Question: What was the most recent element found?

Iain Moal answered on 13 Mar 2014:

Hi,
The last one I know about was in 2000, called ununhexium or livermorium. It was made on purpose in a nuclear reactor, and only a few atoms were made, which fell apart is a few thousandths of a second. The last elements that were found, and not made on purpose, were einstienium and fermium, which were detected in the fallout of the worlds first hydrogen bomb in 1952 (a much much more powerful version of a normal nuclear bomb). The last one found in nature was halfnium, in 1911, found in a rock.

People used to spend a lot of time and effort making new heavy elements in the lab, because one you have discovered it you get to name it, and that name stays on the periodic table forever. However, this has often been seen as a waste of research money, as it is expensive and the elements don’t live long enough to be of any use to anyone.