Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

The heaviest element yet?

Nature (2008)Cite this article

Researchers claim to have seen an element with an atomic number of 122, but some are sceptical.

Could super-heavy elements be lurking in plain sight? One group of physicists says that they are, and claims to have seen the heaviest element yet found hiding amongst thorium atoms.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Marinov, A. et al. Preprint at http://arxiv.org/abs/0804.3869 (2008).

Download references

Authors
  1. Geoff Brumfiel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Related links

Related links

Related external links

Chemistry Blog

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brumfiel, G. The heaviest element yet?. Nature (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2008.794

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2008.794

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing