1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,720 Could you tell me what is so unique of this institute? 2 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:11,920 This is the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, the JINR. 3 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:16,000 It celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,920 Accidentally... 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,840 ...I came to work for the institute the year it was established. 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,920 And I've been working here ever since. 7 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:35,560 Its mission is... 8 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:40,000 ...to research fundamental issues in nuclear physics... 9 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:43,880 ...in high energy physics... 10 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,320 ...or particle physics as we call it... 11 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,720 ...and in condensed matter physics. 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,400 We do research in theoretical physics... 13 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,240 ...which is applicable to every area I mentioned. 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,680 We have got departments of mathematical studies and IT... 15 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:04,960 ...and everything else scientists would need nowadays. 16 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,600 JINR is an experimental facility. 17 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,320 We have got powerful research tools... 18 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:19,160 ...including smaller, bigger and super powerful particle accelerators... 19 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,840 ...a nuclear reactor... 20 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:25,840 ...and a lot of other instruments. 21 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:30,440 18 countries... 22 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:33,920 ...are... 23 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,560 ...JINR Member States. 24 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,120 The Institute receives funding from its Member States. 25 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:46,640 The JINR highest governing body is the Committee of Plenipotentiaries... 26 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:51,960 ...who are appointed by Prime Ministers of the Member States. 27 00:01:54,600 --> 00:02:00,720 The JINR Scientific Council defines the science policy of the institute. 28 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,600 The Scientific Council meets twice a year. 29 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:10,200 The members of the Council are prominent physicists... 30 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,240 ...in all the areas that I mentioned earlier. 31 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:19,040 They don't have to work for JINR. They are experts. 32 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:24,280 In between the meetings of the Scientific Council... 33 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,640 we work in Advisory Committees for Nuclear Physics... 34 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,920 ...Particle Physics and Condensed Matter Physics. 35 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,400 This is basically the way JINR operates. 36 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:41,400 Which countries are we talking about? 37 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:45,040 These 18 countries. Can you give some examples? 38 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:50,760 Yes, these countries are JINR Member States. 39 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:55,960 There are also some countries which are JINR Associated Member States. 40 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:01,800 The Associated Member States are interested in specific areas of physics. 41 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:08,880 The JINR Member States include... 42 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,040 ...Czech Republic, Bulgaria... 43 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,680 ...Romania, Poland. 44 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:16,800 The East European countries. 45 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:19,680 Other JINR Member States include Vietnam... 46 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,000 ...Mongolia... 47 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:26,040 ...Cuba. 48 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:33,200 The Associated Member States are Germany, South Africa... 49 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,200 Italian physicists are very enthusiastic about this cooperation. 50 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:42,680 American physicists work in one of our Laboratories. 51 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:49,160 JINR is deeply rooted in the system of international cooperation. 52 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,040 I would like to mention... 53 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,040 ...that this system of international cooperation... 54 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,440 ...was established back in the Soviet era. 55 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,960 Back then the international cooperation was not very active. 56 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:08,800 Despite that fact, JINR was granted this advantage. 57 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,920 We ran ahead of many other institutions. 58 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:17,080 And even nowadays the legacy of those times... 59 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,160 ...lives on and we build on it in our work. 60 00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:22,040 This is why... 61 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:23,640 ...I mean... 62 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,440 ...JINR is well-known for its accomplishments... 63 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,440 ...as well as for its deep integration into the world science. 64 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,000 Numerous teams of our scientists work in CERN... 65 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:40,800 ...in the US Brookhaven National Laboratory... 66 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,280 ...in Fermilab and other research centers. 67 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:51,040 Foreign physicists come to JINR to use our particle accelerators. 68 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,760 This is a true spirit... 69 00:04:55,880 --> 00:05:00,360 ...of science, which should be international. 70 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,440 And what is your role in it? 71 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:10,640 What is your role in the Institute? 72 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:12,360 What is your function? 73 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,960 We focus on three main areas of research: 74 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,120 particle or high energy physics, nuclear physics... 75 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,480 ...and condensed matter physics. 76 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:34,760 I am mostly involved in the nuclear physics research. 77 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,880 We use a wide range of accelerators in our programs. 78 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,280 We run a nuclear reactor... 79 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:48,320 ...and an accelerator of heavy ions in the neighboring laboratory. 80 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:52,440 Historically, physicists use accelerators of heavy ions... 81 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,360 ...for their research in nuclear physics. 82 00:05:55,480 --> 00:06:01,640 I work in the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions. 83 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,240 Essentially, we study the physics of heavy ions. 84 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,960 It became a separate area of physics soon after I came to work for JINR. 85 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:14,840 Back then, there were just two labs in the world working in this field. 86 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,200 One of them was located here. 87 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:19,960 The other one was in Berkeley, California. 88 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,040 But when it became obvious... 89 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:31,720 ...that we obtain so much scientific data in this area of physics... 90 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:38,360 ...many countries established new laboratories. 91 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:44,320 Including the USA, France, Germany, Poland. 92 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:51,360 There was one in Groningen, too. To name a few. And then... 93 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,960 ...National Laboratories of Heavy Ions were established. 94 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:01,840 Later we saw International Laboratories which run large colliders. 95 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:07,960 The CERN large collider accelerates both protons and heavy ions. 96 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:12,800 We are going to build a large heavy ion collider, too. 97 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,200 This is the area of research... 98 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,600 ...where we use... 99 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,840 ...very heavy particles to bombard the targets. 100 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:29,120 This area of physics is gradually developing. 101 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:34,840 There are large colliders in the USA, Japan and China. 102 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:42,320 Nowadays, nuclear physicists widely use... 103 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,200 ...this method to research the atomic nuclei. 104 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,120 This is something we do here, too. 105 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,800 Of course, this is a very complex subject. 106 00:07:53,920 --> 00:08:01,280 We have to research the ways particles interact at various energy levels... 107 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:06,920 ...and the new particles and new nuclei they generate in this interaction. 