Journey to The Island of Stability

The idea of an undiscovered island seems almost impossibly romantic. In an age where satellites probe the Earth with the precision previous generations of cartographers would barely have dreamed of, there are, perhaps, few geographical surprises left.  But what if the island in question was not geographical at all…but rather chemical. The Periodic Table of the Elements is to many a masterpiece of organisation in the face of complexity. As scientists, our tendency to group and organise is irresistible and it is the Periodic Table which seems to best embody our gravitation toward the methodical – and certainly one which highlights the benefits of doing so. The development of the Periodic Table and the advances in our understanding of atomic structure are intertwined. As our understanding increased, so the way in which we organised the elements changed. Indeed, within 100 years of the appearance of Dmitri Mendeleev's Periodic Table in 1869 it is thought that around 700 different versions were published – each seeking to balance observable physical properties and theoretical atomic structures in ever more insightful ways. Often the creators found themselves hemmed in by the constraints of two-dimensions and allowed their ambitions to spill over in to three- and, on one occasion, even four-dimensions.  (Stowe's Physicist's 1989 Periodic Table has been described as being four-dimensional – three spatial dimensions and one colour dimension). Eventually, attempt after attempt led us toward the standard layout we are used to seeing today. Our longing to study and organise the elements has survived and adapted to the changing theoretical winds of contemporary physics – and it continues to adapt today. Which brings me back to our undiscovered island. Uranium is the heaviest element which naturally occurs on Earth…but as you have probably noticed, it is not the last entry on the Table. Advances in particle physics have meant that over the last 100 years we have created heavier and heavier elements in the laboratory. As throughout its history; when advances change the elemental landscape, the Periodic Table will adapt to accommodate this. This is why, far from a static document, it is expanding – growing with each new element we create. But there is an inherent problem with some the ‘superheavy’ elements we can now smash into existence – they are unstable. Very unstable – with many existing only fleetingly before they collapse into more basic elemental forms. So what is the point of generating them in the first place? Well in this issue we delve into this question and find the answer to be deeply profound. Yet the fate of all superheavies to be transient in nature might not be sealed. In the late 1960s American Chemist Glenn Seaborg proposed an ‘Island of Stability’– a set of superheavy elements that would, he reasoned, possess a stability impossible for those so far created. Will we ever create an element heavy enough to be located on this island? Time will tell – but one thing is certain, if we do the ever enduring Periodic Table of the Elements will adapt and incorporate this information beautifully.