#einsteinium

so with elements named after scientists, one thing I generally wanted to avoid is turning them into "the scientist's fursona"... with the exception of Einsteinium. For Einsteinium, it's encouraged.

beautiful...

Einsteinium is named after Albert Einstein, creator of the theory of relativity. It's synthesized in special nuclear reactors by bombarding heavy actinides with neutrons or deuterium. Scientists produce about one milligram of einsteinium every year for research.

Elements 99 (Einsteinium) and 100 (Fermium), of course named after Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi, were discovered by dropping an atomic bomb filled with liquid deuterium (fuel for the fusion), liquid hydrogen (to cool it), Uranium and Plutonium into the ocean, and collecting parts of the mushroom cloud after the impact with fighter jets, bringing them quickly to a laboratory in New Mexico to analyse the rapidly decaying new created elements, thus discovering the by fusion of neutrons with Uranium created elements Es and Fm. One of the jets crashed into the sea due to the instruments failing because of the radiation.

What a difference just 4 years makes, huh? In 1948, the idea of a "99th element" was so exotic as to be a macguffin for stories set in the far flung future. Cut to 1952. We found it. It's called Einsteinium. And it's not good for a whole lot.

Patreon | Ko-fi