108 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:15,160 And what is so different about these new nuclei? 109 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:23,360 One of our missions... 110 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:28,160 ...is to produce the heaviest nuclei... 111 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:30,680 ...which don't exist in nature. 112 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,640 We want to advance as much as possible. 113 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:42,240 We want to know the maximum possible atomic mass. 114 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,160 What is the limit? 115 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,120 What is the heaviest possible atomic nucleus? 116 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,640 It is interesting... 117 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,720 ...because if we want to answer this question... 118 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,120 ...we must build on everything we already know about the atomic nucleus. 119 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:09,280 Any uncertainty in our knowledge may generate multiple answers. 120 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:15,800 One of them would be correct. And the rest should be discarded. 121 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:20,680 Which in turn would oblige us to review earlier theoretical models. 122 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,600 This is sort of a sharp point which we can use... 123 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:28,640 ...to test out theories and our knowledge... 124 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,520 ...of atomic nuclei, nuclear forces, and nuclear transmutations. 125 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:36,560 For quite a while now... 126 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,520 ...physicists take great interest in this thing. 127 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:45,360 We want to answer this question. 128 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,680 I believe we wanted that even before the era of nuclear physics. 129 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:55,800 The man always eagerly probed for the limits of the material world. 130 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,880 Each time he interpreted his discoveries... 131 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,160 ...depending on his perception of the world around him. 132 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:11,840 Probably, the first deep analysis of the material world... 133 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:17,400 ...was performed at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. 134 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:22,360 Dmitri Mendeleev was the first person... 135 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:27,880 ...to put the elements you can find in soil in a certain order. 136 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,800 He created his periodic table of elements. 137 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:39,720 The chemical properties of elements can be put in a certain order. 138 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,400 The inner structure of the elements... 139 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,720 ...which we didn't know about back then revealed itself in a certain way. 140 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:53,360 Then we went further and developed the quantum mechanics. 141 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,360 Einstein, Rutherford, a model of an atomic nucleus. 142 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,200 The physics gained a momentum and started to develop really fast. 143 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:07,920 And it made us even more eager to go to the limit. 144 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:13,880 That was the golden age of physics when one discovery followed the other. 145 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:20,000 Every discovery transformed our perception of the world. And every time... 146 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:25,520 ...this new perception could have been tested... 147 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,040 ...on the nuclei in their excited state. 148 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,720 But we had to excite the nuclei which was always hard. 149 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:43,600 We don't get excited that easily either. The same thing here. 150 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:51,960 This is why we established the laboratory... 151 00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:56,360 ...to research the ultimate limit of the nuclear mass. 152 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,800 We didn't do it from scratch. 153 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:07,280 It all started during World War II... 154 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,680 ...when the US scientists produced plutonium. It is a man-made element. 155 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,760 It was synthesized back in 1940. 156 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,440 By Glenn Seaborg and Philip Abelson. 157 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:26,080 The US built a nuclear reactor in 1943. 158 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:31,720 And it produced considerable amounts of plutonium. 159 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,200 We know that that plutonium was used to make a nuclear bomb. 160 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,400 We should also keep in mind that later the energy of plutonium was used... 161 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:42,880 ...for civilian purposes, too. 162 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,760 We used it to generate electricity and for many other things. 163 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,880 The atomic number of plutonium is 94. 164 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:01,400 The last naturally occurring element is uranium. Its number is 92. 165 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,200 They are just two digits away from each other. 166 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,560 But these two steps are the steps into the realm... 167 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:15,680 ...of elements which don't occur in nature and which we can only synthesize. 168 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,360 I wanted to draw your attention to the fact... 169 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,000 ...that these are also two steps into the past. 170 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,960 Because 4.5 billion years ago... 171 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,640 ...when the Earth was formed, plutonium was there. 172 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:36,080 Its half-life is 25.000 years. This is why it decayed before we could trace it. 173 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,880 But in the 20th century... 174 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,760 ...we found a way to produce it in the lab and explore its properties. 175 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,680 We developed a plutonium industry. 176 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:52,280 We breed hundreds of tons of plutonium. 177 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,960 We found the ways to put this element to use. 178 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:03,840 And we took just 2 steps. But why not take 3 or 4 or 5 steps? 179 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,400 And we started to do so. 180 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,800 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 steps. 181 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:15,520 Yeah, we continue. 182 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,280 Element 93. Could you start there? 183 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,640 Yes, this is... 184 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:28,680 Well... 185 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:33,360 We took 2 steps to produce plutonium with the atomic number 94. 186 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,240 Then we took 3, 4, 5, and 6 steps. 187 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,920 And finally, we approached the element... 188 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:46,840 ...which could not exist, theoretically. 189 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,520 But it does exist. 190 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,880 We went further and produced the next one. And the next one. 191 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,520 That meant there was something wrong with the classical theory. 192 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:05,600 It gave us an incorrect prediction of the limit. 193 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,160 The classical theory rules out... 194 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,320 ...elements with atomic numbers over 100. 195 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,880 But we produced elements with atomic numbers 102... 196 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,480 ...103, and 104. 197 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,080 Back in 1964. 198 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,840 That was not that long ago. 199 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:34,080 We knew that we had to find some explanation... 200 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,400 ...of this fact and many others... 201 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:42,320 ...which didn't fit in the old classical theory. 202 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,400 The old theory proved very useful. 203 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,480 It helped us explain a lot of things. 204 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:54,080 But it could not predict the limit. The predicted limit was incorrect. 205 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,920 And so, we had to develop a new theory... 206 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,400 ...that would help us understand... 207 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,720 First of all, it had to be the same efficient in describing the world. 208 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:10,600 But also, it had to explain why we can go beyond the limits of the classical theory. 209 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,760 We found an explanation... 