Four new elements were added to the periodic table

Every single science textbook in the world is now out of date after four new elements were added to the periodic table, finally completing the seventh row.

Elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 were added at the very end of 2015, marking the first time new atoms have been added to the table since 2011.



The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) deemed that there was sufficient evidence provided by the researchers to claim the discovery of the four new elements. It approved the new elements on December 30.

Element 113, which has a temporary working name of ununtrium and a symbol Uut, was discovered by a Japanese team at the Riken Institute.

Elements 115, 117, and 118, which have the temporary working names of ununpentium, ununseptium and ununoctium respectively, were discovered by Russian and American researchers.

Kosuke Morita, the leader of the Riken team, smiles as he points to a board displaying the new atomic element 113 during a press conference in Wako, Saitama prefecture on December 31, 2015.
Kazuhiro Nogi | AFP | Getty Images
Kosuke Morita, the leader of the Riken team, smiles as he points to a board displaying the new atomic element 113 during a press conference in Wako, Saitama prefecture on December 31, 2015.
The new elements, which are all man-made, fill out the seventh row of the periodic table, where elements are ranked according to their atomic number - the number of protons in their nucleus.

"The chemistry community is eager to see its most cherished table finally being completed down to the seventh row," Professor Jan Reedijk, president of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of IUPAC, said in a press release.

"IUPAC has now initiated the process of formalizing names and symbols for these elements temporarily named as ununtrium, (Uut or element 113), ununpentium (Uup, element 115), ununseptium (Uus, element 117), and ununoctium (Uuo, element 118)" said Professor Jan Reedijk, President of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of IUPAC.

New elements can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, a property or a scientist.

The proposed names and two-letter symbols will be presented for public review for five months after which the IUPAC will make a final decision.

Education giant Pearson said that it would make any changes to its textbooks.

"We regularly review our course materials and textbooks to ensure they are up to date, and any changes that need to be made will be done at the appropriate moment to ensure the best learning outcomes for schools and students," a spokesperson for the company told CNBC.

Space and Alien Snowfest

Unidentified flying objects. They’re one of the most mysterious phenomena on Earth, or off. Are they extraterrestrial spacecraft? Secret government plane tests? If you’ve ever wondered about the truth behind UFOs, you may be in luck.

The Space and Alien Snowfest ufology conference is coming to Big Bear Feb. 5-7. The conference features special guests George Noory and producer Tom Danheiser of the Coast to Coast AM radio show, along with Jason Martell, Mike Bara and Linda Moulton Howe, who have each appeared on the History Channel show “Ancient Aliens.” Other guests include ufologists Stanton Friedman, Micah Hanks, Richard Dolan and Chase Kloetzke.



The conference will include panel and audience discussions, as well as presentations from the various guests. The Space and Alien Snowfest will take place at the Big Bear Lake Convention Center at 42900 Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear Lake. Tickets for the whole weekend are $209, or single day tickets are available for $99. Visit www.aliensnowfest.com for more information. Call 909-648-5776 for tickets.

Aliens invade — in an exhibit

Inside the city's GardenWalk center, in the suite formerly occupied by Tommy Bahama, is a new walk-through exhibition called "Encounters: U.F.O. Experience," which organizers call a beginner's course to ufology — the study of visual records and other alleged evidence of unidentified flying objects — that will appeal to both children and adults.

"This is a 101 on UFOs," said Brian Bouquet, a San Juan Capistrano resident who curated the content and created the storyline.

The exhibition, which opened Jan. 1 and is tentatively scheduled to run through May 31, features galleries containing replicas of artifacts related to ufology, as well as videos and informative text, all in about 3,800 square feet.


A vampire squid is among the various alien specimens on display. (Kevin Chang / Weekend)

After passing the entrance, which is highlighted with a replica E.T. from the 1982 classic film, patrons go into a gallery dedicated to the "ancient aliens" hypothesis, which theorized that extraterrestrials visited Earth and influenced early humanity.

Inside, viewers can learn about the mysterious Moai statues on Easter Island, the Nazca Lines in Peru and Pumapunku in Bolivia, where precisely cut stones held together without any mortar has some theorizing that advanced alien technology served as an aid in the construction.


