Now on the Periodic Table: Livermorium

Nearly a year after they joined the periodic table, two man-made elements have been officially named. What used to be element 114 is now flerovium, honoring the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in Dubna, Russia, where it was created. Element 116 is now livermorium, for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, home of a scientific team that participated in its creation in Dubna. The chemical symbols are Fl and Lv.

But you won't find these materials lying around. Once made, these atoms decay within seconds. Both names had been proposed last year by the scientists who made the materials by smashing atoms together. Final approval was announced yesterday by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. (More elements stories.)