What is a Superheavy Isotope?

Are you writing a science thriller? What about a mystery with a forensic component? If you're seeking advice from an expert in the sciences, look no further than Katrina Stone, professional biologist and protagonist of "The Vesuvius Isotope." To learn more about Katrina's areas of expertise, click here. To ask a question of your own, click here.

The Vesuvius Isotope features a quest for a new chemical element called a superheavy isotope. While the novel is fiction, superheavy isotopes are real. Below, a reader asks:  

What is a superheavy isotope?

Katrina's answer:

A superheavy isotope is a man-made element generated by a powerful, transient interaction between naturally occurring elements. Currently, six superheavy isotopes have been discovered and incorporated into the periodic table. Because these elements are generated in fractions of a second and then quickly decay into other molecules, it is very difficult to prove that they ever existed at all.

A semi-lay description of the six isotopes currently in existence can be found here.

An observant reader might notice that The Vesuvius Isotope mentions a lengthier periodic table than the one currently in existence. This is because in the novel is set just a few years in the future (2023), and additional elements have been discovered or created.  The biotechnology company co-owned by our protagonist Katrina Stone and her husband has generated and patented twelve additional superheavy isotopes. In a quest to solve her husband's murder, Katrina is searching for the thirteenth.