Alien specimens align a wall at the "Encounters: U.F.O. Experience" exhibit. (Kevin Chang / Weekend)

"We don't have even modern cranes that can lift the heavy rocks into those positions," Bouquet said.

The second room, which Bouquet considers the "Area 51 military room," brings viewers into the modern era of ufology, beginning in the 1940s to the 1950s. During that time, the term "flying saucers" came into the general lexicon, and government entities like the military began paying attention to reports of UFO sightings.

Among the displays is information about the Roswell, N.M., incident of 1947 when, some believe, the U.S. military recovered a crashed alien spacecraft and bodies. Replicas of the Roswell Daily Record are among the artifacts, and the different classifications of alien encounters and UFO sightings are described.


News articles of Roswell, New Mexico from 1947. (Kevin Chang / Weekend)

Around the corner is the "sightings gallery," where a video plays UFO eyewitness testimonies. Another video shows footage of spacecrafts and asks viewers to determine if what they are seeing could be real or is a known hoax.

And, particularly for kids, Bouquet said, is the alien body whose "guts" can be touched.

The gallery also includes a room where guests can listen with headphones to real 911 calls — 82 in total — from people reporting UFOs.

The final room is dubbed the "abduction gallery," meant to look like the inside of an alien mothership. It holds preserved species inside jars and attempts to explain ufology from the 1970s to the present day, including some tie-ins to pop culture.

Getting into the abduction gallery involves going past the door marked "Do not enter: Alien autopsy occurring" and walking through a small tunnel where a fog machine offers an eerie feel. The tunnel, Bouquet said, is meant to re-create the feeling of abductees who report seeing a white light and feeling disoriented.

Before exiting the exhibition, viewers can take pictures next to a menacing alien from the "Alien" films.

An "escape room" experience, themed as fleeing from an alien abduction, is expected to open in the coming weeks. It will have a separate admission fee.

"Encounters: U.F.O. Experience" came to Anaheim after runs in Arizona and South Carolina. About 1,000 people have seen it so far in Orange County, and nearly 40,000 viewed it during its three-week run in Arizona, Bouquet said.

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IF YOU GO

What: "Encounters: U.F.O. Experience"

Where: Anaheim GardenWalk, Suite 132, 321 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim

When: 2 to 9 p.m. Sundays and Tuesdays through Thursdays; noon to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Closed Mondays.

Cost: $12 for adults, $8 for children. Children under 8 are free. Audio guides are $2. The exhibition is offering a limited-time Groupon special: two adults for $14.

Information: ufoexhibition.com or (310) 902-5461.

Tim Peake says aliens are REAL and there's 'high chance' of humans discovering extraterrestrial life

08:51, 15 JAN 2016 UPDATED 10:15, 15 JAN 2016 The Mirror
BY JASPER HAMILL
Major Tim says he's confident that we're not alone in the universe and makes an astonishing prediction


It's life Tim, but not as we know it: Peake is a 'firm believer' in extraterrestrial life

Astronaut Tim Peake is set to join a handful of British astronauts who have performed a space walk.

But the Chichester-born spaceman has said that his incredible journey is just one small step in a longer mission which could eventually result in humans discovering life on another planet.

Peake said he was confident scientists would soon crack the "big question" of whether we are alone in the universe.

"There is a high chance we will soon discover there was - or is - life in our solar system," the 43-year-old told Mirror Online.

"I would be very surprised if there wasn't life elsewhere in the universe."

However, the astronaut said he didn't expect little green men to suddenly pop up from the craters of the Red Planet.

"Single cell life forms might be found on Mars," he continued.

Tim also suggested extraterrestrial organisms might be found on the moons of Saturn or Jupiter, some of which are thought to hide vast oceans of water.

He said: "Wherever there is water, there is the possibility of life."

On December 15, the former military test pilot blasted off on a mission to the International Space Station, leaving his wife and two sons back on Earth.

Speaking from Kazakhstan, Tim said his decision to fly into space was "not taken lightly" and had prompted "serious discussions" with his wife.

"There is risk involved and it's not easy," he confessed.

"In the last year, we've seen supply vehicles which haven't made it into orbit.

"It would be unnatural if my family weren't worried about me going into space, but they are very supportive."

In less than a fortnight, Tim will blast off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket to begin his six-month stay on the International Space Station .