Evening star., 1950-09-08
Chemists Try to Rebuild
Five. Vanished Elements
Use Certain to Be Limited
For Scientific Studies
By Thomos r. Henry


CHICAGO. Sept. s-Chemists are try
ing to rebuild five elements, vanished
from the earth for at least three billion
years.
When neptunium and plutonium, the
latter the essential ingredient Of the
atomic bomb, were created out Of
uranium, long path was opened into
the future. In quick succession four
other elements have been created In
the great cyclotron Of the University
Of California-americiunn, curium, berke.
num and californian.
But even these, according to reports
Of DR.. Glenn T. Seaborg and his as
sociates to the American Chemical
Society here, are only the beginning.
Berkelium and californian both can be
bombarded with alpha particles. the
nuclei OF helium atoms, and still heavier
elements created.
Total Of 103 Possible.
Present calculations indicate that i've
more steps will be possible until total
Of 103 elements Is reached. Until six
years ago only 90 were known, ending
with uranium. These are all that exist
in natural state on earth, although there
may be minute traces Of plutonium and
uePGuulum IN Cne rOCKS.
Each successive new atom will be
heavier. containing more protons and
neutrons in its nucleus. Also each will
be shorter-lived. It can be predicted
that element 103 will have a half life
OF only a few seconds, compared with
about five years for berkelium and
californian. DR.. Seaborg and his as
sociates hope to produce, at the best.
only the minuteSt traces Of the new
fundamental substances. They will be
hardly visible under high-powered mag
niflcation but can be traced by their be-
havior. All the remaining five will bs
extremely "hot."
The possible amounts which can be
produced will be altogether too small to
be OF any practical use, except for
scientific studies. One point Of interest
is that they probably already exist az
contaminants In the plutonium of an
atomic bomb and may have considerable
influence on its behavior.
The existence of the five undiscovered
elements can be predicted almost with
certainty because they belong In GER
tain series leading upward from actin
ium, thorium and uranium. There is no
absolute assurance that there may not
be still heavier elements, but they can
not be predicted because they would
fall into new and still unknown series.
h
Radioactive cortisone and adrenalin
now have been synthesized.
Both are hormones produced by the
adrenal glands. The former, which
promises to be specific cure for most
forms Of arthritis and host Of other
ailments, remains one Of the scarcest
substances in creation. Used only in
thousandths of grams. the supply still
Is 1000-fold too small to meet the de-
mand for drug which often means the
difference between life and death.
Adrenalin is one of the major regulators
Of the processes of life.
Up to now the action Of both has
been little understood. 1t was impossible
to trace them through the body. With
the radioactive forms, produced by at
taching exploding atoms to their mole
culeS 1t will be possible to follow them
step by step.
Hydrogen Bomb Material.
The radioactive cortisone contains
tritiun, the radioactive triple-eight
hydrogen which lately has come into
much prominence as the probable ma
terial to be used in the still-hypothetical
hydrogen bomb. The synthesis was &C.
complished by biochemists Of the
Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer
Research of New York City, according
to the report of DR.. T. F: Gallagher to
the American Chemical Society.
Use of the exploding cortisone still
is in its infancy, but important results
already have been obtained with the
radioactive adrenalin. Chemists of the
Rheumatic Fever Research Institute Of
Northwestern University are using it to
trace the processes by which this hor-
none increases blood pressure stimu-
lates the heart, and is involved In the
transmission Of nerve impulses. The
evidence to date indicates that it is
transformed into at least five different
substances in the body. Because of its
radioactivity it can be traced to every
organ it affects.
Studies on the Identification of these
substances now are In progress.