210 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,800 ...in 1969. 211 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:26,600 The new theory gave us an opportunity to produce new elements. 212 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:32,600 But their half-life would be shorter and shorter with every new element. 213 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,040 Although it also predicts that the elements... 214 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,600 ...with large atomic numbers may have longer half-life again. 215 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:45,240 I wonder if you could imagine an island on the half-life timeline. 216 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,960 That would be an island made of very heavy elements. 217 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,840 Super-heavy elements as we call them. 218 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,680 And they will exist significantly longer... 219 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:00,000 ...than their lighter precursors. 220 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,920 They are placed in the periodic table... 221 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,640 ...where no elements can exist in accordance with the old theory. 222 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:13,160 But the new theory gives us this opportunity. 223 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,640 Hopefully the new one is correct. 224 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,160 Because it can also be wrong. 225 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:22,320 These are postulated elements. 226 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,880 We should prove if they exist or not. 227 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:32,800 At some point we will have to say yes or no. 228 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:41,400 And we have to do much work to do so. 229 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:47,120 We have to try and synthesize these elements. 230 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,040 And I don't mean the element with the atomic number 94. 231 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,720 Or 104. Or even 114. 232 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,040 We also have to explore their properties. 233 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:02,400 So... 234 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,520 How do you do that? I mean, making an element? 235 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,880 Yes, and all the best physicists and experimentalists came together... 236 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:15,800 ...to try and solve this problem. 237 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:23,560 The first experiment was conducted in 1970. Just a year later. 238 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:26,920 In France. 239 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,680 I was invited to participate in it in the Joliot-Curie Institute. 240 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,360 I took part in this experiment and we got no results. 241 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,760 The physicists put in great efforts to discover these elements. 242 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:45,200 They used powerful reactors to search for super-heavy elements. 243 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,400 We tried to trace them in the nuclear explosions. 244 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:52,120 We looked for them in nature. 245 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:54,880 In cosmic rays. 246 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,600 In various chemical reactions. 247 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:03,920 In nuclear reactions, which involved heavy particles and neutrons. 248 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,840 Unfortunately, those experiments... 249 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,760 ...yielded no results. 250 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:19,280 We launched this program... 251 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,320 ...back in 1970. 252 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,240 And I should say... 253 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:32,600 ...that we hadn't achieved any results by 1990. 254 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,680 And no results by 1995. 255 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:42,240 And we conducted those experiments in the biggest research centers... 256 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:46,440 ...in the US, in Dubna, Russia and France. 257 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:55,000 That was quite a difficult moment. 258 00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:59,160 What should we do? We... 259 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,320 We couldn't produce any new elements. 260 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,560 And we could neither prove nor rule out their existence. 261 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,360 Is the theory incorrect again? 262 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,360 What if these elements don't exist? 263 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,920 But then we would have to review the theory once again. 264 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,560 The old one didn't work. The new one didn't work either. 265 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:27,040 So, we need one which would explain our earlier results... 266 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,560 ...and postulate that these super-heavy elements can't exist. 267 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:37,400 That was difficult. Because there were too many things to explain. 268 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:42,560 The things we had done in the nuclear physics for years. 269 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,240 That was quite disappointing. 270 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:54,320 Or what if we just didn't know how to produce these elements? 271 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:59,800 What if our instruments were not powerful enough to produce them? 272 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:05,360 That moment I thought... 273 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,560 And my colleagues thought that too. 274 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:15,280 Most probably we didn't have tools to produce those elements. 275 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:20,560 Should we change our philosophy then? What if we set wrong objectives? 276 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,560 But then we synthesized some new elements before. 277 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:30,360 Those were not super-heavy ones. Probably that's where the difference lies. 278 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,640 We had to raise the bar significantly. 279 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:39,280 We decided to use artificial material to make our target. 280 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:44,080 That meant we had to use powerful reactors... 281 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,720 ...to breed the material for our targets. 282 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,800 And we had to radically change the way... 283 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,120 ...we choose... 284 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,680 ...the bombarding nuclei. 285 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:03,320 We had to find a new acceleration mode and a new ion source. 286 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,960 We had to do some hard work. 287 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,320 And now I would like to tell you... 288 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:17,920 ...that at the end of the 20th century... 289 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:23,640 ...and at the beginning of the 21st century the people of science understood... 290 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:30,000 ...that if they wanted to accomplish some ultimate missions... 291 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,080 ...they would have to work together as a team. 292 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:38,600 Imagine, a group of scientists is working somewhere far away... 293 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,440 ...in the other part of the world. 294 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,800 And they achieved good results with their equipment. 295 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,280 Another team somewhere in France... 296 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:52,640 ...got some results with other instruments. 297 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,400 But when we put their efforts together... 298 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,240 ...and utilize... 299 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:05,600 ...all the scientific accomplishments of the mankind... 300 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,320 we may get to an entirely new level. 301 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,760 And so, we decided to opt for this approach. 302 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,600 We brought an ion source from France... 303 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,760 ...and redesigned it to our needs. 304 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:23,360 We involved our American colleagues who ran a powerful reactor. 305 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,720 We asked them to breed this material for us. 306 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,760 We upgraded our own accelerator. 307 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:39,320 We developed a new technology to accelerate the ions of calcium-48. 308 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,560 We devised a whole new installation. 309 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,640 But then we didn't like it and we did it all over again. 310 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,520 We didn't like the new set-up either. 311 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:56,280 And so, we started to modify it once again. 312 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:04,280 At the very end of 1999... 313 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:10,240 ...in winter we conducted our first experiment. 314 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:14,520 The plutonium bred at the reactor in the US... 315 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:19,920 ...had to be bombarded by calcium-48, produced by the separator in the Urals... 