ScienceJuly 17, 2026

polonium

puh-LO-nee-um

Definition

A highly radioactive metallic element, with atomic number 84, discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898.

Etymology

The name is derived from 'Polonia,' the Latin name for Poland, chosen by Marie Curie to highlight the political struggle of her native country.

In the news

The article mentions polonium as one of the significant chemical elements Marie Curie discovered during her career, for which she earned her second Nobel Prize.

Marie Curie and her husband Pierre spent nearly four years boiling down seven tonnes of pitchblende in a leaky Paris shed with no ventilation to isolate one-tenth of a gram of radium chloride, and the notebooks she kept during those years are still so radioacti

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ScienceBlog.com

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