Since it’s #PeriodicTableDay a reminder that when the official discovery of element 117 was announced I, for laughs, proposed it be named octarine (Oc) in honour of Sir Terry Pratchett (who had died a few months before).
The petition went viral and got over 51k signatures.
Sadly, IUPAC weren’t having it and 117 was eventually named tennessine (Ts), after Tennessee where the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is based.
Which. Fine.
It clearly wasn’t *precisely* a million-to-one chance.
(1/2)
I like to think Terry Pratchett would’ve been amused 😄
You can still buy the pencil sharpener. Hopefully it’s made of sapient pearwood. Mine’s never moved, though.
Also, yes, octarine is a halogen. Yes, 117 is the perfect number for a DW element. Fight me.
~~~
Granny smiled grimly. It was the sort of smile that wolves ran away from. Granny grasped her broomstick purposefully.
‘Million-to-one chances,’ she said, ‘crop up nine times out of ten.’
—Terry Pratchett (1948–2015, GNU)
(2/2)
And by the way, if you fancy having a little moment, the petition is still there, and so are people’s “reasons for signing”.
He inspired a lot of scientists, over the years 💜
Kat Day (she/her)
Whatsitsallabout