We're getting close to the end of the chemical elements, my peeps! Are you excited? Are you wondering what I plan to do next? Do you have suggestions for what you wish me to next focus upon?

This week, we meet the element darmstadtium, which has the atomic symbol, Ds, and the atomic number 110. Originally known by its temporary name, ununnilium, this element is named for the city of Darmstadt, Germany, where it was discovered.

Darmstadtium is a super-heavy element that has only ever seen in the laboratory -- and even then, seeing it is no accident: it exists only because it was specially created, one atom at a time. This element is predicted to be solid at room temperature, although it is so unstable that this quality is difficult to document. Darmstadtium is predicted to be a noble metal -- resistant to corrosion and oxidation in moist air -- but this has not confirmed.

Darmstadtium is highly unstable and radioactive. Eight isotopes have been observed so far, most of which have half-lives ranging between seconds and milliseconds. This element decays by releasing a high-energy helium nucleus (alpha decay), although some isotopes will sometimes decay by giving rise to smaller elements (spontaneous fission).

Darmstadtium was originally created in 1994 by a team at Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt Germany. The team used a linear accelerator to bombard lead-208 with nickel-62 nuclei. After one week -- and after at least a billion billion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) nickel ions -- one atom of the isotope darmstadtium-269 was detected. This lone atom winked out of existence 260 microseconds later by emitting an alpha particle, which transformed it into hassium-265.

Darmstadtium was almost named wixhausium (atomic symbol Wi), after the Wixhausen suburb of Darmstadt where GSI is located, and rumour has it that it was almost named politzium since 110 is the emergency number used to contact the police (Polizei) in Germany. (Personally, I prefer that last name to all the others.)

This element, which has no uses whatsoever, has received scant attention since then.

Here's our favourite chemistry professor and some of his friends at GSI, telling us a teensy bit more about this ephemeral element:

[Video link]

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Video journalist Brady Haran is the man with the camera and the University of Nottingham is the place with the chemists. You can follow Brady on twitter @periodicvideos and the University of Nottingham on twitter @UniofNottingham

You've already met these elements:

Meitnerium: Mt, atomic number 109

Hassium: Hs, atomic number 108

Bohrium: Bh, atomic number 107

Seaborgium: Sg, atomic number 106

Dubnium: Db, atomic number 105

Rutherfordium: Rf, atomic number 104

Lawrencium: Lw, atomic number 103

Nobelium: No, atomic number 102

Mendelevium: Md, atomic number 101

Fermium: Fm, atomic number 100

Einsteinium: Es, atomic number 99

Californium: Cf, atomic number 98

Berkelium: Bk, atomic number 97

Curium: Cm, atomic number 96

Americium: Am, atomic number 95

Plutonium: Pu, atomic number 94

Neptunium: Np, atomic number 93

Uranium: U, atomic number 92

Protactinium: Pa, atomic number 91

Thorium: Th, atomic number 90

Actinium: Ac, atomic number 89

Radium: Ra, atomic number 88

Francium: Fr, atomic number 87

Radon: Rn, atomic number 86

Astatine: As, atomic number 85

Polonium: Po, atomic number 84

Bismuth: Bi, atomic number 83

Lead: Pb, atomic number 82

Thallium: Tl, atomic number 81

Mercury: Hg, atomic number 80

Gold: Au, atomic number 79

Platinum: Pt, atomic number 78

Iridium: Ir, atomic number 77

Osmium: Os, atomic number 76

Rhenium: Re, atomic number 75

Tungsten: W, atomic number 74

Tantalum: Ta, atomic number 73

Hafnium: Hf, atomic number 72

Lutetium: Lu, atomic number 71

Ytterbium: Yb, atomic number 70

Thulium: Tm, atomic number 69

Erbium: Er, atomic number 68

Holmium: Ho, atomic number 67

Dysprosium: Dy, atomic number 66

Terbium: Tb, atomic number 65

Gadolinium: Gd, atomic number 64

Europium: Eu, atomic number 63

Samarium: Sm, atomic number 62

Promethium: Pm, atomic number 61

Neodymium: Nd, atomic number 60

Praseodymium: Pr, atomic number 59

Cerium: Ce, atomic number 58

Lanthanum: La, atomic number 57

Barium: Ba, atomic number 56

Cæsium: Cs, atomic number 55

Xenon: Xe, atomic number 54

Iodine: I, atomic number 53

Tellurium: Te, atomic number 52

Antimony: Sb, atomic number 51

Tin: Sn, atomic number 50

Indium: In, atomic number 49

Cadmium: Cd, atomic number 48

Silver: Ag, atomic number 47

Palladium: Pd, atomic number 46

Rhodium: Rh, atomic number 45

Ruthenium: Ru, atomic number 44

Technetium: Tc, atomic number 43

Molybdenum: Mo, atomic number 42

Niobium: Ni, atomic number 41

Zirconium: Zr, atomic number 40

Yttrium: Y, atomic number 39

Strontium: Sr, atomic number 38

Rubidium: Rr, atomic number 37

Krypton: Kr, atomic number 36

Bromine: Br, atomic number 35

Selenium: Se, atomic number 34

Arsenic: As, atomic number 33

Germanium: Ge, atomic number 32

Gallium: Ga, atomic number 31

Zinc: Zn, atomic number 30

Copper: Cu, atomic number 29

Nickel: Ni, atomic number 28

Cobalt: Co, atomic number 27

Iron: Fe, atomic number 26

Manganese: Mn, atomic number 25

Chromium: Cr, atomic number 24

Vanadium: V, atomic number 23

Titanium: Ti, atomic number 22

Scandium: Sc, atomic number 21

Calcium: Ca, atomic number 20

Potassium: K, atomic number 19

Argon: Ar, atomic number 18

Chlorine: Cl, atomic number 17

Sulfur: S, atomic number 16

Phosphorus: P, atomic number 15

Silicon: Si, atomic number 14

Aluminium: Al, atomic number 13

Magnesium: Mg, atomic number 12

Sodium: Na, atomic number 11

Neon: Ne, atomic number 10

Fluorine: F, atomic number 9

Oxygen: O, atomic number 8

Nitrogen: N, atomic number 7

Carbon: C, atomic number 6

Boron: B, atomic number 5

Beryllium: Be, atomic number 4

Lithium: Li, atomic number 3

Helium: He, atomic number 2

Hydrogen: H, atomic number 1

Here's the Royal Society of Chemistry's interactive Periodic Table of the Elements that is just really really fun to play with!

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GrrlScientist can also be found here: Maniraptora. She's very active on twitter @GrrlScientist and sometimes lurks on social media: facebook, G+, LinkedIn, Pinterest.