But after fermium (element 100), the irradiate-and-wait technique stops working. Particle physicists "stepped up their game" and upgraded their atomic fodder from neutrons to other elements.

Stars are element factories, where elements constantly fuse or break apart to create other lighter or heavier elements. When we refer to light or heavy elements, we're talking about their atomic mass.

How heavy can an element be? An international team of researchers has found that ancient stars were capable of producing elements with atomic masses greater than 260, heavier than any element on ...