1994

Roentgenium

• The team at Darmstadt
• bombarded bismuth-209
• with nuclei of nickel-64
• and detected a single atom
• of roentgenium-272.
• One neutron had popped out.
• Then an alpha particle popped out
• leaving an atom of meitnerium-278.
• Then another alpha particle popped out of that,
• leaving an atom of bohrium-274.
• Then another alpha particle popped out of that,
• leaving an atom of dubnium-270.
• But then I don’t know
• what happened to the dubnium-270,
• because it can decay in one of three ways,
• by spontaneous fission,
• by alpha decay,
• or by capturing an electron
• and ejecting a neutrino.
• Reportedly, however, the team
• was able to follow the decay chain
• to lawrencium-256.

Atomic number 111

• To King Midas gold became deadly
• by the power of a wish.
• Roentgenium, known as eka-gold,
• would be even more deadly
• if enough of it
• could be made with a wish.

In the future

“In the future,” he said,
raising his index finger . . .

• In the future,
• cars will levitate
• and trains will run on time.
• In the future,
• a liberal education will be free,
• and everyone will vote.
• In the future,
• the best wine at restaurants
• will not be too expensive.
• In the future,
• processes that generate energy
• will render harmful substances harmless.
• In the future,
• you will be able to wish away mosquitoes
• or anything that annoys you.
• In the future,
• your happiness will be so great
• that only tiny things will annoy you.
• In the future,
• things that make you happy
• will also do you good.
• In the future,
• what doesn’t kill you
• will make you stronger.