3 ms·
Specifically, is there anything that can be done with this element in the real world that would otherwise be impossible?
by charlie0 2y ago
Specifically, is there anything that can be done with this element in the real world that would otherwise be impossible?
- Pet_Ant 2y agoThese elements will never exist in any number for any meaningful amount of time for the human scale. That said, these extreme elements are great tests of the understanding of mechanics of atomic nuclei. Personally, I expect this improved understanding to become important in nanofabrication/nanotechnology as we are getting individual atoms to stick to each other. There are other implications I'm sure for those studying the early superhot universe. There is also the chance this is a stepping stone to the Island of Stability: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_stability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_stability
- retrac 2y agoWe have no idea because we don't know the properties of super-heavy elements. There is some conjecture from theory about an "island of stability" where super-dense elements above 118 become more stable, with half-lives in human terms like many seconds (rather than microseconds or nanoseconds). If so it would open all sorts of doors for physics and chemistry experiments on super heavy elements we can't do today because they disappear too quickly. It has even been suggested that these elements are effectively stable and account for some of what we call dark matter. (That one is unlikely.). Though really the chances are that such elements destroy themselves so quickly they can't be usefully examined.
- daedrdev 2y agoSome of the longer lived of the manufactured elements have medical uses. There's a chance the elements in the island of stability might have interesting properties