2019-09-02 Bloomberg Businessweek

75

WHAT’SIT LOOKLIKE?

Nooneknows.Thebest

wecandois examine

a shardofuranium

oreandimaginethe

hundredorsoatoms

thatliesomewherein its

decayingmass.

WHY’SIT (MOSTLY)

USELESS?

If youhada visible

quantity,according

tothewebsiteofthe

element collector

Theodore Gray, “you

would be dead, and

then it would vanish

before your body was

cold.” Fortunately, in

addition to being wildly

radioactive, astatine

is the rarest naturally

occurring element—

fewer than 30 grams are

decaying from uranium

or thorium in the Earth’s

crust at a given time.

WHAT’SIT USEDFOR?

Scientistsare

experimentingwithan

isotope,At-211,whose

low-intensityalpha-

particleradiationmight

killisolatedcancercells

whileleavingsurrounding

healthytissueunscathed.

CANI GETSOME?

Not really. You could buy

a sample of uranium ore

for $39.95 on Amazon

and visualize its decay.

But for a truly stimulating

mental picture, consider

tracking down an early

20th century revigator,

a water crock made of

ceramic treated with

uranium or radium ore.

People once thought the

radioactivity made the

water healthier. It didn’t.

WHAT’SIT LOOKLIKE?

Nothing.It’sa colorless,

odorlessgas.

WHY’SIT (MOSTLY)

USELESS?

Itsmoststableisotope

hasa half-lifeof less

thanfourdays,decaying

firstintopoloniumand

eventuallyintolead.

WHAT’SIT USEDFOR?

To locate mineral

reserves. Geologists can

measureradon content in

waterandtrace it back

todepositsof uranium

andthorium.

○CANI GETSOME?

If youbuya poorly built

house.Radonfrom

decayinguranium or

thoriumin theground

canspreadthrough

cracksin thefoundation

or plumbing;the

EnvironmentalProtection

Agencysaysit’s the

leadingcauseof lung

cancerin American

nonsmokers.Risk takers

canalsospend $380 for a

kilogramof thorium oxide

powderonAlibaba.com;

packsomeinto a glass

capsule,anda minute

quantityof radon will be

insideat alltimes as the

thoriumdecays. Just hope

theglassdoesn’t break.

WHAT’SIT LOOKLIKE?

Impossibleto say.Given

whereit appearsin the

periodictable,scientists

suspectfranciumwould

lookmetallic,likeother

alkalis.Butit’sthesecond-

rarestelementonEarth,

andnoonehasartificially

manufacturedmorethan

a fewhundredthousand

atoms.“Ifyouwereever

to lookat a pieceof pure

franciumlargeenoughto

bevisible,it wouldbethe

lastthingyoudid,”says

MaxWhitbyof London

element-sellerRedGreen

& Blue.“Itwouldexplode

withtheforceof a small

nuclearbomb.”

WHY’SIT (MOSTLY)

USELESS?

Themoststableform

of francium—produced

whenactinium,alreadya

fleetingtraceelementin

uraniumore,decaysin a

particularway—hasa half-

lifeof just 20 minutes.

It’salsointensely

radioactive;Marguerite

Pereydiscoveredfrancium

in 1939,andshe’dsetoff

nearbyradiationcounters

foryearsafterward.She

died,finally,of bone

cancer.

WHAT’SIT USEDFOR?

Prettymuchjustpubtrivia.

(“AWesternEuropean

countryhasnotonebut

twoelementsnamedforit.

Whatarethey?”Answer:

franciumandgallium,the

latterafterGaul,theold

RomantermforFrance.)

“Itcan’tevenbeusedasa

medicalisotope,”Whitby

says.“Howwouldyou

transportit anywhere?

You’dhaveonlya few

minutesto getit there

beforeit decayed.”

CANI GETSOME?

Apartfromtheoldtrickof

imaginingtheappearance

anddisappearanceof

franciumatomsinside

decayinguranium?No.

85

At

Astatine

(MOSTLY)

USELESS

BySamanthSubramanian

86

Rn

Radon

(MOSTLY)

USELESS

BySamanthSubramanian

87

Fr

Francium

(MOSTLY)

USELESS

BySamanthSubramanian

83

Bi

Bismuth

84

Po

Polonium

Bloomberg Businessweek / SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 THE ELEMENTS

WHAT IF YOU EAT IT?

 Bismuth $10.80 / kg U.S. market

 Polonium $86 1-inchradioisotopedisk

 Astatine $39.95 Uranium + decay

ismuth

○Whoeatsbismuth?

Sufferersofdiarrhea,nausea,orupsetstomach.

○Whatdoesit tastelike?

Themostcommonform,Pepto-Bismol,also

knownas“pinkbismuth,”tasteschalkyanda

bitmedicinal.

○Whatdoesit do?

Theactiveingredient,bismuthsubsalicylate,

is usedmostlyasanantacid,butit also

hasanti-inflammatoryandbactericidal

propertiesthathelpwithdiarrhea.Andit can

turnyourtongueandstoolblack.

WHAT IF YOU EAT IT?

○ Who eats polonium?

The Russian spy and defector

Alexander Litvinenko, in London

in 2006.

○ What does it taste like?

The tea into which it’s been dissolved.

○ What does it do?

Polonium causes fatal radiation exposure. Litvinenko

was initially diagnosed with gastroenteritis; within days

his blood and bone marrow failed, his hair fell out, and

his mucous membranes ulcerated. Eventually, when his

organs failed, he fell unconscious and died.

 Radon $380 / kg Thorium oxide +

decay

 Francium $39.95 Uranium + decay