In a feat of modern-day alchemy, scientists have used a beam of vaporized titanium to create one of the heaviest elements on Earth – and they think this new method could pave the way to even heftier horizons. This is the first time the new technique – in which a hunk of the rare isotope titanium-50 is heated to almost 1650 °C (3000 °F) to release ions that are beamed at another element – has successfully produced a superheavy element, . Livermorium was first synthesized back in 2000, and it's not the (that would be atomic number 118).
So what's the big deal if a couple atoms of livermorium recently popped into existence at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – those might ask? Livermorium is 'so Y2K', and has only 116 protons. But fusing a titanium beam with plutonium to create livermorium is just a test run for much bigger (or rather, heavier) things. The scientists hope to create an element that will be the heaviest ever produced: , with 120 protons.
"This reaction had never been demonstrated before, and it was essential to prove it was possible before embarking on our attempt to make 120," nuclear chemist Jacklyn Gates of Berkeley Lab, who led the research. Calcium-48, with its 20 protons, has been the go-to beam, because its ' ' of protons and neutrons makes it more stable, helping it fuse with its target. Titanium-50 is not 'magic', but it has the 22 protons needed to reach those heavier atomic weights, without being so heavy that it simply falls apart.
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