Nihonium is a synthetic chemical element with symbol Nh and atomic number 113. It is extremely radioactive; its most stable known isotope, nihonium-286, has a half-life of about 10 seconds. In the periodic table, nihonium is a transactinide element at the intersection of period 7 and group 13. Its creation was reported in 2003 by a Russian–American collaboration at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, and in 2004 by a team of Japanese scientists at Riken in Wakō, Japan. The discoveries were confirmed by independent teams working in the United States, Germany, Sweden, and China. In 2015 the element was officially recognised by the IUPAC/IUPAP Joint Working Party; naming rights were assigned to Riken, as they were judged to have been first to confirm their discovery. The name, approved in the same year (announcement pictured), derives from a Japanese word for Japan, Nihon. Few details are known about nihonium, as it has only been formed in very small amounts that decay away within seconds.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonium

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1864:

A passenger train fell through an open swing bridge into the Richelieu River near present-day Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, killing as many as 99 people and injuring 100 others in Canada's worst railway accident. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beloeil_train_disaster

1889:

Hyde Park and several other Illinois townships voted to be annexed by Chicago, forming the largest city by area in the United States and the second-largest by population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Park_Township,_Cook_County,_Illinois

1927:

The United States Army Air Corps aircraft Bird of Paradise landed at Wheeler Field on the Hawaiian island of Oahu to complete the first transpacific flight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_of_Paradise_%28aircraft%29

1995:

Atlantis became the first U.S. Space Shuttle to dock with the Russian space station Mir as part of the Shuttle–Mir program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle%E2%80%93Mir_program

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

sengi: 1. An elephant shrew (family Macroscelididae). 2. (historical) A former (1967–1993) monetary unit of Zaire, one hundredth of a likuta, and one ten-thousandth of a zaire; it was issued only in ten sengi coins. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sengi

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.   --Barack Obama https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama