Controversy-plagued Element 118, the heaviest atom yet, finally discovered
{{date|October 14, 2006}}
[[Image:Electron shell 118 Ununoctium.svg|thumb|Theoretical electron structure of ununoctium. Very little about this element is yet known.]]
[[w:Ununoctium|Element 118]] has been created in experiments conducted in [[w:Dubna|Dubna]], [[Russia]] by a collaboration of researchers from Russia's [[w:Joint Institute for Nuclear Research|Joint Institute for Nuclear Research]] and from the [[United States|United States']]  [[w:Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]].

The reaction, producing three atoms of element 118, the heaviest element yet found, through collisions that fused together Californium and Calcium atoms, was observed at Dubna. Although element 118 is too unstable to detect directly, the presence of daughter elements resulting from the decay of element 118 gave clues to its fleeting existence. The discovery was reported in the [[w:American Physical Society|American Physical Society]] journal ''[[w:Physical Review|Physical Review C]]'' on October 9, 2006.

Researchers at the [[w:Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory|Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] previously reported the synthesis of element 118 in 1999, and later retracted their results when subsequent experiments failed to confirm their discovery. It was alleged that a lead researcher, [[w:Victor Ninov|Victor Ninov]], fabricated the experimental data that indicated the formation of three element 118 atoms.

== Sources ==

*{{source|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/16/AR2006101601083.html
|title=Scientists Announce Creation of Atomic Element, the Heaviest Yet
|author=Rick Weiss
|pub=Washington Post
|date=October 17, 2006}}

*{{source|url=http://www.llnl.gov/pao/news/news_releases/2006/NR-06-10-03.html
|title=Livermore scientists team with Russia to discover element 118
|author=Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
|pub=LLNL News Release
|date=October 16, 2006}}

*{{source|url=http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRC/v74/e044602
|title=Synthesis of the isotopes of elements 118 and 116 in the 249Cf and 245Cm+48Ca fusion reactions
|author=Yu. Ts. Oganessian et al.
|pub=Physical Review C
|date=October 9, 2006}}

*{{source|url=http://enews.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/elements-116-118.html
|title=New Superheavy Elements 116 and 118 Discovered at Berkeley Lab 	
|author=Lynn Yarris
|pub=Science@BerkeleyLab
|date=June 7, 1999}}

*{{source|url=http://enews.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/118-retraction.html
|title=Results of Element 118 Experiment Retracted	
|author=LBNL News Office
|pub=Science@BerkeleyLab
|date=July 27, 2001}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/797.html Physics News Update, Number 797]

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[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science and technology]]
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[[Category:Particle physics]]
[[Category:Central Federal District]]

[[de:Kontrovers diskutiertes Element 118, bisher schwerstes bekanntes Atom, endgültig entdeckt]]
[[ru:Синтез элемента 118]]
Theoretical electron structure of ununoctium. Very little about this element is yet known.
Element 118 has been created in experiments conducted in Dubna, Russia by a collaboration of researchers from Russia's Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and from the United States'  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The reaction, producing three atoms of element 118, the heaviest element yet found, through collisions that fused together Californium and Calcium atoms, was observed at Dubna. Although element 118 is too unstable to detect directly, the presence of daughter elements resulting from the decay of element 118 gave clues to its fleeting existence. The discovery was reported in the American Physical Society journal Physical Review C on October 9, 2006.

Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory previously reported the synthesis of element 118 in 1999, and later retracted their results when subsequent experiments failed to confirm their discovery. It was alleged that a lead researcher, Victor Ninov, fabricated the experimental data that indicated the formation of three element 118 atoms.

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Physics Science and technology Russia Europe California United States North America Particle physics Central Federal District