316 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,520 ...in the ion source we received from France... 317 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:30,520 ...installed at the new separator system which was designed here. 318 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,440 And that was the very first time when we saw... 319 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,040 ...the fission of the element with the atomic number 114. 320 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,680 The fission took quite long. 321 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:46,760 You could even look at the watch. 322 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:51,880 Element 114 was stable for two seconds before decaying into Element 112. 323 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,840 Element 112 was stable for half a minute before decaying into Element 114. 324 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,760 I mean, Element 110. And Element 110 decayed spontaneously. 325 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:02,480 That was... 326 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:08,560 ...extremely unusual. Because the elements which were synthesized earlier... 327 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:13,720 ...like Elements 108 or 109, their half-life was just several milliseconds long. 328 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,440 Or several microseconds. Compared to seconds for Element 114. 329 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,920 And so, we saw that our latest theory was correct... 330 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:26,120 ...in the estimation of the half-life of these elements. 331 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,360 We felt truly encouraged. 332 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:33,880 After that experiment... 333 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,440 ...we lived another 10 years of our lives. 334 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:42,680 We got more confident and relaxed. We knew we would get the results. 335 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:48,160 We upgraded the sources and the accelerators and the equipment. 336 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,480 Our American colleagues bred more material for our new targets. 337 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:58,360 This is the way we produced a whole range of new elements. 338 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,360 We took full advantage of the reactor. 339 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,160 We took full advantage of our accelerator. 340 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,880 As a result, we produced Elements 113, 114, 115... 341 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:19,080 ...116, 117, and 118. The six elements. 342 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:24,920 You can ask me why six and not seven. 343 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,000 If the reactor could produce a heavier target... 344 00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:32,080 ...we would have synthesized seven elements. 345 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:35,360 With an even heavier one we could produce eight of them. 346 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,680 The reactor has its limits. 347 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,640 Even the most powerful of all the reactors... 348 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,280 ...can't produce a target... 349 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,840 ...with the atomic number 99. The one with the atomic number 98... 350 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:52,080 ...gives us Element 118. But we can't have a target with the atomic number 99. 351 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,080 As a result, by now... 352 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:59,760 ...we can benefit from everything... 353 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,640 ...which was developed by our predecessors in different areas of physics. 354 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,960 In the physics of nuclear reactors and the accelerators... 355 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:13,520 ...and the physics of nuclear reactions. We did our thing. In this way, of course... 356 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:19,000 ...it is very good that we did it. But it is not only us... 357 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,360 ...who did it. This is also an accomplishment... 358 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,200 ...of many generations of physicists before us. 359 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,000 So... 360 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,040 Could you explain me... 361 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,160 ...an element? What is an element? 362 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:40,280 What is... - An element? 363 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:46,080 Could you explain it? What is an element? The element in itself? What is it? 364 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,960 We are talking about elements now. 365 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:54,600 But in fact, we produce atomic nuclei. 366 00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:59,760 Whilst an element is an atom. 367 00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:03,920 We trigger a nuclear reaction in order to modify the nucleus. 368 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,320 We convert a nucleus into a new one. 369 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,720 I am sorry. - No problem. 370 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,040 So I'll ask... No problem. 371 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,440 ...the question again. What is an element? 372 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,760 We convert a nucleus into a new one. 373 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:58,480 And when the new nucleus is synthesized, it attracts electrons. 374 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,920 And then this is an atom. This is a new element. 375 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:08,080 And then we can explore the chemical properties of this element. 376 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:14,920 Since we can explore the chemical properties, chemists come into play. 377 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,640 Let us remember the table of elements now. 378 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,920 This table is called periodic. 379 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,880 So we should place this new element... 380 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:31,600 ...in the table where its expected chemical properties... 381 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,920 ...in accordance with the fundamental Periodic Law... 382 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:40,840 ...would match this very position. What do I mean to say? 383 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:46,440 If we produce Element 112, it should be placed below mercury. 384 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:54,080 If you produce Element 114, it should be placed in a column under lead. 385 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:58,440 If you produce Element 118, it should be placed under radon. 386 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,040 This is what the Periodic Law is about. 387 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:07,120 But then we have to do one more thing. 388 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:10,880 We must check if these new elements are subject to the Periodic Law. 389 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,280 We have to conduct chemical experiments. 390 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,240 Not physical but chemical ones. 391 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,640 And we have to work with atoms instead of atomic nuclei. 392 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,000 Otherwise we can't answer this question. 393 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:27,920 Just imagine. Thanks to the fact... 394 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:34,920 ...that these new super-heavy elements exist long enough... 395 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,000 ...seconds instead of milliseconds... 396 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,440 we can conduct these experiments. And we did that. 397 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,120 We carry out these experiments nowadays, too. 398 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,440 The experiments proved that the placement of the new elements... 399 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:49,840 ...was correct. 400 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:54,280 Though their properties were a little bit different... 401 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,120 ...from those predicted... 402 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,280 ...by the Periodic Law. 403 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:09,000 These differences are caused by relativistic effects. 404 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,120 The electrons of a super-heavy atom are also very heavy. 405 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:18,520 We should keep that in mind when we explore the chemical properties. 406 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:25,480 The relativistic effects were always there with heavy elements. 407 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:30,720 I should mention that gold is what it is because of relativistic effects. 408 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:34,480 And mercury is a liquid metal because of relativistic effects. 409 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:39,680 With super-heavy elements these effects should be even more evident. 410 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:44,520 And they are. But still these elements can be placed in the table... 411 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:50,240 ...as predicted by Mendeleev and his Periodic Law. 412 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,680 And what can we do with the new elements? 413 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,600 What is it for the humanity? What does it mean what you are doing? 414 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:03,600 This is something I wanted to mention. In fact, it doesn't mean a thing. 415 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:08,000 Nothing. Because we can produce these elements... 