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

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat Jan 1 21:35:05 2005
Message-ID: <BAY4-F119D330218648A937C633EB39F0_at_phx.gbl>

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
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
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Received on Sat 01 Jan 2005 09:34:22 PM PST