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New element found, no word on its conductivity.
Investigators at a major US research university recently discovered the heaviest element known to science. The element, tentatively named Administratium, has no protons or electrons and thus has an atomic number of 0. However, it does have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice neutrons and 111 assistant vice neutrons, which gives it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called morons. It is also surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since it has no electrons, Administratium is inert. However, it can be detected chemically as it impedes every reaction it comes in contact with.
According to the discoverers, a minute amount of Administratium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would normally have occurred in less than a second. Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately three years, at which time it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons, vice neutrons and assistant vice neutrons exchange places. In fact, an Administratium sample's mass actually increases over time, since with each reorganization some of the morons inevitably become neutrons, forming new isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to speculate that perhaps Administratium is spontaneously formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "critical morass." Research at other laboratories indicates that Administratium occurs naturally in the atmosphere. It tends to concentrate at certain points such as government, large companies, healthcare facilities and universities; and will often be found in the newest, best-maintained buildings. Scientists point out that Administratium is known to be toxic at any level of concentration and can easily destroy any productive reactions where it is allowed to accumulate.
... but, at $32,000 pkgal, it probably won't be cost effective.
There's nothing like a good brew for cleaning up drinking water.... STRONG coffee and plenty of it may reduce the risk of heavy-metal poisoning in cities where drinking water contains high levels of these contaminants. An international team of scientists has found that while coffee is filtering, the coffee grounds mop up as much as 90 percent of the copper and lead dissolved in the water.
Many cities in the developing world have high levels of toxic metals as soluble metal ions in their drinking water. Copper and lead enter the water as it runs through pipes and storage tanks or makes contact with lead solder.
Mike McLaughlin of CSIRO Land and Water in Adelaide wondered if ground coffee might remove heavy metals. Because dissolved heavy metal ions are positively charged, and coffee contains uncharged and negatively charged molecules, the metal ions might be taken out of solution by binding to negatively charged molecules in the coffee grounds.
To test this idea, McLaughlin and his colleagues used water spiked with different levels of copper and lead to brew coffee by the water-drip method. When they measured the concentrations of metal ions in the resulting coffee they found that between 78 and 90 per cent of the copper and lead had been removed. "The deeper the bed of coffee in the drip-maker, the more effective the removal of heavy metals," says McLaughlin.
He adds that the process probably also removes other heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and zinc, though this hasn't been tested. "It is also possible tea bags and tea leaves may work in the same way," he suggests.
The findings could mean that the risk of lead and copper poisoning in cities where people drink a lot of coffee is lower than expected. "Daily human exposure to heavy metals in many cities round the world may have been greatly overestimated," says McLaughlin.
John Bisby, a consultant in environmental and occupational medicine in Melbourne, says the work may be helpful in assessing risk. But he stresses that drinking more coffee is not a practical way to combat water contamination. "Coffee is not the solution," he says. "You can't drink all your water as coffee or you will have other side effects that are a lot worse than lead. The answer is to get water safe at source."
By Julia Hinde
New Scientist magazine, 12 February 2000.
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Last modified: 17Feb2000