited an americium layer on a thin foil, which was subsequently bombarded with calcium ions at the GSI facility.

For the first time, the exploitation of a new detector system allowed registering photons along with the alpha-decay of the new element and its daughter products. Measured photon energies correspond to those expected for X-rays from these products and thus serve as the element's fingerprint.

"This can be regarded as one of the most important experiments in the field in recent years, because at last it is clear that even the heaviest elements' fingerprints can be taken", agreed Professor Dirk Rudolph from Lund University in Sweden and Professor Christoph Dullmann, professor at Mainz University and leading scientist at GSI Darmstadt and HIM. "The result gives high confidence to previous reports. It also lays the basis for future measurements of this kind."

The element 115 is yet to be named: a committee comprising members of the international unions of pure and applied physics and chemistry will review the new findings and decide whether further experiments are needed to acknowledge the discovery of the element. Only after such final acceptance, a name may be proposed by the discoverers.

Besides the X-ray events, the researchers have also obtained data giving them a deeper insight into the structure and properties of the heaviest currently known atomic nuclei. This paves the way towards improved predictions for properties of nuclei beyond the border of current knowledge.

The new findings will soon be presented in the scientific journal The Physical Review Letters.

.


Related Links
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU)
Space Technology News - Applications and Research






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








TECH SPACE
World's First Full Color 3D Desktop Printer Destined For High Schools
New York NY (SPX) Sep 05, 2013
botObjects who recently announced the ProDesk3D, the world's first Full Color 3D Desktop Printer (the ProDesk3D)- will now offer US high schools an opportunity to create their own 3D desktop printing room, just like the traditional Computer lab, and in doing so, hope to change the intersection of creativity and education forever. While much has been said about 3D desktop printing, botObje ... read more


TECH SPACE
NASA spacecraft to study Moon's atmosphere

Moon landing mission to use "secret weapons"

NASA Prepares for First Virginia Coast Launch to Moon

NASA Selects Launch Services Contract for OSIRIS-REx Mission

TECH SPACE
NASA Evaluates Four Candidate Sites for 2016 Mars Mission

Examining Rocks Around Boulder Field

We may all be Martians

Mars Curiosity Debuts Autonomous Navigation

TECH SPACE
SpaceShipTwo commercial space liner breaks sound barrier in test

Andreas Mogensen set for Soyuz mission to ISS in 2015

NASA awards nearly $1.5B in support contracts

NSBRI and NASA Reduce Space Radiation Risks by Soliciting for Center of Space Radiation Research

TECH SPACE
China civilian technology satellites put into use

China to launch lunar lander by end of year: media

China launches three experimental satellites

Medical quarantine over for Shenzhou-10 astronauts

TECH SPACE
Russian cosmonaut set for space station mission resigns

Russian cosmonauts to start searching for bacterium corroding ISS body

Cosmonauts Complete Spacewalk, Unfold Russian Flag in Space

Italian astronaut recounts spacewalk drowning terror

TECH SPACE
Arianespace to "reach for the stars" with its Soyuz launch of Europe's Gaia space surveyor spacecraft

Ariane 5 build-up is completed for Arianespace upcoming flight with EUTELSAT

Russian rocket engine export ban could halt US space program

The go-ahead is given for Ariane 5 mission to orbit EUTELSAT 25B/Es'hail 1 and GSAT-7

TECH SPACE
Observations strongly suggest distant super-Earth has water atmosphere

Waking up to a new year

Study: Planets might be 'born free' without a parent star

Distant planet sets speed record by orbiting its star every 8.5 hours

TECH SPACE
World's First Full Color 3D Desktop Printer Destined For High Schools

Lockheed Martin-Built A2100 Satellites: Over 400 Cumulative Years In Orbit And Counting

GSAT-7 Satellite Placed in Geosynchronous Orbit

A completely new atomic crystal dynamic of the white pigment titanium dioxide discovered




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement