periodic table: Swedish researchers discover new element

Researchers from Lund University in southern Sweden have discovered a new periodic element - the 115th on the periodic table - which is super heavy still nameless.

 

"This was a very successful experiment and is one of the most important in the field in recent years," Dirk Rudolph, Professor at the Division of Nuclear Physics at Lund University, said in a statement.

The element, which will take the atomic number 115, is as yet unnamed.

As well as observing the new element, the team gained access to data allowing a closer look into the structure and properties of super-heavy atomic nuclei.

The team was able to confirm the existence of the element by testing the energies of certain protons against the new element's alpha decay, energies that agreed with the expected energies for X-ray radiation. This allowed the physicists to get a "fingerprint" of the element.

The research was carried out in Germany and based on previous studies in Russia.

The find marks the second recent breakthrough for Swedish researches in the science field. In July, scientists in Uppsala, eastern Sweden, discovered "Upsalite", a newly created form of magnesium carbonate the team referred to as an "impossible" material.

"[Upsalite] is expected to pave the way for new sustainable products in a number of industrial applications," Maria Strømme, professor of nanotechnology, said in a statement at the time.