Island of Stability (Unbihexium)

[sanman]

As we know, there is a conjectured/theorized "island of stability" for the extended Periodic Table, whereby a select group of elements exhibits pronounced longevity of lifespan relative to the wider surrounding period of elements.

At the heart of this "island of stability" is the conjectured "unbihexium" (atomic number 126), which would be ultra-stable and have a lifespan of thousands or millions of years.

I'm curious to know what the speculated physical properties of such a material would be. Perhaps the conventional chemical properties aren't so important, but what about the electrical properties and the nuclear properties? For example, would it be a better radiation shielder than lead? And what would its electrical conductivity be?

 

[mathman]

At the heart of this "island of stability" is the conjectured "unbihexium" (atomic number 126), which would be ultra-stable and have a lifespan of thousands or millions of years.

This sounds awfully long - do you have a reference?

 

[sanman]

Hi, this is all I could find:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbihexium

Oh well, not much, but it would make sense that a double-magic nucleus with both closed shells would have some kind of significantly enhanced stability/lifespan.

 

[mathman]

I see that the wikipedia article has no reference. My guess is that anything more than a fraction of a second would be considered relatively stable.