Hassium Atomic number 108 The parable of the amateur prospector Commentary

Darmstadt—Gottfried Münzenberg, Peter Armbruster, H. Folger, Sigurd Hofmann, Fritz Peter Heßberger, J. Keller, Klaus Poppensieker, Willibrord Reisdorf, Karl-Heinz Schmidt, H.-J. Schött, Matti Leino, R. Hingmann elements

Hassium

• In 1984, the team at Darmstadt
• synthesized three atoms of hassium-265
• by bombarding lead-208
• with iron-58 nuclei.
• The new atoms lasted only a moment
• then decayed into atoms of seaborgium-261.

Atomic number 108

• Physicists talk about magic numbers
• at least for deformed nuclei,
• 108 for protons of deformed nuclei
• and 162 for neutrons of deformed nuclei,
• making the possibility that deformed hassium-270
• has a magic stability, but sadly,
• all they really mean is that these numbers
• help fill all positions in the atomic shell,
• so that all its particles are in balance.

The parable of the amateur prospector

• Prash Derf, renown automobile mechanic,
• became interested in rare elements
• toward the end of his life.
• He had always been a collector of unusual stones,
• and he had an intense interest in heavy ones,
• particularly if they shined or sparkled.
• One heavy stone in his garage glowed in the dark.
• It was difficult for Derf to ignore it.
• He kept thinking someone had left the light on.
• He took a chisel and broke off a few grains of it.
• He put these in an empty pickle jar
• into which he poured a cup of used battery acid.
• Derf read some science fiction,
• had been excited by the prospect of cold fusion,
• and believed in extraterrestial visits to Earth.
• He knew that unexpected discoveries
• could be made in the oddest places
• and could have big consequences for mankind.
• If he could have anything he wished,
• was anything too much to hope for?
• Wealth? World peace? Flying cars?
• An emerald gas evanesced from the pickle jar.
• Could this be volatile oxides of osmium?
• Derf thought he should name it L. Frank Baumium.
• But maybe it was primordial gasium.
• Put a gram of gasium in your car
• and you’ll never have to fill it up again.
• Derf felt an acrid taste in his throat. If he died of it,
• he would never know what killed him. But as it was,
• he opened his garage door and stood well back.
• After this near-death delusional experience,
• Prash Derf tested not another stone.
• His desire to discover new elements was over.