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  • - So Livermorium was first made in around 2000.

  • It was made in calcium-48 plus curium-248 reaction.

  • We've since made 4 different isotopes of Livermorium.

  • They all have tens of milliseconds half-lives, so they're pretty short-lived.

  • So unfortunately I can't show you a bottle.

  • It was a very interesting process to name these elements when we got permission to name

  • 114 and 116-were naming two elements at once.

  • We of course began discussions with our Russian colleagues and reached a concensus

  • on these names, Flerovium for 114 and Livermorium for 116.

  • We chose Livermorium because we could not discover enough elements

  • to name one after everybody who was important in these kinds of experiments.

  • There was many, many scientists here at Livermore.

  • Some have retired, even passed away, who were involved in heavy element research.

  • So we couldn't discover enough elements and name after every single person.

  • So we chose Livermorium to honor all those people, honor the institution here and the city of Livermore.

  • We thought this was an appropriate way to kind of recognize all of those scientists involved in that work.

  • - You spent some time in the community. I know you talk with scholars, you know people.

  • How has that decision been received by the institution and the people of Livermore?

  • They must... - It's been outstanding.

  • The mayor of Livermore is a water chemist, so he understands chemistry.

  • He was ecstatic that this came about.

  • He understood the significance of a new element and that particular name on the periodic table.

  • He's been very supportive. We have a Livermorium day now, which is in late May.

  • They've also named a part of a park, a Plaza in downtown Livermore: Livermorium Plaza.

  • They've been supportive, very ecstatic about it, and understand...

  • I think this community here, because this lab is here, people are a little more scientifically understanding

  • or scientifically literate, So they understand the significance of it.

  • So it's been nothing but supportive for that element.

  • So one of the predicted properties, because it's in group 16,

  • It's in the column in the periodic table where many of the hydrogen compounds of that group

  • are very smelly. So think about hydrogen sulfide - the rotten eggs smell.

  • Hydrogen selenide. - Oh, Selenium...

  • - Yes. Selenium is notorious for being very smelly. Rotten garlic or something like that,

  • It's described at. Telluride. The telluride, tellurium, is also very smelly.

  • So if you think about going down that column in the periodic table,

  • you might say that Livermorium is maybe the smelliest element on the periodic table.

  • It would be very difficult to verify, because we haven't made the hydrogen compound of it.

  • The isotopes, as I mentioned, are 10 milliseconds long, so it's very difficult.

  • And, in addition, you probably wouldn't want to smell it, because it's radioactive

  • and you wouldn't want to actually put your nose on it and smell it.

  • Hydrogen sulfide won't hurt you... it'll hurt in strong-enough concentrations,

  • but everyone smelled rotten eggs before.

  • You wouldn't want to do that with Livermorium.

  • (Audio from "More from Superheavy Videos") So, let's keep going and see where the experiment is

  • So, as we go along here, the ions are going faster and faster and faster...

  • ...all the time inside the tube

  • here you see such a target wheel

  • (...) which is mounted on the axis of this motor here

  • its ends like this

- So Livermorium was first made in around 2000.

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