The periodic table has been given four new elements, changing one of science’s most fundamental pieces of knowledge. Elements
113,
115,
117 and
118 will now be added to the table’s seventh row and make it complete, after they were verified by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry on December 30
th. The new elements were discovered by team from Japan, Russia and the USA, who will all get to name their own new elements.
All of the four new admissions are man-made. The super-heavy elements are created by shoving lighter nuclei into each other and are found in the radioactive decay - which only exists for a tiny fraction of a second before they decay into other elements.
The elements have been worked on since at least 2004, when studies began showing the discovery and priority of element 113. But they have all now satisfied the strict tests to be admitted to the periodic table.
Kosuke Morita (pictured above) and his team helped discover element 113; they believe that for scientists to have this achievement recognised "is of greater value than an Olympic gold medal".
