Names Proposed for 2 New Elements on Periodic Table

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/science/names-proposed-for-new-elements-on-periodic-table.html?_r=1&ref=chemistry

This is my response to an article I came across on The New York Times website.
This article is about the new proposed names for the 2 new elements on the periodic table. After years of hard research and checking data, it was declared official by the chemistry union and physics counterpart that two new elements have been created. Due to the experiments by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. Elements 114, flerovium (atomic symbol Fl) and 116, livermorium (atomic symbol Lv) are currently under consideration. The chemistry union has opened a five month comment period to see what the public has to say. According to the article, the chemistry union is very picky and strict on their rules for naming elements, therefore the proposal of the names is enough to cause hysteria. They went from 50 possible names, and narrowed it down to 2. The propsed names have an explicit connotation. Livermorium is named after the laboratory and city where it is located. Flerovium is named after the founder of the research institute, Georgi N. Flerov.

Let alone the name proposals, but the fact that there is going to be a new addition to the periodic table boggles my mind! The periodic table that people of our generation and older grew up learning about, is under construction. The answer to the frequently asked question by highschool students, "Why are there empty spaces?" or "Why aren't they in numerical order?" is finally being displayed. This event establishes the advancement in chemicals in the modern day.

-Vishana.M