For some reason this caught my attention. It is not exactly news since I remember reading about the discovery of element 112 by researchers in Germany years ago, while I was studying at the University of Washington in 1996.
The interesting aspect here is that the scientific community officially accepted the name Copernicium with the symbol Cn after 14 years of trying to resolve a dispute over who produced the element first. The Germans won! Needless to say that it was named after Nicolaus Copernicus that most regard as the father of modern astronomy.
Also see articles:
- Wikipedia: Copernicium
- International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry: Element 112 is Named Copernicium
And only a few days ago it was reported that a team of Russian scientists synthesized element 117 (aka Ununseptium). Element 118 was discovered before 117.
Also see article:
So, given that there are currently 118 elements in the periodic table it might take a bit of time to name them all and give them a symbol!
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