[meteorite-list] NPA 04-07-1976 Heavy Element Found in Allende Meteorite

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: Kennebec Journal
City: Augusta, Maine
Date: Wednesday, April 7, 1976
Page: 5

Heavy element found in meteorite

     NEW YORK (AP) - Strong evidence for the existence of an extinct 
superheavy element in primitive meteorites was reported Tuesday by a 
University of Chicago chemist.
     Dr. Edward Anders told the centennial meeting of the American Chemical 
Society that his team isolated a tiny fraction of mineral from the Allende 
meteorite in which decay products of the extinct elements were concentrated.
     "There is a strong possibility that a super-heavy element of atomic 
number near 114 once existed in primitive meteorites, such as the Allende 
carbonaceous chondrite," Anders said.
     "However, my coworkers and I wish to stress emphatically that we are 
not making any discovery claims at this time."
     The Chicago chemist explained that his caution is due to the fact that 
the existence of such a superheavy element would be "a tremendously 
important discovery."
     "If the implications were less momentous, I would saw that it was so," 
Anders said.
     The existence of superheavy elements has been debated for years among 
scientists. If the Anders work is correct, it would be the first 
experimental work to support the theory.
     An element is a form of matter - oxygen, iron, mercury - that cannot be 
broken down to simpler forms by any ordinary means.
     The elements are listed in a form familiar to chemistry students as the 
periodic table. The last element discovered was element 106, with a lifetime 
of less than a second.
     If superheavy elements exist, they would by definition be heavier than 
any of the known elements in terms of the number of constituent neutrons and 
protons, and would open a new field of chemistry.
     If this element 114 exists, it would have a lifetime measured in 
millions of years, but not long enough to have survived in its natural form 
until now. Hence, the decay products provide the indirect evidence, the 
footprints of things past.
     Anders said that beyond element 110 or so, "one expects strikingly 
different chemical properties. We will be entering unknown territory."

(end)

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
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