A team of Russian and American scientists said yesterday that it
had created the heaviest element ever seen in a laboratory, a
dab of matter that lasted for less than one-thousandth of a
second but would add an entry at the farthest reaches of the
periodic table and suggest that strange new elements may lie
beyond.  By convention, the substance remains the Baby Doe of
elements until its existence is confirmed at other laboratories.
For now, the new substance will be principally known as element
118 for the number of protons in its nucleus, more than in any
other element occurring naturally or produced in the laboratory.
Hydrogen, the lightest element, has one proton in its nucleus,
and uranium, the heaviest naturally occurring element, has 92.
Element 118 would fit comfortably just below radon in a column
of the periodic table containing what are called noble gases for
their inert chemical properties.  The results were met with
praise but also caution from other scientists in the field,
particularly given th