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Košická Tabačka was, once again, packed with people. The Science Café in the metropolis of eastern Slovakia attracted visitors of all ages who are nuclear physics enthusiasts. This was evidenced by the multiple questions from the audience, which the guest promptly and precisely answered at the end of the talk. Martin Venhart, a nuclear physicist from the Institute of Physics SAS and SAS vice president, visited the Košice Science Café for the sixth time. Martin was elected by the SAS Assembly as a candidate for the SAS President, and his term of office starts in June 2025.

Will oganesson be the last? That is the title of the scientific lecture, during which the nuclear physicist contemplates over the elements of the periodic table in a very original way that reflects his close contact with the scientific field of his work.

"This lecture is different from all the others that I have held in Košice because I insert my personal views in it and I talk about people I knew or know. Several interesting facts that are not publicly known will be presented. Either I have experienced them, or they are stories others have told me," says Martin Venhart in the lecture introduction.

A few years ago, he was introduced to nuclear physics by P.R. Taube and J.I. Rudenko's book "From hydrogen to lawrencium...". In the book, the authors focused on every chemical element known at the time.

“What interested me the most were the chemical elements from uranium to lawrencium, which is the 103rd chemical element, and was the last known at that time. The authors question whether this element will really be the last, and, at the same time, suggest that the answer is yes. But they were not right, because today the last element is oganesson with the number 118," explains Martin Venhart.

The discoveries of new elements were also influenced by Slovak scientists led by Professor Štefan Šáro, who was Martin Venhart's supervisor. Visitors to the Science Café also learned about interesting things that are not mentioned anywhere in the literature.

"John Rassmussen's mission is very interesting. John is perhaps the last of the second generation of nuclear physicists and is still alive. He visited a laboratory in Uppsala, Sweden, which had the first cyclotron where nitrogen 14 was available. He convinced local physicists that they could try to produce the chemical element einsteinium by blasting uranium with nitrogen. He knew the result, but he couldn't tell them because the data on the experiment was classified. Due to the coincidence of these circumstances, the scientific team ultimately failed to gain the glory of the discovery of a new chemical element," reveals Martin Venhart.

John Rasmussen also collaborated with colleagues from the SAS Institute of Physics, especially those dealing with fission mechanisms, and he visited the institute several times.

When asked at the beginning of the lecture whether oganesson will be the last, the nuclear physicist answers that probably not because there are still other possible reactions at play.

"I dedicate this lecture to two very special people in my life, neither of whom are alive anymore, namely Professor Štefan Šáro, my supervisor, and Professor Zigmund Hoffman from Darmstadt. I learned an awful lot from both of them, and without their work and dedication, I wouldn't be standing here today," says Martin Venhart in the conclusion.

You can find a recording of the lecture and answers to many interesting questions on SAS youtube canal.

Edited by Monika Tináková

Foto a video: Martin Bystriansky