416 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,480 ...in ultralow quantities. We can produce their atoms. 417 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:17,280 We are happy to produce an atom a day. 418 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:24,200 Or even an atom a month if we are talking about rare elements. 419 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,880 But anyway, we are sure that we produce them. 420 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:34,120 Because we record events which prove it. 421 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,960 We have got lots of things to do... 422 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:42,120 ...to thoroughly explore their properties. 423 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:46,000 This is why we should produce more. 424 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:49,840 10 times or even 100 times more. 1000 times more. 425 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:54,080 Then we could launch full-scale research programs. 426 00:32:55,840 --> 00:33:01,720 And they won't be anything exotic. Just regular research work. 427 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,640 But if you want to do that... 428 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:10,960 ...you should take a pause and try to figure out what you should do next. 429 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:16,040 You can't do any research if you produce an atom a day. 430 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:19,480 Your life would be too short for that. 431 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,520 This is why we came up with a surprising question. 432 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,040 10 years later... 433 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:35,080 10 years after we started experiments with super-heavy elements. 434 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,880 What would be the way we would do the same things today? 435 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,400 Not 10 years ago, but today. 436 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:48,880 We produced some super-heavy elements. We know their properties. 437 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,240 We know the ways to produce them. 438 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,400 And we know the ways you can never produce them. 439 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:02,760 This is one side of this coin. We know something. We got some knowledge. 440 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:08,080 But on the other hand, we saw major technological advances in those years. 441 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:13,120 We have got different accelerators and different sources now. 442 00:34:13,240 --> 00:34:15,160 And the computers are different. 443 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:19,440 Everything has changed a lot in those 10 years. 444 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,560 If we use our knowledge... 445 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:26,560 ...on the technological innovations of the previous 10 years... 446 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:33,720 ...we can produce 100 times more of these elements quantity-wise. 447 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:40,000 And we decided to build a factory to produce super-heavy elements. 448 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,040 We are building this laboratory now. 449 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:50,080 We hope to start the experiments at the end of next year. 450 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:55,720 Naturally, those experiments will be different from what we are doing now. 451 00:34:55,840 --> 00:35:00,320 We don't know what these experiments will be. 452 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:04,480 Everything can change on the way. This is what science is about. 453 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,040 But something is clear. 454 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:12,000 We can use this facility... 455 00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:14,840 ...to conduct 2-3 experiments a year. 456 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,200 And each of them will include thousands of events. 457 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:24,880 And then we will probably see something we can't see now... 458 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:30,440 ...because we don't have enough of these exotic elements. 459 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:34,000 This is our future. 460 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:39,360 But it means also that at this point we don't know yet... 461 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:42,920 ...what we can do with the new elements? Is that correct? 462 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:44,520 Yes, now... 463 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,400 At this moment, these new elements do nothing else... 464 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:52,520 ...but give us some fundamental scientific data. 465 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:57,560 They help us confirm... 466 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,680 ...that our knowledge of the atomic nucleus... 467 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:04,800 ...is correct. 468 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:11,480 The experimental results confirmed it in terms of quality and quantity. 469 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,840 The difference from the predicted values is within 5%. 470 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:19,560 The super-heavy elements... 471 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:23,560 ...proved 10 times more stable than predicted theoretically. 472 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,920 This is one major thing. 473 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:33,880 These experiments confirmed all the theoretical concepts. 474 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,840 Regarding the practical use of these elements... 475 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,040 I should say that the results of these experiments... 476 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:48,600 ...conducted here and in CERN... 477 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:54,280 ...are not of any practical use. These results are too hard to obtain. 478 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:59,480 You can hardly do it anywhere else. 479 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:03,440 The practical use arises... 480 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,280 ...from everything we do on the way. 481 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:12,040 You are forced to review a lot of things. 482 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:16,680 Sometimes you have to invent an electronic system which doesn't exist. 483 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:19,480 But you need it for your experiments. 484 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:23,360 Or you must design a plasma source which doesn't exist. 485 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:26,720 But you want it. Otherwise you can't do anything. 486 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,360 And there are a lot of things like that. 487 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:33,280 We must upgrade the chemical equipment... 488 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:37,960 ...which explores single atoms to define chemical properties of new elements. 489 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:42,560 We get a lot of spillover effects. 490 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:48,520 Imagine a drag behind a trawler. 491 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:51,080 And it brings you so many new fish. 492 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:58,520 Yes, we can aim for super-heavy elements. 493 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,320 Or they aim for Higgs boson in CERN. 494 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:06,000 But the research of the Higgs boson brings so many new things in other areas. 495 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:09,960 This is the practical use of this kind of research. 496 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:16,360 The point is that many talented people dedicate their lives to this program. 497 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:21,080 And this is what pushes the science forward. 498 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,560 I believe this is very important. 499 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:31,120 It's almost like alchemy. 500 00:38:31,240 --> 00:38:37,120 Yes, by the way, this is also very interesting. 501 00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:40,560 Of course, this research of new elements... 502 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:45,360 ...is sort of ancient alchemists' dream come true. 503 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:51,600 They wanted to turn lead into gold. 504 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:57,600 In order to accomplish this goal... 505 00:38:57,720 --> 00:39:01,800 ...they heated lead, hammered it... 506 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,920 ...treated it with extremely corrosive substances. 507 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:12,360 They got it right that this transformation required energy. 508 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:16,320 But they could never understand how much energy they needed. 509 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:21,840 If they hammered lead at the speed of a tenth of the speed of light... 510 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:24,640 ...they could probably accomplish their goal. 511 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:28,600 The point is... 512 00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:32,160 ...that if you want to convert an element into another one... 513 00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:34,760 ...you have to convert its atomic nucleus. 514 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:38,760 It's not about electrons. It's not about chemistry. 515 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:41,760 You must convert the atomic nucleus. 516 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:47,000 That would mean a nuclear reaction. Alchemists couldn't do anything like that. 517 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:54,360 Can you explain me the island of stability? 