ATRAC
RESEARCHERS ISOLATE “INCREDIBLE” NEW ELEMENT
Researchers
at the Alien Technology Research Centre in St. Leonard have isolated
a previously unknown chemical element found in the armour of a
crashed Devastator. The finding, published in an online journal on
Tuesday, could account for the remarkable toughness of the
Devastators' armour, and could also pave the way for powerful new
weapons capable of combating the alien machines.
“Preliminary
tests indicate that this new element could have a hardness rivalling
that of diamond, as well as exceptionally high tensile and
compressive strength,” said Prof. Amy Johnston, one of the
researchers responsible for the element's discovery. “At the same
time, it appears to have a remarkably low density, comparable to that
of carbon fibre, which would allow the Devastators to have extremely
thick armour without compromising their mobility. The result is that
they can withstand incredible amounts of damage.”
With
an atomic number of 160, the new element is by far the heaviest ever
discovered, and will require the addition of an eighth row to the
existing periodic table. Its discovery confirms the “g-block”
hypothesis, which reasoned that the eighth row would contain more
elements than the seventh. It also confirms the existence of a second
set of “islands of stability”: while most elements heavier than
uranium have extremely short half-lives, those on the islands of
stability decay slowly enough to be useful. Element 160's stability,
however, appears to be far beyond that predicted by any scientists,
and opens up the possibility of the existence of other stable
superheavy elements.
The
element's atomic number places it in the same group of elements as
iron and osmium, two other metals renowned for their strength and
hardness. But even with this in mind, Prof. Johnston considers the
new element's properties to be highly remarkable. “It's like
nothing we've ever seen before,” she said. “It throws a lot of
our understanding of the periodic table into question, particularly
the “islands of stability” theory. This discovery, and the ones
it could lead to, have the potential to revolutionize the planet, not
just in terms of warfare, but in terms of all kinds of
manufacturing.”
Prof.
Kevin Hough, who worked alongside Prof. Johnston on the discovery,
had warned that it will be some time before this new element becomes
commercially viable. “Clearly the Devastators have a way of
procuring this metal in vast quantities, either through mining
operations or through synthesis,” he said. “Whether it's
naturally-occurring elsewhere in the universe, or whether it's been
synthesized by the Devastators, we simply don't know yet.”
“But
since it obviously doesn't occur naturally on Earth, the only way we
can currently obtain it is either through salvaging it from
Devastators, which is extremely dangerous, or through synthesis,
which may not be possible with current technology. We're definitely
going to try, though,” Prof. Hough added. “The potential of this
new element is far too vast for us to ignore. It could take years for
it to become available in sufficient quantities to be useful,
however.”
The
new element has not yet been officially named by IUPAC, but will
receive the temporary systematic name “unhexnilium” (chemical
symbol “Uhn”). Prof. Johnston and her team, perhaps
understandably, are eager to come up with a snappier name for it.
“We're
rather torn at the moment,” Prof. Johnston explained. “Half of us
want to give it some kind of fantasy name, because of it incredible
properties. Something like 'adamantium' or 'mythril'. The other half
want to name it after themselves. Personally, I wouldn't mind if it
got named after me – I think 'Johnstonium' has a nice ring to it –
but sadly IUPAC has a rule against naming elements after living
persons, and I don't intend to die anytime soon!”
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