#actinide

uraniumge......... beans........

glows purple in the dark from the powerful radiation

Ernst Haeckel

This is Protactinium! Protactinium (in the isotope of protactinium-234) was identified in 1913 by Kasimir Fajans and Oswald Helmuth Göhring, who called it “brevium” because its half-life was a mere 6.7 hours. The curved symbol on Protactinium’s shirt is a “breve”, a diacritical mark for short vowel sounds, which shares the same root word as Protactinium’s original name. Protactinium was not formally discovered until 1949, by Lisa Meitner and Otto Hahn. The name “Protactinium” means “parent of Actinium”, though the character Protactinium is in fact the big brother of Actinium and not a parent. However, Protactinium does his best to look out for his younger sibling, and he has a tendency to boss Actinium around... so maybe, in some ways, he really is more like a parent. Protactinium and Actinium have the same face, so Protactinium wears a disguise and a hat in order to make himself appear more unique. He also has a short temper (thanks to his short half-life) and often gets annoyed with the antics of Actinium and the other elements, but he does truly care about all of them. 

Curium was first intentionally synthesized 1944 at the University of California, Berkeley, and is named after Marie and Pierre Curie, the discoverers of polonium and radium. Pierre’s career was cut short due to an accident resulting in his death, but Marie continued making pioneering research on radioactivity (a term which she coined) after the death of her husband. Curium’s appearance is based off that of Marie Curie, and she is carrying a Polish flag to represent Curie’s pride in her Polish heritage. 

This is Fermium! Fermium is an actinide element, and was named after Enrico Fermi, a pioneer in nuclear physics, and the creator of the first nuclear reactor (Chicago Pile-1). He is also known for developing the theory of beta decay, which is displayed on Fermium’s shirt. Beta decay is when a neutron of an unstable isotope of an element transforms into a proton, and emits an electron (known as a beta particle) and a very small, neutral particle known as an electron antineutrino. This gives the atom a higher atomic number, and makes it more stable. Like the scientist he is named after, Fermium is energetic, talkative, and a lover of vigorous activities like sports and dancing. 

This is Nobelium! Nobelium is named after Alfred Nobel, the Swedish entrepreneur and Science benefactor who invented dynamite (after he died, his fortune was used to fund the Nobel prizes). Nobelium is the second-last element in the actinide series, and was discovered some time between the 1950s and 1960s by both American and Soviet scientists. The badge on Nobelium’s suit is a very simplified version of the Nobel Prize medal. Nobelium is a wealthy and cultured individual who is a patron to the arts, and is fluent in many languages (Alfred Nobel was proficient in six languages!). Be warned, however-- while kind and generous to friends and people of interest, Nobelium has a vengeful streak and holds grudges for a long time, which is very bad for enemies and rivals. 

This is Lawrencium! He is named after Ernest Lawrence, the inventor of the cyclotron, a particle accelerator that was used to help discover many artificial radioactive elements.  Lawrencium is the final actinide element, and was discovered in the 1960s by both the Lawrence Berkeley  National Laboratory in California, and the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia. Lawrencium’s body is based off the layout of the cyclotron. Like the scientist he is named after, he is a supporter of funding scientific research, and is not afraid to spend lots of money in the name of scientific development.