518 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,360 Could you elaborate on that? 519 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:00,040 Well, this is... 520 00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:06,400 The new theory put forward the following concept. 521 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:11,600 The higher the atomic number is or the heavier the element is... 522 00:40:11,720 --> 00:40:14,720 ...the shorter its half-life is going to be. 523 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:24,000 But this trend will be reversed with very high atomic numbers. 524 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,920 Because the nuclear matter is not amorphous... 525 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:31,320 ...like liquid, like a drop of water. 526 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:33,240 It has some inner structure. 527 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:38,440 And this inner structure is the reason behind the increase of the half-life. 528 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:42,560 This increase... 529 00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:47,920 This area where the elements will be stable enough was called an island. 530 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:55,680 Compared to the elements we have got now which are like a continent. 531 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:58,320 Hence this name. 532 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,600 This is why when we talk about super-heavy elements... 533 00:41:01,720 --> 00:41:05,480 ...and you ask me where they are, I would say that they are on the island. 534 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:09,280 These are island elements, if I may say so. 535 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:15,840 Like Britain is an island. These elements are somewhat similar. 536 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:19,160 Right... 537 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:25,000 Another important point is that the peak of this island is pretty high. 538 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:30,840 The elements there may be very stable. 539 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:35,760 At the moment we deal with the isotopes... 540 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:41,040 ...which are decay products of these future elements... 541 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:44,120 ...and their half-life is 30 hours. Or a day. 542 00:41:44,240 --> 00:41:46,200 But this is not the limit. 543 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:50,080 We should approach the peak of this island. But we can't do that now. 544 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:53,480 We put a lot of effort... 545 00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:57,560 ...into reaching this island and stepping on it. 546 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:00,400 But now we must climb the mountain. 547 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:06,240 One of the goals we want to accomplish at our super-heavy elements facility... 548 00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:08,560 ...is to climb this mountain. 549 00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:11,360 Of course, we are destined to lose a lot on the way. 550 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:15,160 Probably, we will produce nothing but single atoms again. 551 00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:18,720 But these atoms will be stable for a very long time. 552 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:22,440 And this is something we must do. 553 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:29,320 Since the half-life of these elements is so long... 554 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:32,200 ...can we probably find them in soil... 555 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,280 ...or in cosmic rays? 556 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:37,320 We still hope to do so. 557 00:42:38,720 --> 00:42:42,080 We keep on conducting experiments... 558 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:45,800 ...under the Alps. 559 00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:51,520 In the tunnel which joins Italy and France... 560 00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:57,200 ...there is an underground laboratory with the Alps for its roof. 561 00:42:57,320 --> 00:42:59,040 4000 meters high. 562 00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:02,800 The Alps protect this lab from cosmic rays. 563 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:08,440 We work in a clean environment. And we can record extremely rare events... 564 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:11,880 ...of super-heavy elements decaying in the natural samples... 565 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:15,400 ...if they are present there. 566 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:19,680 The instruments we are using let us record... 567 00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:22,800 ...even one decay event per year. 568 00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:26,120 This is the thing. 569 00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:28,480 Just imagine. 570 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:33,280 This is less than the concentration of gold or uranium in soil... 571 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:37,720 ...by about 17 orders of magnitude. 572 00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:41,040 17 orders of magnitude. 573 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:47,160 Other methods... 574 00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:50,040 ...Professor Flyorov developed... 575 00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:53,760 ...provide for the search for these elements in cosmic rays. 576 00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:58,240 Though not present in the solar system these elements may exist in outer space. 577 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:02,720 Or maybe these elements... 578 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:06,840 ...which were formed in the solar system 4.5 billion years ago... 579 00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:09,600 ...are being formed on other planets right now. 580 00:44:09,720 --> 00:44:12,400 And we can trace them in cosmic rays. 581 00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:17,080 By the way, the composition of these rays is similar to those we find on Earth. 582 00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:19,440 But they are younger. 583 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:24,760 And they may contain traces of these elements. This is another point. 584 00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:27,240 I mean... 585 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:33,560 ...that we don't know how high the peak of this island is. 586 00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:37,680 We don't know if this is the only island like this. 587 00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:42,200 Or if there is another one made up of even heavier elements. 588 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,280 Those would be hyper-heavy elements. 589 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:50,720 But we should understand... 590 00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:54,400 ...analyze and interpret or even predict this possibility... 591 00:44:54,520 --> 00:44:58,240 ...through the research of the things we have obtained by now. 592 00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:02,920 This is why we pin hopes... 593 00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:08,520 ...on this super-heavy element production facility. 594 00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:12,680 Factor 100 may help us... 595 00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:17,160 ...answer this question. Or not. 596 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:22,320 In that case we will have to find some other way. 597 00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:25,240 This is what scientific life is all about. 598 00:45:26,560 --> 00:45:30,080 Are there many factories like this in the world? 599 00:45:30,200 --> 00:45:33,320 None. This is the first one of its kind. 600 00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:35,600 The very first one. 601 00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:39,560 I hope there will be more. But this is the very first one. 602 00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:43,080 This is the first factory? 603 00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:45,560 We'll see how it's going to work. 604 00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:49,760 If this concept proves attractive we'll have more factories like this. 605 00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:55,960 And why is it built here? In Russia? 606 00:45:56,080 --> 00:45:58,760 Why is it built here, in Russia? In Dubna? 607 00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:03,040 But this is our idea and our concept. 608 00:46:04,400 --> 00:46:10,320 We decided to stop and redo everything from scratch. 609 00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:14,840 This is our idea and our design. 610 00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:19,800 We designed the accelerator and the rest of the instruments. 611 00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:25,360 Even the building. We designed it, too. 612 00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:29,760 This factory should be around the corner. 613 00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:33,520 Then I can stand up and go and see what's going on there. 614 00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:40,520 We presented this project to the Scientific Council. 615 00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:46,920 That was 5 years ago. 616 00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:53,000 Even 6 years ago. 617 00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:57,880 Of course, the project required significant financial investments. 618 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:03,440 It is a large-scale project. In fact, we were talking about a new laboratory. 619 00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:06,520 With a new accelerator and a whole new set-up. 620 00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:12,000 The Council approved the project. 621 00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:14,120 And we received money to go on with it. 622 00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:22,240 The JINR Scientific Council approved these investments... 623 00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:27,240 ...into one of the most promising areas of research. 624 00:47:27,360 --> 00:47:30,680 On the other hand, in the USA... 625 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:39,960 I went there twice. And we submitted a request to the Department of Energy. 