bismuth

既に何度かブログに取り上げられていますが、理研が発見した原子番号113番の新元素についての記事になります。

Synthetic radioactive element 113 will be named by Japanese researchers
'Ununtrium' is 1 of 4 new elements being officially recognized

A team of Japanese scientists has met the criteria for naming a new element, the synthetic highly radioactive element 113, more than a dozen years after they began working to create it.

Kosuke Morita, who was leading the research at the government-affiliated Riken Nishina Centre for Accelerator-Based Science, was notified of the decision on Thursday by the U.S.-based International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

中略

Morita and his group used Riken's linear accelerator and ion separator to search for new synthetic superheavy elements, beginning in the late 1980s. In 2003, his team began working to create element 113 by bombarding a thin layer of bismuth with zinc ions travelling at about 10 per cent the speed of light, Riken said.

以下省略

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/new-element-japan-1.3386769

“bismuth”を拾い上げます。LDOCEでは”a grey-white metal that is often used in medicines”と定義されており、『ジーニアス第三版』では「《化》ビスマス、（自然）蒼鉛（そうえん）」と確認できます。

原子番号83の金属元素で元素記号はBi、その化合物は整腸剤や胃もたれ、胸やけの薬に用いられています。ビスマスの結晶はその美しさで知られており、まるでファンタジー世界の鉱物のようです。なお、亜鉛は”zinc”、亜鉛は”lead”でしたね。合わせて思い出しておくと良いかもしれません。