Currently, forty-two thallium, forty-two lead, forty-one bismuth, and forty-two polonium isotopes have so far been observed; the discovery of these isotopes is discussed. For each isotope a brief summary of the first refereed publication, including the production and identification method, is presented. ∗Corresponding author. Email address: [email protected] (M. Thoennessen) Preprint sub...

The thermodynamical properties of the main phases of metallic polonium are examined using Density Functional Theory. The exceptional nature of the solid-solid phase transition of α to β Po is underlined: it induces a lowering in symmetry, from cubic to rhombohedral, with increasing temperature. This is explained as the result of a delicate balance between bonding and entropic effects. Overall a...

Frédéric Joliot was born in Paris on 19th March 1900. His older brother was killed in the first few days of the 1914-1918 war. Frédéric joined the École de physique et chimie industrielles in Paris, where he studied physics at the top of his class. In December 1924, director of studies, Paul Langevin, presented him to Marie Curie; he became her personal assistant at the Radium Institute, which ...

Due to the relatively high activity concentrations of (210)Po and (210)Pb that are found in tobacco and its products, cigarette smoking highly increases the internal intake of both radionuclides and their concentrations in the lung tissues. That might contribute significantly to an increase in the internal radiation dose and in the number of instances of lung cancer observed among smokers. Samp...

The newly measured ionization potential of atomic astatine is discussed and compared with that the recently determined value for polonium other halogens. Regularities in these values are applied to understanding energetics diatomic Some surprises remain.

In the study the activities of polonium 210Po and uranium 234U, 238U radionuclides in moss and lichen samples were determined using the alpha spectrometry. Different lichens and mosses were collected around the Sobieszewo Island (northern Poland) and investigated for potential use as biomonitors for 210Po and 238U deposition. Mosses and lichens have a high efficiency in capturing 210Po and 238U...