626 00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:43,040 And they approved our project, too. 627 00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:48,200 The general feeling is... 628 00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:51,800 ...that it is a promising program and we should carry on. 629 00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:56,360 The factory will be another step forward in this direction. 630 00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:04,600 That's a magical thing that you created. This factory. 631 00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:08,640 No, this is... 632 00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:11,880 I think this concept made sense. 633 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:16,640 It is based on everything we already did. 634 00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:20,640 At some point we had to stop... 635 00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:26,000 ...and choose our way. This is what we do in life. 636 00:48:27,960 --> 00:48:31,880 But you are standing on the shoulders of people like Flyorov. 637 00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:36,720 Well, yes. 638 00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:43,160 I am really sorry Flyorov didn't live long enough to see it. 639 00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:48,800 Neither Flyorov nor Seaborg in the US. 640 00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:52,280 They desperately wanted to produce super-heavy elements. 641 00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:55,120 And they did a lot... 642 00:48:55,240 --> 00:48:58,080 They did a lot to make their dream come true. 643 00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:04,640 But unfortunately, we found the right way to do it when they passed away. 644 00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:11,600 Could you explain me about the elements? 645 00:49:11,720 --> 00:49:14,320 How do you make an element? 646 00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:22,640 If we want to transform an atomic nucleus I was talking about earlier... 647 00:49:22,760 --> 00:49:28,280 And we have to do it to convert an element into another one. 648 00:49:28,400 --> 00:49:33,440 Then we should manipulate it in some way. 649 00:49:35,120 --> 00:49:39,080 One of the most obvious methods is... 650 00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:44,800 ...for example to fuse two atomic nuclei. 651 00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:47,400 We should bring them into contact. 652 00:49:48,240 --> 00:49:50,440 And then... 653 00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:54,840 ...the forces of nuclear attraction will... 654 00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:58,240 ...make the bigger nucleus take up the smaller one. 655 00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:03,280 This process is called fusion. 656 00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:06,440 But first we have to bring them into contact. 657 00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:09,640 Both nuclei are positively charged. 658 00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:13,520 And we should find a way to overcome the repulsive force between them. 659 00:50:13,640 --> 00:50:17,000 This is why we must accelerate the nuclei. 660 00:50:17,120 --> 00:50:19,360 Their velocity should be high. 661 00:50:19,480 --> 00:50:23,040 About one tenth of the speed of light. 662 00:50:23,160 --> 00:50:26,600 And so, we need some machine to accelerate the nuclei. 663 00:50:26,720 --> 00:50:30,920 This machine is called an accelerator. 664 00:50:32,600 --> 00:50:37,600 Let's assume I would like to produce... 665 00:50:39,760 --> 00:50:44,160 ...element with the atomic number 100. I would take uranium I can find in soil. 666 00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:48,480 Its atomic number is 92. I will use it to make a target. 667 00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:51,320 The target will contain atoms of uranium. 668 00:50:51,440 --> 00:50:53,720 I would blast it with nuclei of oxygen. 669 00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:56,680 But I will have to accelerate the nuclei of oxygen... 670 00:50:56,800 --> 00:50:59,880 ...to the velocity of one tenth of the speed of light. 671 00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:04,120 I can't accelerate oxygen as is. Because it is neutral. 672 00:51:04,240 --> 00:51:06,600 I want its nuclei to be charged. 673 00:51:06,720 --> 00:51:10,400 Then I can use an electric field to propel them. 674 00:51:10,520 --> 00:51:15,240 This is the reason I have to inject the oxygen into plasma... 675 00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:18,120 ...which will strip electrons from the nuclei. 676 00:51:18,240 --> 00:51:21,320 Without an electron a nucleus will have a charge of +1. 677 00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:24,640 Without two electrons it will have a charge of +2 etc. 678 00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:32,120 The hotter the plasma is the more electrons I can pull away. 679 00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:36,000 This is what I call an ion source. 680 00:51:36,120 --> 00:51:40,960 It helps us convert a neutrally charged atom into an ion with a positive charge. 681 00:51:41,080 --> 00:51:45,160 Then I am taking this ion out... 682 00:51:45,280 --> 00:51:49,960 ...and I am putting it into an acceleration chamber. 683 00:51:51,040 --> 00:51:54,920 The ions accelerate in an electric field. 684 00:51:56,000 --> 00:52:00,120 You have to apply an electric field to propel them. 685 00:52:00,240 --> 00:52:03,800 There are two ways to do that. 686 00:52:03,920 --> 00:52:07,480 You can build a very long accelerator... 687 00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:11,040 ...with the electrodes placed along the pipe. 688 00:52:11,160 --> 00:52:16,200 Slow particles will be propelled to one tenth of the speed of light at its end. 689 00:52:16,320 --> 00:52:21,520 Or you can make the particles travel in a circular path. 690 00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:24,080 But you need a magnetic field to do that. 691 00:52:24,200 --> 00:52:27,920 You need a large magnet like those you can see in the accelerators. 692 00:52:28,040 --> 00:52:30,480 They hold the ions to their trajectory. 693 00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:34,800 This magnet is about 4 meters in diameter. 694 00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:40,040 It generates a magnetic field. 695 00:52:40,160 --> 00:52:43,520 It makes the ions travel in a circular path. 696 00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:48,320 There are also two electrodes which generate an electric field in the chamber. 697 00:52:48,440 --> 00:52:52,200 The electric field accelerates the ions. 698 00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:54,880 But you need to synchronize the process. 699 00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:57,320 You need to accelerate the ion here... 700 00:52:57,440 --> 00:53:00,400 ...and accelerate it again half way through the circle. 701 00:53:01,360 --> 00:53:04,080 This is the reason we want alternating voltage. 702 00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:07,880 It is alternate and not constant. 703 00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:13,160 The voltage cycles should be in sync with the movement of the ions. 704 00:53:13,280 --> 00:53:18,000 Accumulating energy of the ion will make it move outwards. 705 00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:24,040 Its trajectory will look like a spiral path outwards from the center. 706 00:53:24,160 --> 00:53:26,560 And when the ion reaches the rim... 707 00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:32,640 ...two meters away from the center it will accumulate the maximum energy. 708 00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:37,800 Then we should take the ion out of the chamber and send it to the target. 709 00:53:37,920 --> 00:53:40,600 It is the operating principle of an accelerator. 710 00:53:40,720 --> 00:53:44,480 It is called an orbit accelerator or a cyclotron. 711 00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:48,800 The particles travel in a circular path. Their trajectory is spiral. 712 00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:53,040 This spiral path is several kilometers long. 713 00:53:54,360 --> 00:53:59,400 An ion completes about a hundred circles. 714 00:53:59,520 --> 00:54:04,280 And this is enough to propel it to a one tenth of the speed of light. 715 00:54:04,400 --> 00:54:10,280 Then this ion can come to the atomic nucleus of uranium close enough. 716 00:54:10,400 --> 00:54:13,120 They can fuse. 717 00:54:13,240 --> 00:54:16,280 As a result of this fusion we can add up... 718 00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:21,520 ...Element 92 and Element 8 to produce Element 100. 719 00:54:22,560 --> 00:54:28,760 Of course, there's a chance that they won't fuse. Or some may fuse partially. 720 00:54:28,880 --> 00:54:35,000 But these will be side effects and products we are not interested in. 721 00:54:35,120 --> 00:54:37,480 And we should get rid of those... 722 00:54:37,640 --> 00:54:42,840 ...to see what we want to see. And we want to see Element 100. 723 00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:46,680 When we talk about super-heavy elements... 724 00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:52,800 ...we should get rid of a trillion of side products. 725 00:54:52,920 --> 00:54:55,760 A single atom and a trillion of side products. 726 00:54:55,880 --> 00:54:59,040 This is the reason these experiments are so complicated. 727 00:54:59,160 --> 00:55:03,440 We must ensure ultimate selectivity. 728 00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:06,560 And so... 729 00:55:07,680 --> 00:55:11,560 ...this process... 730 00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:15,840 ...of accelerating, bombardment, and fusion... 731 00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:19,520 ...is the principle behind the production of super-heavy elements. 732 00:55:19,640 --> 00:55:22,800 There is another issue with super-heavy elements. 733 00:55:22,920 --> 00:55:26,320 I gave you an example of uranium. 734 00:55:26,440 --> 00:55:28,640 We can find uranium in soil. 735 00:55:28,760 --> 00:55:31,320 But we want artificial elements to produce super-heavy ones. 736 00:55:31,440 --> 00:55:34,080 And they don't exist in nature. 737 00:55:34,200 --> 00:55:36,600 Plutonium, curium. 738 00:55:36,720 --> 00:55:39,880 You need a very powerful reactor to synthesize those. 739 00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:44,280 And so, you utilize both reactors and accelerators. 740 00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:48,000 You want a reactor to produce a target. 741 00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:53,520 You breed material for your target there. 