In Your Element in 2018

Yuri Oganessian relates the story of the formation and decay of a doubly odd moscovium nucleus.

Stuart Cantrill explains why looking to the heavens for element 61 — named after the Titan who stole fire from the gods — could extend the periodic table.

Liz Williams explores the synthesis of tennessine, a story in which elements in supporting roles play a crucial part.

Shawn C. Burdette and Brett F. Thornton examine hafnium’s emergence from ores containing a seemingly identical element to become both a chemical oddity and an essential material for producing nuclear energy.

Taye Demissie relates unununium’s unusually smooth route to roentgenium, and how predicting its properties relies on relativistic calculations.

Vikki Cantrill tells the story of element 88’s discovery and how its glowing reputation eventually faded.

Kit Chapman explores the voyage to the discovery of element 118, the pioneer chemist it is named after, and false claims made along the way.

Scientists take nomenclature seriously, but tritium was named in a casual aside. Brett F. Thornton and Shawn C. Burdette discuss the heavy, radioactive hydrogen isotope that is available for purchase online.

Adrian Dingle relates how one ‘element’ that fell off the periodic table was eventually replaced by two.

From its scarcity to political intrigue over naming conventions, element 108’s story describes how international cooperation overcame the limits of nuclear science, says Michael Tarselli.

Lars Öhrström suspects that as time goes by, we may see more of lutetium — the last of the lanthanoids.

Shawn C. Burdette and Brett F. Thornton explore how germanium developed from a missing element in Mendeleev's periodic table to an enabler for the information age, while retaining a nomenclature oddity.