What does Chernobyl, UC Berkeley and The New Yorker magazine share in common?
This week, we meet the element berkelium, a transuranic actinide element that has the symbol, *Bk*, and the atomic number *97*. This element is named for the city of Berkeley, California, the home of the University of California where this element was first synthesised in December 1949.
Berkelium is a soft radioactive metal that is pale silver in appearance. Synthesised in a lab and possessed of a very short half-life, this is another one of those vanishingly rare elements that is almost never found in the wild, except in locations where nuclear weapons were either tested or where nuclear disasters, such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, occurred. Naturally-occurring berkelium is the rarest element on earth, but if you're lucky, you may detect a few atoms of it in highly-concentrated uranium deposits since it forms as the result of neutron capture and beta decay.
The only other place you'll run into berkelium is in a lab or a nuclear reactor. Of its twenty or so isotopes, the most common is berkelium-249, with a half-life of just 330 days, which beta decays to californium-249 -- a much more radioactively dangerous element than berkelium.
Since berkelium is not essential to life, biologists are not interested in it. Further, particularly after viewing this video -- the shortest in the entire series -- it would appear that chemists don't have much to say about it, either:
[Video link]
The only interesting thing I can share about berkelium is a strange little commentary published by the New Yorker in 1950, which ended by stating: "California's busy scientists will undoubtedly come up with another atom or two one of these days, and the university might well have anticipated that. Now it has lost forever the chance of immortalizing itself in the atomic tables with some such sequence as universitium (97) ofium (98) Californium (99), berkelium (100)" (ref).
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Video journalist Brady Haran is the man with the camera and the University of Nottingham is the place with the chemists. You can follow Brady on twitter @periodicvideos and the University of Nottingham on twitter @UniofNottingham
*You've already met these elements:*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2013/jul/19/chemistry
Curium: *Cm*, atomic number *96*
Americium: *Am*, atomic number *95*
Plutonium: *Pu*, atomic number *94*
Neptunium: *Np*, atomic number *93*
Uranium: *U*, atomic number *92*
Protactinium: *Pa*, atomic number *91*
Thorium: *Th*, atomic number *90*
Actinium: *Ac*, atomic number *89*
Radium: *Ra*, atomic number *88*
Francium: *Fr*, atomic number *87*
Radon: *Rn*, atomic number *86*
Astatine: *As*, atomic number *85*
Polonium: *Po*, atomic number *84*
Bismuth: *Bi*, atomic number *83*
Lead: *Pb*, atomic number *82*
Thallium: *Tl*, atomic number *81*
Mercury: *Hg*, atomic number *80*
Gold: *Au*, atomic number *79*
Platinum: *Pt*, atomic number *78*
Iridium: *Ir*, atomic number *77*
Osmium: *Os*, atomic number *76*
Rhenium: *Re*, atomic number *75*
Tungsten: *W*, atomic number *74*
Tantalum: *Ta*, atomic number *73*
Hafnium: *Hf*, atomic number *72*
Lutetium: *Lu*, atomic number *71*
Ytterbium: *Yb*, atomic number *70*
Thulium: *Tm*, atomic number *69*
Erbium: *Er*, atomic number *68*
Holmium: *Ho*, atomic number *67*
Dysprosium: *Dy*, atomic number *66*
Terbium: *Tb*, atomic number *65*
Gadolinium: *Gd*, atomic number *64*
Europium: *Eu*, atomic number *63*
Samarium: *Sm*, atomic number *62*
Promethium: *Pm*, atomic number *61*
Neodymium: *Nd*, atomic number *60*
Praseodymium: *Pr*, atomic number *59*
Cerium: *Ce*, atomic number *58*
Lanthanum: *La*, atomic number *57*
Barium: *Ba*, atomic number *56*
Cæsium: *Cs*, atomic number *55*
Xenon: *Xe*, atomic number *54*
Iodine: *I*, atomic number *53*
Tellurium: *Te*, atomic number *52*
Antimony: *Sb*, atomic number *51*
Tin: *Sn*, atomic number *50*
