DID YOU KNOW some chemical elements are manufactured and exist nowhere in nature

Introduction: boxes on the periodic table created entirely from scratch

Elements that have never existed naturally on Earth

The periodic table of elements, displayed in every chemistry classroom in the world, today contains boxes that do not represent substances found in nature, but rather elements entirely manufactured by humans. These elements, located beyond uranium, are classified as superheavy, and some of them, such as oganesson, atomic number 118, have never been observed naturally anywhere on our planet.

Unlike elements such as oxygen or iron, abundantly present in our environment, these superheavy elements must be artificially created, atom by atom, in highly specialized scientific facilities. There is something fascinating about the idea that humanity is capable of creating matter that literally exists nowhere else in the known universe.

A lifespan sometimes shorter than a fraction of a second

The fragility of these artificial elements is almost as remarkable as their creation itself. Some of these superheavy atoms survive only a fraction of a second before spontaneously decaying into lighter, more stable elements, a phenomenon that makes their detection and study extremely delicate for the scientists involved in this research.

This extreme instability illustrates just how close these elements sit to the very edge of what matter can withstand in terms of nuclear cohesion, a domain where every additional proton and neutron added to the atomic nucleus makes the whole structure increasingly unstable, sometimes by the tiniest imaginable margin.

How a chemical element is made in the laboratory

Fusing atomic nuclei, an extreme method of creation

To create a superheavy element, scientists use particle accelerators capable of hurling atomic nuclei at one another at extremely high speeds. The goal is to trigger a fusion between two lighter atomic nuclei, in the hope that their combined protons and neutrons will form a new element, heavier than anything that exists naturally, and heavier still than anything ever recorded on the periodic table before it.

This controlled nuclear fusion technique demands formidable precision: the nuclei must collide at an extremely precise angle and energy, otherwise the fusion fails and the nuclei simply bounce off one another without producing the sought-after new element, forcing the entire experiment to begin again from scratch.

Experiments that can last months for a single atom

The probability of success of such a nuclear fusion is extremely low, which explains why scientists sometimes have to run their particle accelerators for weeks, or even months, continuously bombarding a target with billions of nuclei, in the hope that a single fusion event, out of that immense multitude of attempts, will succeed in producing the sought-after element.

When this fusion finally occurs, the created element usually survives only a vanishingly brief instant before decaying, which forces researchers to detect and analyze its decay signature using instruments of extreme sensitivity, capable of spotting this fleeting event amid considerable experimental background noise that could easily mask the signal researchers are looking for.

The pioneering laboratories of superheavy element chemistry

Specialized facilities spread across the world

Creating superheavy elements requires particularly sophisticated scientific infrastructure, found only in a small number of laboratories worldwide. Among the most active are JINR in Russia and GSI in Germany, two institutions recognized for their long-standing expertise in synthesizing new chemical elements.

These laboratories have particle accelerators specifically designed and optimized for this type of research, along with teams of researchers specialized in analyzing the extremely fleeting signals produced by the decay of these artificially created elements.

A long-standing international scientific competition

The discovery of new superheavy elements has long been the subject of genuine scientific competition between different countries and laboratories, each seeking to claim the discovery of a new element and the privilege of proposing its name. This rivalry, far from being sterile, has considerably stimulated the development of new experimental techniques over the decades, benefiting the entire field well beyond the specific teams involved in any single race.

This international dynamic illustrates well how science sometimes progresses as much through rivalry between competing teams as through direct collaboration, with each new discovery pushing other laboratories to further refine their own experimental methods.

IUPAC, official guardian of the periodic table

A rigorous process for validating discoveries

Before a new superheavy element can be officially recognized and added to the periodic table, its discovery must be validated by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, better known by its acronym IUPAC. This organization thoroughly examines the experimental data provided by laboratories, to ensure that the creation of the element has indeed been demonstrated in a sufficiently solid and reproducible manner.

This validation process can take several years, given how high the scientific standards are for confirming the existence of an element that, by its very nature, often survives only a fraction of a second before disappearing, making any verification particularly delicate to carry out with certainty, especially when the evidence amounts to only a handful of decay events.

The privilege of naming a new chemical element

Once the discovery has been officially validated by IUPAC, the researchers behind the synthesis of the element earn the privilege of proposing its name, usually in tribute to a place, a scientific institution, or a researcher who left a mark on the history of the discipline. This name must then be formally approved according to very precise rules established by the international organization.

This naming process, though formal, carries an important symbolic dimension for the scientific teams involved, often crowning years, or even decades, of relentless experimental effort to successfully synthesize a brand new chemical element from nothing at all.

