element 114

The GSI team’s improved data on element 114 will help theorists refine their models by providing “anchor points for theory,” Rudolph says.

These predictions had centered on element 114, now known as flerovium, created in a Russian reactor in 1999—although its enhanced stability has turned out to be less than first anticipated.

Element 116 lasts for milliseconds before it decays into element 114.

In one decay chain, for instance, element 116 decays to element 114 with a lifetime of about 26 milliseconds.