So I find this fascinating -
Technetium, element 43, was discovered in 1937. To produce it scientists are required to bombard Molybdenum-96 with an additional neutron causing it to become Molybdenum-97 which then loses a negative beta particle and becomes Technetium.
(96Mo(n, γ)99Mo → 99Tc + β -)
Because it can only be produced synthetically and was the first element to have that qualification there was a huge controversy over whether or not it should be included in the Periodic Table of Elements (even though there was a predicted spot for it.) The decision to allow it and all of the following synthetic elements in wasn't made for ten more years and that was only after the scientists could study fallout from atomic research.
There are twenty-four elements that have been produced that absolutely cannot be found in nature (as it turns out, traces of Technetium can be.) There are over fifty more that some say that we could possibly produce.
Wow.
Can you imagine how quickly it could've thrown science off to refuse to include synthetic elements in the Periodic Table?
It's mind boggling and makes me wonder if we've done anything as incredibly stupid (or at least what seems incredibly stupid to the little Freshman) as this that has set science years behind. We probably have. It'll be really interesting to see what the things that we don't quite understand now ending up being discovered as scientific errors in the future.
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2 comments:
Well, it's sort of like what happened with scurvy. For years people thought it was an awful, horrible disease somehow connected to spending too much time at sea. In the early 17th century a man suggested that scurvy was due to a vitamin deficiency and tried to have sauerkraut and oranges added to the British Navy's rations. His findings were brushed aside and the world didn't accept the vitamin deficiency theory until the mid-18th century.
Ironically, we haven't learned very much since then. There is a strong case that relates cancer to a vitamin deficiency as well. It too has been brushed aside and we continue to use harmful and expensive treatments. You can learn more about it in this great cheesy video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4312930190281243507
Yup. These things work the other way though -
They used to prescribe Phosphorus in medicine even though it does nothing. It's actually a poision.
They can get "phossy jaw" which causes their jaw deteriorate...
And some people took it to get smarter because there is a lot of Phosphorus in the brain and ended up having issues the rest of their lives.
Aristotle thought that the eggs from parasite worms made the meat more tender.
The problem is that there are too many people saying that too many things can cure diseases at one time and in the World of science if you're not at the top no one's going to listen.
Science is fun, is it not?
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