The island of stability, a theory that fascinates researchers

A hypothetical region where certain elements would be more stable

Despite the extreme instability of most superheavy elements known to date, some theoretical physicists believe there could exist a particular region of the periodic table, nicknamed the island of stability, where certain still-unknown superheavy elements might display a lifespan significantly longer than their immediate neighbors.

This hypothesis rests on theoretical models of atomic nucleus structure, suggesting that certain precise combinations of protons and neutrons could confer unexpected stability on atomic nuclei that are otherwise extremely heavy and unstable.

A scientific quest that continues to drive laboratories

The search for this theoretical island of stability continues to motivate numerous research teams around the world, who hope to one day synthesize a superheavy element stable enough to allow a more thorough chemical study of its properties, beyond simply observing its near-instantaneous decay before it vanishes for good.

This quest illustrates well how fundamental research continues to push back the limits of our understanding of matter, by exploring regions of the periodic table that remain, to this day, largely hypothetical and still experimentally unexplored territory for every laboratory involved.

What the general public often gets wrong about these elements

No, these elements are not used to build weapons

Contrary to a widespread misconception, superheavy elements synthesized in the laboratory have no practical military or energy application whatsoever, precisely because of their extremely short lifespan. It would be utterly impossible to accumulate them in sufficient quantity for any application of that kind, unlike certain more stable radioactive elements used in the nuclear industry for power generation or medical purposes.

Their interest therefore remains exclusively scientific and fundamental in nature, aimed at understanding the limits of atomic structure rather than any immediate industrial or technological application.

A discipline that progresses slowly but surely

It should also be remembered that the discovery of a new superheavy element remains a rare event, sometimes occurring years apart, given how significant the experimental challenges are with each new attempt to synthesize an element even heavier than the last.

This slowness is nevertheless not a sign of failure, but rather the natural reflection of the growing difficulty of pushing back the limits of nuclear cohesion, as researchers approach the still largely unexplored fringes of the periodic table.

Conclusion: a chemistry that goes beyond the boundaries of nature

What this extreme chemistry teaches us about ordinary matter

Curiously, the study of these superheavy elements, however short-lived, also helps scientists better understand the nuclear forces that hold together the nuclei of the far more ordinary atoms making up our everyday world. By probing the extreme limits of atomic cohesion, researchers refine theoretical models applicable to the entire periodic table.

This fundamental research, seemingly very far removed from our daily concerns, thus contributes to a better overall understanding of nuclear physics, a field whose applications touch both medicine and energy production.

A scientific feat that redefines the limits of matter

The creation of superheavy chemical elements shows just how far modern science is capable of going beyond the limits imposed by nature itself, by manufacturing matter that has never before existed on Earth, nor anywhere else in the observable universe as far as we currently know. This technical feat, made possible by decades of progress in the field of particle accelerators, continues to regularly enrich the periodic table with new boxes, each one representing years of collective experimental work.

Every newly synthesized element, however short-lived, provides valuable information about the limits of nuclear cohesion and about the mysterious laws that govern the stability of matter at its most fundamental atomic scale, knowledge that continues to feed nuclear physics far beyond the narrow circle of superheavy element specialists.

A scientific adventure that is far from finished

There is something dizzying about imagining researchers devoting entire months to tracking down a single atom, whose existence will sometimes last only a handful of milliseconds before disappearing for good. This patient and methodical quest perfectly illustrates the spirit of fundamental research, where scientific curiosity drives the exploration of regions of matter that seem, at first glance, almost out of reach, but which end up, thanks to the collective patience of researchers, giving up some of their best-kept secrets.

Ultimately, the chemistry of superheavy elements reminds us that the periodic table, far from being a fixed and finished list, remains a scientific territory still expanding, where new discoveries continue to be written at the cost of considerable experimental effort, carried forward by successive generations of researchers passionate about the most extreme frontiers of matter. Every new box added to this table, however tiny and fleeting the element it represents may be, constitutes a small collective triumph of experimental physics and a reminder that human curiosity never really stops pushing back the boundaries of the known, one fleeting atom at a time.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist

Sources

Primary sources

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry — validation of new elements — 2026

GSI Helmholtzzentrum — news on superheavy element research — 2026

JINR — Joint Institute for Nuclear Research — nuclear physics research — 2026

Secondary sources

Futura Sciences — science news — 2026

Sciences et Avenir — fundamental science section — 2026

Pour la Science — chemistry and physics news — 2026