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from the runningon-outium-ofine-ideasium dept.
Elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 are now formally named nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts), and oganesson (Og)
https://iupac.org/iupac-announces-the-names-of-the-elements-113-115-117-and-118/
In concordance with and following the earlier reports that the claims for discovery of these elements have been fulfilled [...], the discoverers have been invited to propose names. Keeping with tradition, the newly discovered elements have been named after a place or geographical region, or a scientist. The ending of the names also reflects and maintains historical and chemical consistency: "-ium" for elements 113 and 115 and as for all new elements of groups 1 to 16, "-ine" for element 117 and belonging to group 17 and "-on" for element 118 element belonging to group 18.[3] The recommendations will be published in the IUPAC journal Pure and Applied Chemistry* (http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/pac-2016-0501).
[...] The exploration of new elements continues, and scientists are searching for elements beyond the seventh row of the periodic table. IUPAC and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) are establishing a new joint working group which task will be to examine the criteria used to verify claims for the discovery of new elements.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 5, Insightful) by aristarchus on Saturday December 03 2016, @04:27AM
Just not seeing any possibility of a practical application until that happens.
More evidence that jmorris does not understand science. The motto is: Ars gratia artis, you may notice it when the MGM lion roars at the beginning of your practical application pirated movie. But more precisely, Scientia gratia scientae, or "knowledge is its own reward." This is the problem with conservatives, Falangists, Neo-conservatives, Neo-nazis, alt-right, L/libertarians, Roundheads, Know-nothings, Francoists, Peronists, and all the other right wing people on the planet: They do not value anything unless it can be sold. Whores and Mercenaries, and Trumpeteers, they are, the lot of them. Weird science, indeed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 03 2016, @05:09AM
Just because you don't understand what jmorris was getting at, doesn't mean he was wrong.
Bottom line here is that these are atoms that are unstable and aren't going to be useful for anything other than testing theory for the time being. Eventually, they may make them last long enough to do actual chemistry with, but for the time being, they're not particularly noteworthy to people outside of the field.
It's interesting for particle physics, but these are not substances that are likely to ever be useful as they are 100% man made and would have to be created in large quantities if they ever do manage to find some application for them.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday December 03 2016, @05:51AM
Just because you don't understand what jmorris was getting at, doesn't mean he was wrong.
Oh, I understand all too well what jmorris is getting at. It is what I suggest all right-wing nut-jobs are always getting at. So what would constitute "wrong" in this case? Could it be that exploring new possible elements, even if they never have any possible application in anything that is useful to ammosexuals, is still worthwhile, because knowledge is worthwhile just because it is knowledge? OK, you seem to be one of the slower ACs. Why did Tenzig Norgay climb Mount Everest? Yeah, because it was there, biatch!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday December 03 2016, @06:44AM
He's not entirely wrong, in the sense that there are only so many resources going around and we really really REALLY need to be focusing on sustainability and population control at this point.
Of course he's gone on a foaming, wild-eyed, spittle-flecked rant about K-type and r-type strategies, during which he massively overextends the scope of these terms to cover things they not only never were intended to cover in the first place, but don't actually entail. But it wouldn't be jmorris if he weren't 99% wrong about everything he said, would it?
Christ, this guy gives me the creeps. I can imagine what kind of cold, dead, doesn't-actually-connect-when-he-looks-you-in-the-eyes stare he has. For a guy who claims to be a K-type, he's seriously reptilian...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 03 2016, @07:46AM
Look at what a couple of sacks of shit you two are.
Can't have a conversation about anything without fuckwits inserting their politics into it. It's even better when it's fuckwits that just lost a historic election that was supposed to be a landslide in their favor.
Do you two peacocks enjoy your virtue signaling? Is there such a thing as a Tolerant Liberal who is actually tolerant? I haven't seen one yet.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday December 03 2016, @08:21AM
I have to agree with you. A number of interesting scientific stories have degenerated into yet another mudslinging political 'debate'. Can we discuss the science and not personal grievances or triumphalism over the recent election?
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday December 03 2016, @08:34PM
I am not a liberal in the modern sense, and I lost all "tolerance" around about 9/11. Real evil exists in this world, and I will be damned if I don't at least stand up and point it out. My political views are closer to "left-libertarian" than anything, if you're wondering.
Also? Your use of "virtue signalling" has identified you and your beliefs in capsule form. You only use the term because you yourself HAVE no virtues, signalled or otherwise. Good DAY, sir.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by stormwyrm on Saturday December 03 2016, @07:33AM
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by jmorris on Saturday December 03 2016, @06:39AM
Resources are not infinite. That is the primary difference that seems to split the right and left, we realize that (K selection) and Proggies (r selected) don't.
It is doubtful all this atom smashing and cutting edge gear capable of confirming a few atoms of a new element existed for a hard to imagine fraction of a second had zero cost. So assume we are spending a couple billion worldwide on this sort of science. If you count the latest and greatest atom smashers we spend way more. Better to keep doing that or direct it to more practical lines of research? We -really- need a couple of breakthoughs right now.
Fusion should be at the top of the list right now for the physics world. AGW or no AGW, our civilization is energy bound so making energy really cheap advances every front. Making the oil under the sands of the Middle East worth about as much as the sand is bonus.
Finding out whether that whacky microwave space drive actually works should be more important, if it works it would have some real practical applications.
