On this date in 1950 the discovery of the element californium was announced.
- What is californium? It's a silvery White radioactive metal with the chemical symbol Cf. Its atomic number is 98.
- In its pure form, it is malleable enough to be cut with a razor blade.
- Its melting point is 900 °C/1652 °F and its estimated boiling point is 1470 °C/2678 °F.
- The scientists who first made it were Stanley G. Thompson, Kenneth Street, Jr., Albert Ghiorso, and Glenn T. Seaborg. They did so by bombarding curium with alpha particles.
- They named it after the university and the state it was situated in. This was actually a break with the convention which had been adopted for the previous three new elements - which was that the name would be connected in some way to the name of the element above it in the periodic table. However, in Californium's case, this element was dysprosium, which simply means "hard to get at"; so they decided to break the convention, but stated "the best we can do is to point out [that] ... searchers a century ago found it difficult to get to California."
- Californium has 20 known radioisotopes, the most stable of which is californium-251, which has a half-life of 898 years. Most of the isotopes, however, have half lives of less than 20 minutes.
- Because it is so unstable it is rarely found outside of a laboratory. Traces have been found near facilities which make use of it. A small amount ended up in the environment from nuclear tests from before 1980.
- Despite being unstable, it has some practical uses. Some of the isoptopes emit neutrons, so it comes in handy for starting up nuclear reactors or as a source of neutrons for scientists who want to study them.
- If you want to make oganesson (element 118), the way to do it is to bombard californium-249 atoms with calcium-48 ions.
- Californium plays no natural biological role in any organism. In fact, it's extremely bad for you, because if it enters your body it can accumulate in your bones or liver and sit there emitting radiation.
New!
Closing the Circle
A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.
Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader.
Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.
The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.
Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.
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