The Documentary Podcast New elements
Jan 18, 2026
Join Jacqueline Gates, group leader of the heavy element group at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and Jennifer Poore, research scientist at the same lab, as they dive into the fascinating world of super-heavy elements. They share the challenges of fusing nuclei to create new elements like element 120 and explain the intricate details of ion production and detection methods. The conversation explores the thrill of scientific discovery and the legacy pressures behind these groundbreaking pursuits, blending curiosity with real-world applications.
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Use Speed And Charge To Force Fusion
- Accelerate ions to about 10% the speed of light to overcome nuclear repulsion and enable fusion.
- Use magnetic and electric fields on charged ions to steer and focus trillions-per-second beams at targets.
Scarcity Of Produced Atoms
- Making new super-heavy elements often yields extremely low production rates, sometimes one atom per many days.
- Experiments therefore require huge beam intensities and long runtime to accumulate convincing evidence.
Practical Uses Often Emerge Later
- Practical applications sometimes follow basic discovery but are unpredictable and often delayed.
- Jacqueline Gates cites past synthetic elements like americium in smoke detectors as examples of unforeseen benefits.