A moonbase would be very useful for science. Probably a lot more things would fall out of that than is currently likely to come from knowing element 118 existed for such a short time that nothing could really be learned about its properties. Imagine a radio telescope on the far side of the moon. Or hell, imagine an optical one too. Manned so minor glitches get fixed in days not years. Imagine what we might see. Pricing on a moonbase is still a mite high though. Of course R&D directed to solving that is part of what I'm proposing.
Reliable missile defense would be really nice, especially considering how many unstable regimes will soon be capable of launching.
Pure science is often a beautiful thing. But it isn't currently being done by some rich dude for the love of Science, it is usually done by seizing resources from productive uses at gunpoint and given to politically connected organizations and carefully vetted people. Once you are taking the taxpayer's money then yes, we taxpayers get a say in what we want used for. If you don't like that then fuck you ya fascist thief. :)
(Score: 4, Interesting) by aristarchus on Saturday December 03 2016, @07:20AM
Wow, somebody modded jmorris flamebait! ~ But it in this case is hardly deserved. The right-wing troll tries to make a point!
Resources are not infinite. That is the primary difference that seems to split the right and left, we realize that (K selection) and Proggies (r selected) don't.
Hmm, difference, but not reality. What makes you think that resources are limited? Attributing this to biological reproductive strategies seem a bit presumptive, especially if you have ever seen the movie _Idiocracy_. Yes, just a movie, but what evidence is there for the thesis that resources are not infinite? This seems to be a ideological axiom, and not a empirically verifiable claim.
It is doubtful all this atom smashing and cutting edge gear capable of confirming a few atoms of a new element existed for a hard to imagine fraction of a second had zero cost. So assume we are spending a couple billion worldwide on this sort of science.
Oh, shit, not only is science saying the opposite of what our corporate masters want it to say, it also is costing us too much to find it out. So tell me, jmorris, what price would you put on the truth? What if I were to tell you, a la Marco Rubio, that Obama knows exactly what he is doing? If I knew that your significant other was having an affair, how much would you pay to know that? If, in fact, our universe were a simulation by beings in a superior reality, how much would you pay to know this? OK, no need to respond. We know where you are. Cheapskate.
If you count the latest and greatest atom smashers we spend way more. Better to keep doing that or direct it to more practical lines of research? We -really- need a couple of breakthoughs right now.
Oh, really? Why? Maybe we could reduce energy consumption and go green, you know, like we are already? Besides, all this pure science stuff should be aimed at the "Bomb", right? The Ultimate Weapon That Will Prove Reagan Was Right!
AGW or no AGW, our civilization is energy bound so making energy really cheap advances every front. Making the oil under the sands of the Middle East worth about as much as the sand is bonus.
Petty man. Pathetic person. Energy will solve itself. The amount of solar radiation that strikes the Earth every day is beyond the comprehension of you pathetic Republican mind. Mostly because, there is no money in it, it is free.
Reliable missile defense would be really nice, especially considering how many unstable regimes will soon be capable of launching.
Yep. Knew we would get around to military applications sooner or later, regardless of how much is spent on it. jmorris, we have you in the sight of our Q-36 explosive space modulator. Please do not move around excessively.
Pure science is often a beautiful thing. But it isn't currently being done by some rich dude for the love of Science, it is usually done by seizing resources from productive uses at gunpoint and given to politically connected organizations and carefully vetted people. Once you are taking the taxpayer's money then yes, we taxpayers get a say in what we want used for. If you don't like that then fuck you ya fascist thief. :)
Ah, at last, it is made apparent: jmorris, we will tax you. We will take the profits of your petty and meagre merchantile activities, and turn them to the greater good of humanity. You may not like that, but that is because you are a turd. Taxpayers have no say, because they are stupid! There are many instances of this. Just look at Kansas! Brownbuttback cut all the taxes and the entire state has just fallen apart. There is not science, not even useful science. The roads are not maintained, schools are being shut down, the entire program you are proposing is a clusterfuck. But you know, and I know, that you know this. Because you are evil. Since you are evil, you shun the light, you shun knowledge, you are opposed to progress. OK, we get that. So why do not you shut the fuck up, you evil anti-intellectual succubus of ignorance? Why? Do you not think that everyone with a mind sees right through you? Are you hoping to pick up some of the benighted? This is SoylentNews, born out of the Beta of Slashdot that was sold out to Dice. We do not fall for such cuckold arguments. So, jmorris, science for the sake of science, not matter what the cost, no matter how long it takes, no matter how much money of Republicans we have to spend: it is worth it, because we are homo sapiens sapiens. Look up "sapiens", you moran.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Saturday December 03 2016, @11:48AM
"Energy will solve itself."
"We will take the profits of your petty and meagre merchantile activities, and turn them to the greater good of humanity."
This is some serious LARPing! I am impressed!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 03 2016, @03:45PM
Oh yes, you do have a say. There was something about taxation without representation that your founding fathers decided was an important enough issue to rebel and start a new country. Have you written to your congressional representative about how you don’t like that the budget is being spent on scientific research that you believe in your infinite wisdom will never lead to anything useful? Never mind that science is all interconnected and research into making these heavy elements may lead to a better understanding of the strong interaction, which might lead to, oh, I dunno, perhaps it might make fusion reactors feasible? It might make better bombs that you seem so enamoured of? There is no way to know unless you actually do the research.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Saturday December 03 2016, @11:39AM
"knowledge is its own reward"
And knowledge is limitless, while money is not. I'm sure you defend the ongoing F-35 project tooth and nail, right?