Indium: *In*, atomic number *49*
Cadmium: *Cd*, atomic number *48*
Silver: *Ag*, atomic number *47*
Palladium: *Pd*, atomic number *46*
Rhodium: *Rh*, atomic number *45*
Ruthenium: *Ru*, atomic number *44*
Technetium: *Tc*, atomic number *43*
Molybdenum: *Mo*, atomic number *42*
Niobium: *Ni*, atomic number *41*
Zirconium: *Zr*, atomic number *40*
Yttrium: *Y*, atomic number *39*
Strontium: *Sr*, atomic number *38*
Rubidium: *Rr*, atomic number *37*
Krypton: *Kr*, atomic number *36*
Bromine: *Br*, atomic number *35*
Selenium: *Se*, atomic number *34*
Arsenic: *As*, atomic number *33*
Germanium: *Ge*, atomic number *32*
Gallium: *Ga*, atomic number *31*
Zinc: *Zn*, atomic number *30*
Copper: *Cu*, atomic number *29*
Nickel: *Ni*, atomic number *28*
Cobalt: *Co*, atomic number *27*
Iron:* Fe*, atomic number *26*
Manganese: *Mn*, atomic number *25*
Chromium: *Cr*, atomic number *24*
Vanadium: *V*, atomic number *23*
Titanium: *Ti*, atomic number *22*
Scandium: *Sc*, atomic number *21*
Calcium: *Ca*, atomic number *20*
Potassium: *K*, atomic number *19*
Argon: *Ar*, atomic number *18*
Chlorine: *Cl*, atomic number *17*
Sulfur: *S*, atomic number *16*
Phosphorus: *P*, atomic number *15*
Silicon: *Si*, atomic number *14*
Aluminium: *Al*, atomic number *13*
Magnesium: *Mg*, atomic number *12*
Sodium: *Na*, atomic number *11*
Neon: *Ne*, atomic number *10*
Fluorine: *F*, atomic number *9*
Oxygen: *O*, atomic number *8*
Nitrogen: *N*, atomic number *7*
Carbon: *C*, atomic number *6*
Boron: *B*, atomic number *5*
Beryllium: *Be*, atomic number *4*
Lithium: *Li*, atomic number *3*
Helium: *He*, atomic number *2*
Hydrogen: *H*, atomic number *1*
Here's the Royal Society of Chemistry's interactive Periodic Table of the Elements that is just really really fun to play with!
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Grrlscientist can also be found here: Maniraptora, and she lurks on social media: facebook, Google +, LinkedIn, Pinterest and of course, she's quite active on twitter: @GrrlScientist Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.
This week, we meet the element berkelium, a transuranic actinide element that has the symbol, *Bk*, and the atomic number *97*. This element is named for the city of Berkeley, California, the home of the University of California where this element was first synthesised in December 1949.
Berkelium is a soft radioactive metal that is pale silver in appearance. Synthesised in a lab and possessed of a very short half-life, this is another one of those vanishingly rare elements that is almost never found in the wild, except in locations where nuclear weapons were either tested or where nuclear disasters, such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, occurred. Naturally-occurring berkelium is the rarest element on earth, but if you're lucky, you may detect a few atoms of it in highly-concentrated uranium deposits since it forms as the result of neutron capture and beta decay.
The only other place you'll run into berkelium is in a lab or a nuclear reactor. Of its twenty or so isotopes, the most common is berkelium-249, with a half-life of just 330 days, which beta decays to californium-249 -- a much more radioactively dangerous element than berkelium.
Since berkelium is not essential to life, biologists are not interested in it. Further, particularly after viewing this video -- the shortest in the entire series -- it would appear that chemists don't have much to say about it, either:
[Video link]
The only interesting thing I can share about berkelium is a strange little commentary published by the New Yorker in 1950, which ended by stating: "California's busy scientists will undoubtedly come up with another atom or two one of these days, and the university might well have anticipated that. Now it has lost forever the chance of immortalizing itself in the atomic tables with some such sequence as universitium (97) ofium (98) Californium (99), berkelium (100)" (ref).
