Loveland's work relies on cold fusion, which uses an accelerator to slam atoms together. Their high speeds overcome repelling charges that normally keep the atoms apart. Loveland and 14 other researchers fused atoms of lead and krypton together with a cyclotron to form the new elements. It may sound like a confusing chemical reaction, but put simply, it's elementary. At the core of the elements are the protons.
Protons are the positively charged particles found in the center of all atoms.
Together with neutrons, which don't carry a charge, the two make up the nucleus of atoms. Negatively charged electrons float around the nucleus, attracted to the positively charged center of the atom. The Periodic Table ranks elements in order of their atomic number, which is the number of protons the element has in its nucleus. The more protons an element has, the heavier it is. Krypton is, like helium, considered a noble gas that doesn't react chemically.