742 00:55:53,640 --> 00:55:56,320 Then you place the target into your machine. 743 00:55:56,440 --> 00:56:01,120 Then you accelerate the ions to produce new elements. 744 00:56:02,560 --> 00:56:05,680 This is what makes these experiments so complicated. 745 00:56:05,800 --> 00:56:10,480 They get even more complicated when the half-life of the target is short. 746 00:56:12,640 --> 00:56:17,520 On the one hand, you want more neutrons in your target. 747 00:56:17,640 --> 00:56:22,400 On the other hand, the more neutrons you have the shorter its half-life is. 748 00:56:22,520 --> 00:56:25,480 We set a record. 749 00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:28,080 I mean the element with the atomic number 117. 750 00:56:29,400 --> 00:56:31,440 The target was made of berkelium. 751 00:56:31,560 --> 00:56:34,760 The half-life of this isotope is 300 days long. 752 00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:41,360 This is why when we prepared this experiment... 753 00:56:41,480 --> 00:56:44,920 ...first, we had to breed enough material. 754 00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:49,480 And the reactor should have been powerful enough. 755 00:56:49,600 --> 00:56:54,360 Then we had to separate the material chemically. 756 00:56:54,480 --> 00:56:59,200 Then we had to bring the isotope from one hemisphere to the other one. 757 00:56:59,320 --> 00:57:01,840 Then we had to install the target... 758 00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:05,920 ...and bombard it for another 300 days. 759 00:57:08,640 --> 00:57:12,200 When we got our first results, many American colleagues said... 760 00:57:12,320 --> 00:57:18,640 ...that it was a tour de force. 761 00:57:18,760 --> 00:57:24,560 Other isotopes had longer half-life. Working with them was easier. 762 00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:29,280 This is more or less what it looks like. 763 00:57:29,400 --> 00:57:33,320 Ok. I understand. Could you also explain to me in simple terms... 764 00:57:33,440 --> 00:57:36,400 ...what is the classical theory? 765 00:57:36,520 --> 00:57:40,200 This is a very good question. 766 00:57:45,720 --> 00:57:49,160 The history of nuclear physics... 767 00:57:50,000 --> 00:57:53,160 ...dates back... 768 00:57:53,280 --> 00:57:57,720 ...to March 7, 1911. 769 00:57:57,840 --> 00:58:03,320 That day Ernest Rutherford attended... 770 00:58:03,440 --> 00:58:07,640 ...a meeting of the Manchester Philosophical Society and said: 771 00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:10,440 'I believe this is what an atom looks like.' 772 00:58:10,560 --> 00:58:14,880 'There is a small and dense nucleus in its center.' 773 00:58:15,000 --> 00:58:18,240 'It is positively charged.' 774 00:58:18,360 --> 00:58:21,360 'And the electrons orbit it at some distance.' 775 00:58:21,480 --> 00:58:24,360 'And they are negatively charged.' 776 00:58:24,480 --> 00:58:29,360 Nobody could understand the structure of the atom before. 777 00:58:29,480 --> 00:58:32,440 There are electrons which are charged negatively. 778 00:58:32,560 --> 00:58:36,640 But an atom is neutral. That means there is something positively charged inside. 779 00:58:36,760 --> 00:58:41,080 But how can positive and negative charges co-exist? 780 00:58:41,200 --> 00:58:46,080 The opposites should attract and annihilate. 781 00:58:47,400 --> 00:58:52,480 Rutherford likened the atomic structure to the solar system. 782 00:58:52,600 --> 00:58:56,800 Planets orbit the Sun. But it's all about gravity in space. 783 00:58:56,920 --> 00:59:00,280 And here we deal with electromagnetic interaction. 784 00:59:00,400 --> 00:59:03,440 The dense nucleus is charged positively. 785 00:59:03,560 --> 00:59:07,080 And the electrons orbit it. 786 00:59:10,720 --> 00:59:17,560 His concept was not immediately understood or accepted. 787 00:59:18,640 --> 00:59:23,840 But as the physicists including Rutherford himself looked into the issue... 788 00:59:23,960 --> 00:59:31,440 ...they discovered proofs of this concept which was called a planetary model. 789 00:59:35,240 --> 00:59:41,640 In fact, the nucleus is small, round, and dense. 790 00:59:42,680 --> 00:59:45,600 The nucleus is incondensable. 791 00:59:45,720 --> 00:59:48,440 You can't condense it. 792 00:59:48,560 --> 00:59:52,240 Ions bounce off it but can't condense it. 793 00:59:53,200 --> 00:59:56,280 And then, back in 1928... 794 00:59:56,840 --> 00:59:59,960 ...our compatriot... 795 01:00:00,080 --> 01:00:05,320 ...who later became a famous American scientist, George Gamow... 796 01:00:07,320 --> 01:00:12,880 ...said that a nucleus is similar to a drop of liquid. 797 01:00:16,720 --> 01:00:20,760 To a drop of water. Though a tiny one. 798 01:00:20,880 --> 01:00:25,160 But it's denser than water by 15 orders of magnitude. 799 01:00:26,920 --> 01:00:30,320 And he suggested a liquid drop nuclear model. 800 01:00:30,440 --> 01:00:36,280 In fact, a nucleus has got a distinct shape. It is spherical. 801 01:00:38,160 --> 01:00:40,440 It is incondensable. 802 01:00:43,160 --> 01:00:48,840 I would call this a rather bold metaphor. 803 01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:53,760 Because a liquid drop is a macro object. 804 01:00:53,880 --> 01:00:56,880 And a nucleus is a micro object. 805 01:00:57,000 --> 01:01:01,320 Macro objects are subject to Newton mechanical laws. 806 01:01:01,440 --> 01:01:04,400 Micro objects are subject to Einstein laws. 807 01:01:05,880 --> 01:01:11,600 And we compare a nucleus to a macro object. 808 01:01:13,600 --> 01:01:19,240 But that model proved extremely efficient. 809 01:01:20,120 --> 01:01:24,200 It helped us predict the discovery of atomic binding energy. 810 01:01:24,320 --> 01:01:27,840 It likened particles to molecules of water. 811 01:01:27,960 --> 01:01:32,720 It helped us predict the fission phenomenon. 812 01:01:36,440 --> 01:01:40,440 It helped us predict some decay events. 813 01:01:41,680 --> 01:01:44,120 In this way it is a classical one. 814 01:01:44,240 --> 01:01:49,400 We apply a classical metaphor of a liquid drop to a nucleus. 815 01:01:49,520 --> 01:01:51,360 But... 816 01:01:51,480 --> 01:01:54,560 ...a liquid drop is amorphous. 817 01:01:54,680 --> 01:01:57,000 It has got no inner structure. 818 01:01:58,440 --> 01:02:01,960 And later we found out that a nucleus has got an inner structure. 819 01:02:02,080 --> 01:02:06,880 This inner structure is the only reason we can produce super-heavy elements. 820 01:02:07,840 --> 01:02:11,880 Without it we could never produce any of them. 821 01:02:12,000 --> 01:02:17,840 Because the classical theory likens a nucleus to a liquid drop... 822 01:02:17,960 --> 01:02:22,520 ...and gives us an exact limit. There can be no elements heavier than 100. 823 01:02:23,800 --> 01:02:27,960 All the heavier ones were produced because the nucleus has a structure. 824 01:02:28,080 --> 01:02:31,720 The matter has got its inner structure. 825 01:02:33,040 --> 01:02:38,520 I am going to try and help you visualize this structure. Imagine a liquid drop. 826 01:02:38,640 --> 01:02:43,040 And now imagine a snowflake inside this liquid drop. 827 01:02:43,160 --> 01:02:46,480 The snowflake is sort of a carcass. 828 01:02:48,360 --> 01:02:51,960 It may be tiny but it is still a carcass. 829 01:02:52,080 --> 01:02:56,720 And when you approach the limit of nuclear stability... 830 01:02:56,840 --> 01:03:00,960 ...when the repulsive forces of positively charged protons... 831 01:03:01,080 --> 01:03:04,200 ...equal the attraction forces... 832 01:03:04,560 --> 01:03:11,560 ...this tiny carcass makes a very heavy nucleus stable. 833 01:03:11,680 --> 01:03:18,320 This is the fundamental base of the island of stability of super-heavy nuclei. 834 01:03:18,440 --> 01:03:21,360 This is what the classical theory is about. 835 01:03:21,480 --> 01:03:24,840 The later theory which considers the atomic structure... 836 01:03:24,960 --> 01:03:29,000 ...was called a microscopic theory or a quantum theory. 837 01:03:50,280 --> 01:03:56,920 This is something we can call the body of evidence of the nuclear physics. 838 01:03:57,040 --> 01:04:01,920 For the last 3.000 years. Everything we know today. 839 01:04:02,880 --> 01:04:06,200 Some experts say that we can go back to 6000 years. 840 01:04:06,320 --> 01:04:09,080 Just imagine the potential. 841 01:04:10,440 --> 01:04:13,880 The black squares here are... 842 01:04:14,000 --> 01:04:18,240 ...the nuclei of the elements which occur naturally in soil. 843 01:04:18,360 --> 01:04:21,720 They were formed with the Earth itself... 844 01:04:21,840 --> 01:04:25,760 ...4.5 billion years ago. 845 01:04:26,560 --> 01:04:31,840 You can follow these black squares up to lead and bismuth. 846 01:04:33,080 --> 01:04:35,440 There are no black squares after those. 847 01:04:35,560 --> 01:04:37,720 You can see a narrow neck... 848 01:04:37,840 --> 01:04:42,520 ...and an area we call a peninsula. 849 01:04:44,400 --> 01:04:48,880 You can see some black squares in the middle of it. 850 01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:51,560 These are thorium and uranium. 851 01:04:51,680 --> 01:04:56,440 They came into existence together with planet Earth, too. 852 01:04:56,560 --> 01:05:01,280 But they decay right before our eyes. 853 01:05:02,240 --> 01:05:05,120 Both thorium and uranium are radioactive elements. 854 01:05:05,240 --> 01:05:08,800 And this is the end of it. No more black squares. 855 01:05:08,920 --> 01:05:13,880 The colors turn light. 856 01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:15,560 It's almost white now. 857 01:05:15,680 --> 01:05:19,600 That means that the half-life of these elements is very short. 858 01:05:19,720 --> 01:05:26,120 You can see 22 grades of their half-life. 859 01:05:26,280 --> 01:05:29,480 From black to blue. 860 01:05:29,600 --> 01:05:31,480 The blue color stands for the atoms... 861 01:05:31,600 --> 01:05:34,880 ...with the half-life of less than one microsecond. 862 01:05:35,000 --> 01:05:39,120 The black color stands for stability. Lead is the last black square. 863 01:05:39,240 --> 01:05:43,360 It is followed by the peninsula with uranium and bismuth on it. 864 01:05:43,480 --> 01:05:49,480 Then we see transuranium elements which are produced in the reactors. 865 01:05:49,600 --> 01:05:52,720 These are the elements bred in the US reactors... 866 01:05:52,840 --> 01:05:56,800 ...which we bring here to make targets and produce super-heavy elements. 867 01:05:56,920 --> 01:06:02,080 And if you look even higher you can see a small sand bank... 868 01:06:03,280 --> 01:06:07,720 ...and a big island. This is the island of stability. 869 01:06:07,840 --> 01:06:10,800 The island of stability of super-heavy elements. 870 01:06:10,920 --> 01:06:15,800 This island is a concept which haunted scientists for many years. 871 01:06:15,920 --> 01:06:18,240 Does it exist or not? 872 01:06:18,360 --> 01:06:20,720 Yes, it does exist. 873 01:06:21,760 --> 01:06:26,760 We stepped on this island and we produced six elements... 874 01:06:27,200 --> 01:06:31,040 ...and 16 different nuclei or isotopes of these elements. 875 01:06:31,160 --> 01:06:34,480 We probed this island in many places. 876 01:06:34,600 --> 01:06:39,760 And we proved that it is in fact an island of stability. 877 01:06:40,680 --> 01:06:42,880 This is what it's all about.