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Video journalist Brady Haran is the man with the camera and the University of Nottingham is the place with the chemists. You can follow Brady on twitter @periodicvideos and the University of Nottingham on twitter @UniofNottingham
*You've already met these elements:*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2013/jul/19/chemistry
Curium: *Cm*, atomic number *96*
Americium: *Am*, atomic number *95*
Plutonium: *Pu*, atomic number *94*
Neptunium: *Np*, atomic number *93*
Uranium: *U*, atomic number *92*
Protactinium: *Pa*, atomic number *91*
Thorium: *Th*, atomic number *90*
Actinium: *Ac*, atomic number *89*
Radium: *Ra*, atomic number *88*
Francium: *Fr*, atomic number *87*
Radon: *Rn*, atomic number *86*
Astatine: *As*, atomic number *85*
Polonium: *Po*, atomic number *84*
Bismuth: *Bi*, atomic number *83*
Lead: *Pb*, atomic number *82*
Thallium: *Tl*, atomic number *81*
Mercury: *Hg*, atomic number *80*
Gold: *Au*, atomic number *79*
Platinum: *Pt*, atomic number *78*
Iridium: *Ir*, atomic number *77*
Osmium: *Os*, atomic number *76*
Rhenium: *Re*, atomic number *75*
Tungsten: *W*, atomic number *74*
Tantalum: *Ta*, atomic number *73*
Hafnium: *Hf*, atomic number *72*
Lutetium: *Lu*, atomic number *71*
Ytterbium: *Yb*, atomic number *70*
Thulium: *Tm*, atomic number *69*
Erbium: *Er*, atomic number *68*
Holmium: *Ho*, atomic number *67*
Dysprosium: *Dy*, atomic number *66*
Terbium: *Tb*, atomic number *65*
Gadolinium: *Gd*, atomic number *64*
Europium: *Eu*, atomic number *63*
Samarium: *Sm*, atomic number *62*
Promethium: *Pm*, atomic number *61*
Neodymium: *Nd*, atomic number *60*
Praseodymium: *Pr*, atomic number *59*
Cerium: *Ce*, atomic number *58*
Lanthanum: *La*, atomic number *57*
Barium: *Ba*, atomic number *56*
Cæsium: *Cs*, atomic number *55*
Xenon: *Xe*, atomic number *54*
Iodine: *I*, atomic number *53*
Tellurium: *Te*, atomic number *52*
Antimony: *Sb*, atomic number *51*
Tin: *Sn*, atomic number *50*
Indium: *In*, atomic number *49*
Cadmium: *Cd*, atomic number *48*
Silver: *Ag*, atomic number *47*
Palladium: *Pd*, atomic number *46*
Rhodium: *Rh*, atomic number *45*
Ruthenium: *Ru*, atomic number *44*
Technetium: *Tc*, atomic number *43*
Molybdenum: *Mo*, atomic number *42*
Niobium: *Ni*, atomic number *41*
Zirconium: *Zr*, atomic number *40*
Yttrium: *Y*, atomic number *39*
Strontium: *Sr*, atomic number *38*
Rubidium: *Rr*, atomic number *37*
Krypton: *Kr*, atomic number *36*
Bromine: *Br*, atomic number *35*
Selenium: *Se*, atomic number *34*
Arsenic: *As*, atomic number *33*
Germanium: *Ge*, atomic number *32*
Gallium: *Ga*, atomic number *31*
Zinc: *Zn*, atomic number *30*
Copper: *Cu*, atomic number *29*
Nickel: *Ni*, atomic number *28*
Cobalt: *Co*, atomic number *27*
Iron:* Fe*, atomic number *26*
Manganese: *Mn*, atomic number *25*
Chromium: *Cr*, atomic number *24*
Vanadium: *V*, atomic number *23*
Titanium: *Ti*, atomic number *22*
Scandium: *Sc*, atomic number *21*
Calcium: *Ca*, atomic number *20*
Potassium: *K*, atomic number *19*
Argon: *Ar*, atomic number *18*
Chlorine: *Cl*, atomic number *17*
Sulfur: *S*, atomic number *16*
Phosphorus: *P*, atomic number *15*
Silicon: *Si*, atomic number *14*
Aluminium: *Al*, atomic number *13*
Magnesium: *Mg*, atomic number *12*
Sodium: *Na*, atomic number *11*
Neon: *Ne*, atomic number *10*
Fluorine: *F*, atomic number *9*
Oxygen: *O*, atomic number *8*
Nitrogen: *N*, atomic number *7*
Carbon: *C*, atomic number *6*
Boron: *B*, atomic number *5*
Beryllium: *Be*, atomic number *4*
Lithium: *Li*, atomic number *3*
Helium: *He*, atomic number *2*
Hydrogen: *H*, atomic number *1*
Here's the Royal Society of Chemistry's interactive Periodic Table of the Elements that is just really really fun to play with!
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Grrlscientist can also be found here: Maniraptora, and she lurks on social media: facebook, Google +, LinkedIn, Pinterest and of course, she's quite active on twitter: @GrrlScientist Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.