Dubnium is a chemical element with symbol Db and atomic number 105. It is named after the town of Dubna in Russia (north of Moscow), where it was first produced. It is a synthetic element (an element that can be created in a laboratory but is not found in nature) and radioactive; the most stable known isotope, dubnium-268, has a half-life of approximately 28 hours.
Three reasons Dubnium stands out
- 1
Named after city in Russia known for nuclear research.
- 2
Its discovery was a source of intense controversy between American and Soviet scientists, each claiming credit during the Cold War.
- 3
Its most stable known isotope has a half-life of only about 28 hours.
Cold War chemistry measured in seconds
Dubnium atoms live just long enough for automated equipment to compare their behavior with niobium and tantalum. Laboratories at Dubna and Berkeley contested the discovery, producing a naming dispute settled only years later. The final name honors Dubna, the Russian nuclear-research center.