Magic island

Fig. 7. Allegorical representation of island of stability (magic island) (28).

Riedmiiller B, Papageorgopoulos DC, Berenbak B, van Santen RA, Kleyn AW. 2002. Magic island formation of CO coadsorbed with H on Ru(OOOl). Surf Sci 515 323. 

Initial calculations predicted the stability of nuclei on the magic island to be as great as 100 million years, and because this is within... 

While I lived in Canada, my mother died after a long bout with cancer. She was laid to rest, and then eventually Vancouver Island, lost in swirling snow, had fallen behind us as if by a series of telescoping leaps. At last our journey loomed One by one the barriers to our entry into the anticipated magical world fell away, until we came to this indolent moment, our first day on the river. From my journal ... 

Because element 117 (ununseptium) has not yet been produced, its properties are not known. This does not hinder speculation as to what some of the properties and characteristics of jj Uus will be when it is discovered and where it will fit into the scheme of what is known of elements 116 and 118—if they are confirmed. One thing that can be assumed with a high degree of probability is that Uus does not have a magic number of protons and neutrons, and thus is not included as one of the elements in the island of stability. ... 

One isotope of element 114, with 184 neutrons, is predicted to be another doubly magic nucleus, and is therefore expected to sit right in the middle of an island of stability in the space of superheavy nuclei (Fig. 13). Nuclear scientists suspect that it may have a half-life of as much as several years. Element 114 has thus become a kind of Holy Grail for element-makers. If it turns out to be stable, this would show that these researchers are not necessarily doomed to search for increasingly fleeting glimpses of ever heavier and less stable new elements. There might be undiscovered elements out there that you can (in principle, at least) hold in your hand. 

The isotope of element 114 with 184 neutrons is predicted to be especially stable, since it has magic numbers of both protons and neutrons in its nuclei. This element may sit atop an island of stability in the sea of possible combinations of subatomic nuclear particles. Other islands, here picked out in contours whose height denotes the degree of stability, occur for lighter elements such as some isotopes of lead and tin... 

But how does one get to the centre of the putative island of stability, where the doubly magic isotope of element 114 resides This means sticking more neutrons onto the nucleus, and no one yet knows how to do that. 

Z= 114 was mentioned as an alternative, with reference to unpublished calculations by H. Meldner, who presented his results [4] later at the Why and How. .. symposium 1966 [5], the seminal event for superheavy element research. Simultaneously, A. Sobiczewski et al. [6] also derived, that 114 should be the next magic proton number. Other groups using different theoretical approaches soon agreed. A fantastic perspective was, thus, opened an island of superheavy elements located not too far from the then heaviest known element, 103, and, hence, perhaps within reach. 

Due to the topology of the island, superheavy nuclei should decay by spontaneous fission, either immediately or after a sequence of other decay steps. In a detailed theoretical exploration [12] of the Z-N plane around the island, the longest-lived nuclide again turned out to be Z=110, A=184, decaying with 3xl09 y half-life by a-particle emission to 290108. From there, two subsequent (T-transitions should lead via 290109 to 290110, where the chain should terminate by spontaneous fission with 140 d half-life. The doubly magic 298114, half-life 790 y, should also decay into 290110 by two a-particle emissions via 294l 12 as the intermediate. 

On the other hand, closed nucleon shells stabilize the spherical form of nuclei, and according to the shell model appreciable fission barriers are expected in the region of closed nucleon shells (magic numbers). This led to the question of the next closed proton shell. First, Z = 126 was assumed to be the next magic number of protons, in analogy ioN = 126 (section 2.3). However, theoretical calculations revealed that the next closed proton shell is to be expected for Z = 114, whereas the next magic number of neutrons should be A — 184. Accordingly, an island of relative stability is expected at Z = 114 and N = 184. Other calculations lead to the predietion of an... 

Travelers became aware that entheogenic mushrooms were common on the island of Bali, they communicated this message to their friends, and eventually Balinese natives learned the economic value of the mushrooms. By the early 1980s, magic mushroom omelets and smoothies had become popular at several resort locations in Thailand, Nepal, and on both coasts of the Indian continent. It was recently reported that some species of magic mushrooms are now being served to tourists in the Philippine Islands. 

After Hving more than 20 years in Curasao, my husband and I moved to Miami. We miss our island lifestyle, our friends, our peace. Now, I ve discovered your magazine. I love it There s something magical about this area that s more than the beaches and the sunsets. There s a way of life, a cosmopolitan feel to it that few people understand. I m glad your magazine is around to show everyone the real Caribbean. 

MAGIC incorporates many technological innovations in order to fulfill the requirements imposed by the physics goals. The telescope is installed at 2200 m above see level on the Canary island La Palma (Spain). The 17 m diameter tessellated reflector dish consists of 964 0.5 x 0.5 m2 diamond milled aluminum mirrors. The parabolic reflector shape conserves the time structure of the Cherenkov pulses to increase the signal-to-noise ratio with respect to the night sky background. 

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