@ Boner. I think that the guys synthesising these new ''elements'' are mostly physicists rather than chemists.

Yep, physicists, Im sorry. Whatever.

Any atom at some point decays right? (Maybe except for iron, I'm not sure) Whether it is 10^80 years or 10^-80 s, the difference is only quantitative and not qualitative. The question is in the atom's lifespan, what do you observe to determine it "exists"? A nucleus, a stable configuration of electrons around it?

I think he means that if the lifespan of element is so short, that becomes totaly negligible for typical human, we can suppose this element does not exist at all. Science doesn't like suppositions, however.

Who the hell discusses science with a dickhead named "boner"? The guy doesn't understand shit.

Any arguments, or insults only?

@ redhouse, I wonder how productive it is to call all elements/atoms (I think that we both really mean isotopes) radioactive? I agree that where we join the line is somewhat arbitrary but I can live with that.

I am also curious about the electronic config. of the synthesised elements, do they have their full complement, do you know?

@ boner: ''Science doesn't like suppositions''

Yes and no. Would you call prob. analysis applied to radioactive decay a generic supposition, when applied to the individual isotope? How about the laws of arithmetic? Or those of logic? Are these presumed by science?

@redhouse1938

Not all atoms decay. There are stable isotops. Since the age of the universe (counting from the Big Bang) is about 14 billion years (14*10^9), the number of 10^80 years can be considered as eternity, so if an atom has a half-life of 10^80 years, we won't even be able to measure it. In fact, the longest half-life of an element known is Hydrogen (a single proton), and its half-life is about 10^30 years - 7*10^19 times longer than the age of the universe.

If you are interested, there is a very big table of radioactive elements that is being used by nuclear engineers/physicists. You can find it here (in parts, it is just too big...): http://ie.lbl.gov/decay.html