New element weighs in...

I do faintly remember the periodic table, which gives a run down of all the elements known to man. And I believe elements are materials that can exist as single atoms.

But most of the time I just looked at the funny names (berkelium, nobelium, snigger) rather than take any notice of the numbers by their sides.

I never managed to memorise them and I would have an even harder job today as scientists are always smashing things together in an effort to add to the list.

German researchers have created a superheavy element, number 112 on the table, which they've named Ununbium (Latin for, imaginatively, 112) for the time being

They managed to fuse a zinc and lead nuclei together to create the heaviest atom ever seen - 277 times weightier than humble hydrogen.

You won't be making anything out of Ununbium as it falls apart within seconds.

The lab in Germany has created six new elements since 1981. But none of them hang around for long.

According to scientific legend, though, we are closing in on an 'Island of Stability' in the periodic table.

This is a supposed region in the table where really heavy atoms become stable enough for us to do something with them.

Interestingly, we're nearing element 115, which, is supposed to fuel UFO's anti-gravity engines.

Ahem... moving on. The last element discovered in nature was Francium (number 87) back in 1939.

It's very rare and just one ounce exists at any given time throughout the Earth's crust. Just as well as it's very radioactive.

Elements up to number 118 have reportedly been spotted, if very briefly, in labs.

Weird Science Factoid: A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time used in physics. It's about 5.4 x 10 to the -44 seconds. Such a small amount of time it can't actually be measured.

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