Research study on the location of the Island of Stability of Super-Heavy Elements

The prestigious journal Science has published the results of this research study

2012-09-18

(Press-News.org) An international research group – with the participation of the University of Granada – has achieved to measure the effects of layers on super-heavy elements, which provides useful data on the nuclear structure of these as-yet undiscovered elements in Nature. These results might be useful to locate the so-called "Island of Stability" introduced by a theory that states the existence of highly stable super-heavy elements with very long average lives. The researchers measured the isotopes of nobelium and lawrence using a particle accelerator at the Center of for Heavy Ion Research (GSI), Darmstadt (Germany).

The research group included members of the GSI, the Helmholtz Institute (Mainz, HIM), the universities of Giessen, Granada, Greifswald, Heidelberg, Mainz, Munich and Padua, the Max-Planck Institute of Nuclear Phyisics (Heidelberg) and the PNPI Institute (St. Petersburg).

Super-heavy elements are elements with an atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus) greater than that of Lawrence (Z=103). These elements are not found in Nature, and they are created in nuclear physics labs – as GSI – through the bombardment of elements in a particle accelerator. –Super-heavy elements are created in quantities on the atomic scale and no method of mass creation has been found. However, there are predictive theories that state that a group of extremely stable super-heavy elements exist in the so-called Island of Stability

The stability of super-heavy elements is caused by the "layer effects" in the atomic nucleus. The components of the nucleus – protons and neutrons - are arranged in layers. There are layers full of protons or neutrons – referred as "magic layers" - that are strongly bound, which results in extremely stable elements. Without this bonding, super-heavy elements would immediately disintegrate due to Coulomb's repulsion among protons. The University of Granada is developing a quantum sensor, a unique device for measuring the greatest mass of nuclei ever measured (because of technical limitations), which will be published in Science. This device will be integrated into the GSI's accelerator in Germany, in the SHIPTRAP facilities.

The development of this measuring device (which started in November 2011) has been enabled by a grant of 1.5 million euros, one of the highest grants ever awarded to the University of Granada for a specific project. This grant was awarded to Professor Daniel Rodríguez by the European Research Council in 2011 within the topic framework "Fundamental Constituents of Matter"

### Further information: http://sl.ugr.es/02oV

Contacting Person: Daniel Rodríguez. Professor at the University of Granada Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics. Telf.:+34 958240029, +34 958248841 E-mail: danielrodriguez@ugr.es

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Tasered youth fare as well as adults, new research says

2012-09-18

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 18, 2012 -- Adolescents who are tasered by law enforcement officers do not appear to be at higher risk for serious injury than adults, according to new a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers. This latest research from Wake Forest Baptist is the first to specifically investigate Taser use on adolescents. Lead author Alison R. Gardner, M.D., an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Wake Forest Baptist, found no major differences in the injury rates or types of injuries to youth when compared to adults. "We were ...

Consumers differ in desire for explanation, says new CU-Brown University study

2012-09-18

The depth of explanation about novel products influences consumer preferences and willingness to pay, according to a study led by the University of Colorado Boulder and Brown University. When it comes to descriptions about the functions of new and unusual goods -- such as a self-watering plant system, special gloves for touchscreens or an eraser for wall scratches -- some people prefer minimal details. Dubbed "explanation foes" in the study, they gain a strong sense of understanding and desire for products through shallow explanations. In contrast, other people -- dubbed ...

NRL demonstrates high durability of nanotube transistors to the harsh space environment

2012-09-18

WASHINGTON--U.S. Naval Research Laboratory electronics science and technology engineers demonstrate the ability of single walled carbon nanotube transistors (SWCNTs) to survive the harsh space environment, investigating the effects of ionizing radiation on the crystalline structures and further supporting the development of SWCNT-based nanoelectronics for use in harsh radiation environments. "One of the primary challenges for space electronics is mitigating the susceptibility of prolonged exposure to radiation that exists in the charged particle belts that encircle Earth," ...

Infection data may not be comparable across hospitals, study shows

2012-09-18

A new study has found that some kinds of infection data may not be comparable across hospitals, and may not be suitable for use as a performance measure. Published in the leading US policy journal Milbank Quarterly, the research found huge variability in how English hospitals collected, recorded and reported their rates of central line infections to a patient safety programme. The study was funded by the Health Foundation, a major UK charitable foundation aiming to improve quality of care. "Central line infections occur in tubes used in treating seriously ill patients. ...

Quasars: Mileposts marking the universe's expansion

2012-09-18

Scientists can't travel deep space the way Columbus sailed and charted the New World or Lewis and Clark mapped the west. But, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and two partnering institutions have found a possible way to map the spread and structure of the universe, guided by the light of quasars. The technique, combined with the expected discovery of millions more far-away quasars over the next decade, could yield an unprecedented look back to a time shortly after the Big Bang, when the universe was a fraction the size it is today. Researchers found the ...

CEO incentives should be more strategic

2012-09-18

EAST LANSING, Mich. — CEOs are sometimes rewarded for taking excessive risks – a practice that helped fuel the recent recession but could be altered if companies are more strategic in how they compensate their chief executives, a Michigan State University scholar argues in a new study. Instead of issuing stock and stock options in predetermined quantities, boards of directors should vary a CEO's equity-based compensation through a plan that fosters the amount of risk-taking the firm desires, said Robert Wiseman, chairperson and professor in MSU's Department of Management. The ...

Light drinking may relate to increase in risk for certain cancers

2012-09-18

The majority of observational studies have shown that alcohol intake, especially heavy drinking, increases a number of upper-aero-digestive tract (UADT) and other cancers, and even moderate drinking is associated with a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer. A meta analysis published in the Annals of Oncology compares the effects between light drinkers (an average reported intake of up to 1 typical drink/day) versus "non-drinkers" in terms of relative risks for a number of types of cancer. The authors concluded that while the risk of these cancers was only slightly ...

How much product information do consumers want?

2012-09-18

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A study published online in the Journal of Consumer Research finds that people can differ widely on the level of detail makes them feel they understand something. In experiments, the very same explanations that some subjects required before they would pay top dollar seemed to drive down what others were willing to pay. The natural trick for a marketer would be to figure out which customers are which. The study does that, too. "The fact is that people differ," said Steven Sloman, professor of cognitive, linguistic, and psychological ...

Study provides roadmap for delirium risks, prevention, treatment, prognosis and research

2012-09-18

INDIANAPOLIS -- Delirium, a common acute condition with significant short- and long-term effects on cognition and function, should be identified as an indicator of poor long-term prognosis, prompting immediate and effective management strategies, according to the authors of a new systematic evidence review. "Delirium is extremely common among older adults in intensive care units and is not uncommon in other hospital units and in nursing homes, but too often it's ignored or accepted as inevitable. Delirium significantly increases risk of developing dementia and triples ...

Seeing fewer older people in the street may lead low-income adults to fast-track their lives

2012-09-18

Why do people in deprived areas live life in the fast lane? It may be because of the age of people they observe in the street, according to a new study by Daniel Nettle and colleagues from Newcastle University in the UK. Their work suggests that because fewer older people are seen out in the street in deprived neighborhoods, younger generations assume that people die young. As a result, they may be adapting the speed at which they live their lives accordingly—for example, by having children earlier in life. Nettle and team's work is published online in Springer's journal ...

Research study on the location of the Island of Stability of Super-Heavy Elements

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: