Think you know the periodic table? Guess again. After being discovered in 2010, element 117 is on the cusp of being named and added to the table. It will reside in the zone past element 104, where the “superheavy” elements hang out. According to Germany’s GSI (Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research) laboratory, element 117 might be the heaviest atom ever found – 40% heavier than lead.

Though it’s been theorized by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia since 2010, scientists only recently got around to actually creating it. To do so, they took the relatively rare berkelium and bombarded it with calcium ions until it eventually formed element 117. It then decayed into elements 115 and 113, confirming that the experiments were successful.

The next step is for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) to accept the confirmation. Once the decision is made that no further testing is needed, the hard part begins: the IUPAC will have to determine which institutions get naming rights to element 117.

Now is probably a good idea to start thinking up a new song for remembering the periodic table. The research will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal, Physical Review Letters.