For most of scientific history, chemical elements were identified through materials that could be handled, heated, weighed or examined in a laboratory. Helium followed a very different path. It first ...

We've reached the limit of a very successful way to make new elements in the lab. In new research, scientists unveil a new take on that technology and report its success. The heaviest elements could ...

A longstanding mystery of the periodic table involves a group of unique elements called lanthanides. Also known as rare earth elements, or REEs, these silvery-white metals are challenging to isolate, ...

An international team led by scientists of GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz, succeeded in determining the chemical properties of the ...

During the nineteenth century, spectroscopy was transforming astronomy. By splitting light into its component colours, scientists could identify chemical substances from a distance because every ...

Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Many of us remember a time when the periodic table appeared with some curious blank spots. Your age determines what those blank spots were, but ...