Uranium is a silvery metallic chemical element that has atomic number 92 in the actinide series of the periodic table. The heaviest naturally occurring element, uranium is nearly twice as dense as lead and weakly radioactive. It occurs naturally in low concentrations in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite. In nature, uranium atoms exist as uranium-238 (99.275%), uranium-235 (0.72%), and a very small amount of uranium-234 (0.0058%). Uranium decays slowly by emitting an alpha particle. The half-life of uranium-238 is about 4.5 billion years and that of uranium-235 is 700 million years, making them useful in dating the age of the earth. Along with thorium and plutonium, it is one of the three fissile elements, meaning it can easily break apart to become lighter elements. This property of uranium-235 and to a lesser degree uranium-233 generates the heat needed to run nuclear reactors and provides the explosive material for nuclear weapons. Both uses rely on the ability of uranium to produce a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Depleted uranium (uranium-238) is used in kinetic energy penetrators and armor plating.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1279: The Song Dynasty in Imperial China ended with a Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty)

1687: The search for the mouth of the Mississippi River led by French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle ended with a mutiny and his murder in present-day Texas. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9-Robert_Cavelier%2C_Sieur_de_La_Salle)

1915: Pluto was photographed for the first time, 15 years before it was eventually discovered by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto)

1916: Ten days after Pancho Villa and his cross-border raiders attacked Columbus, New Mexico, U.S. General John J. Pershing led a punitive expedition into Mexico to pursue Villa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa_Expedition)

1982: Argentine forces led by Alfredo Astiz occupied South Georgia, precipitating the Falklands War against the United Kingdom. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Georgia_and_the_South_Sandwich_Islands)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

All Faith is false, all Faith is true: Truth is the shattered mirror strown In myriad bits; while each believes his little bit the whole to own. -- Sir Richard Francis Burton (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton)