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David Bradley is a first-class science writer from the UK, who writes with a chemistry slant at his blog Sciencebase. He’s also an interesting guy to follow on Twitter, and coined the term “Scientwists.” David also must be incredibly creative (or have more time on his hands than I could ever imagine) as he has created a Periodic Table of Science Bloggers. There you’ll find over 100 different science blogs, covering topics from astrobiology to zoology. While the blogs aren’t listed in topical groups similar to how the elements on the real periodic table are grouped, most are listed as an element whose abbreviation comes close to the blog or blogger’s name. For example, Universe Today is listed as “Uut – Ununtrium.” Check out this very cool periodic table to expand your horizons and bit and find some new blogs and new subjects to read about.
I have to admit I hadn’t heard of Ununtrium before, but here’s what it is:
“Ununtrium is the temporary name of a synthetic element with the temporary symbol Uut and atomic number 113.”
“It is placed as the heaviest member of the group 13 (IIIA) elements although a sufficiently stable isotope is not known at this time that would allow chemical experiments to confirm its position. It was first detected in 2003 in the decay of element 115 and was synthesized directly in 2004. Only eight atoms of ununtrium have been observed to date. The longest-lived isotope known is 284Uut with a half-life of ~500 ms, although two newly discovered heavier isotopes probably have longer half-lives.”
While Ununtrium is nothing like Universe Today — which is one of the longest-lasting blogs (over 10 years!) — the abbreviation fit well!