the.com/actinium
a metal so radioactive it glows pale blue in the dark, all by itself
means Actinium is a silvery, intensely radioactive metallic element (atomic number 89), the first of the actinide series, found in trace amounts in uranium ores.
from From the Greek 'aktis, aktinos' meaning 'ray' or 'beam' — the same root that gives us 'actinic' light. It was named for exactly what its essence describes: this is an element that radiates. The name was coined when the metal was identified in pitchblende residues around the turn of the 20th century, by a French chemist sifting through uranium leftovers. A fitting label for a substance whose whole personality is throwing off rays.
- self-lit
- Glows eerie blue from its own radiation
- name origin
- From Greek aktis, meaning ray or beam
- scarce
- Earth's crust holds barely any naturally
- cancer hunter
- Used to deliver radiation directly into tumors
- hot stuff
- Decays so fast it visibly heats itself
ac-227 — most stable isotope of actinium, half-life 21.8 years, used in medical research
actinium-228 — radioactive isotope found in uranium ore decay chains, 6.15 hour half-life