Monday, June 23, 2014

Einsteinium

Einsteinium was first discovered in 1952 by scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The project was led by Albert Ghiorso. It was found with fermium in debris from a hydrogen bomb test, on filter papers from a plane that had flown over the explosion area. After finding the small amount, all the coral in the surrounding area (hundreds of pounds of it) was examined to see if there was more. As of today, it can only be produced in very tiny amounts- 2 grams being the highest amount.

It was named after- you guessed it, Albert Einstein! It is very harmful due to it's high radioactivity. It is never found naturally, as it is a synthetic metal. The first time it was actually brought down to it's natural form was more than a decade after it's initial discovery. It currently has no other use to it than research purposes.








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