Ununoctium is the temporary IUPAC name for the transactinide element having the atomic number 118. On the periodic table of the elements, it is a p-block element and the last one of the 7th period. Ununoctium is currently the only synthetic member of group 18. It has the highest atomic number and highest atomic mass of all discovered elements. The radioactive ununoctium atom is very unstable, and since 2002, only three atoms (possibly four) of the isotope ²⁹⁴Uuo have been detected. While this allowed for very little experimental characterization of its properties and possible compounds, theoretical calculations have allowed for many predictions, including some very unexpected ones. For example, although ununoctium is a member of group 18, it is probably not a noble gas like all the other group 18 elements. It was formerly thought to be a gas but is now predicted to be a solid under normal conditions.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1831:

Ioannis Kapodistrias , the Greek head of state, was assassinated in Nafplion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioannis_Kapodistrias

1845:

Anglican priest John Henry Newman was formally received into the Catholic Church. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Newman

1919:

In Major League Baseball, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, 5 games to 3, over the Chicago White Sox, whose players were later found to have lost intentionally. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal

1942:

World War II: American forces defeated the Japanese at the Third Battle of the Matanikau in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, avenging the Japanese victory at the Second Battle of the Matanikau a couple of weeks earlier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actions_along_the_Matanikau

1963:

A landslide displaced large amounts of water from the Vajont Dam in northern Italy, causing waves and floods that quickly swept away several villages and killed almost 2,000 people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajont_Dam

2006:

North Korea conducted a nuclear test, reportedly near Kilchu, with an explosive force of less than one kiloton, that was unanimously condemned and denounced by many counties and the United Nations Security Council. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_North_Korean_nuclear_test

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

beget (v): 1. To cause; to produce. 2. To procreate or to father; to get with child http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beget

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Builders and warriors, strengthen the steps.

Reader, if you have not grasped — read again, after a while. The predestined is not accidental,

The leaves fall in their time. And winter is but the harbinger of spring.

All is revealed; all is attainable. --Nicholas Roerich http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicholas_Roerich