Storistir Tapestries

Stars like our sun make many elements, although not every known element has been detected in stars. All 118 elements including the man-made ones are listed in this design (in no particular order). Can you find your favorite element?

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Strontium is not radioactive typically. However, Strontium-90 (Sr-90) is, since it's a man-made byproduct of nuclear fission and waste. If you look at the Periodic Table of Elements, Strontium sits right below Calcium. Sr-90 is a health concern because if ingested, it acts like calcium and can cause cancers of the bone, bone marrow and surrounding tissues.

The Carbon poem is an excerpt from the Storistir Periodic Table of Elements Stories & Poems book. You can listen to some of the element poems at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFlBDfwRZP1-uq1dAbGSV1A. Artwork in Redbubble may be modified from those in the storybook to appear better for products.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Xenon, element 54, like most of the Noble Gas family, is inert/unreactive, although fluorine, oxygen and even nitrogen can be exceptions under the right conditions. Xenon is often used in antibacterial UV lamps to disinfect medical and food processing environments.

AI has taken the news by storm the last few months along with concerns about what it could mean for the human race. Where are we on the path? This is a Storistir elemental interpretation of the path we're heading down currently.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Promethium, element 61, is the last lanthanide to be discovered. It is also the only lanthanide that is naturally radioactive. Promethium is named after Prometheus, the Titan who was tortured by having his liver eaten each day for giving fire to mankind.

The actinides are not only radioactive, but they have been used in warfare. Little Boy was an uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Fat Man was a plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Antimony, element 51, is derived from the Greek stibi, meaning mark since it was used for blackening eyebrows and eyelashes. Other uses of antimony include hardening bullets, creating flame-retardant materials, and strengthening the lead in storage batteries. Antimony is about ten times more toxic than lead and is also a cumulative poison.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Samarium, element 62, was named after the mineral samarskite. Samarium is used in magnets, lasers, and nuclear reactors, and is also used in datig rocks and fossils.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Cesium, element 55, is one the few elements that has a golden hue. Cesium has been used for drilling; for removing oxygen in vacuum tubes; for coating heated cathodes; and for determining relatively precise time. Cesium is an alkali metal with a low melting point.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Indium, element 49, came from the Latin indicium, which means violet or indigo, the color of the spectrum line noted for the element. Indium is soft and is often used with Tin to make Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) used in touch screens, flatscreens, and solar panels.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Molybdenum is a funny sounding element, yet it is an essential element for plants and animals. The number 42 is also apropos since according to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it's the answer to life!

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Tellurium, element 52, was derived from the Latin name Tellus, meaning Earth. Interestingly, Tellurium is more plentiful in space than on Earth. Tellurium is toxic, and causes a reported smell of garlic odor in the breaths of those with tellurium exposure or poisoning. It is after all part of the Chalcogen family along with Sulfur.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Actinium, element 89, leads the Actinides (elements 89-103). Actinium is naturally found in trace amounts in uranium ore, and was first extracted in pitchblende residues.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Gallium was named after France (Gallia) and also rooster (Gallus) in Latin. The melting point of gallium is 85.58 degrees farenheit so it can melt in warm to hot liquid. Gallium spoons have been made as part of pranks. However, Gallium can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes, and may also damage liver and kidneys.

The Lanthanides include Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium, Lutetium

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Thallium has been used in the past as a rat poison, but was banned in many countries due to potential human harm, accidental or otherwise. Thallium is used in the manufacture of electronic devices and as a geochemical detector of solar neutrinos. Thallium is quite poisonous and can affect the nervous system, lung, heart, and liver.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Neon, element 10, can certainly light up the night, but only the reddish glow is truly neon. The word neon is derived from the Greek neos, meaning new. Neon is part of the noble gas family in Group 18, the elements in last column of the classic Periodic Table of Elements.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Phosphorus, element 15, is needed for life, but can also destroy life horribly. White phosphorus used in warfare is considered a war crime. White phosphorus can cause severe burns down to the bones, and these burns can reignite when exposed to oxygen.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Radon is a noble gas, albeit a radioactive one. Like most noble gases, radon is colorless, tasteless, and odorless at standard conditions. Radon can cause cancer, and is the seconding leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. Radon is often created from the radioactive decay of radium, thorium, or uranium.

There are 15 transactinides currently, which are all man-made, short-lived and difficult to create. Can you name all 15?

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Magnesium, element 12, is lighter than aluminum and wheels made with magnesium alloys typically work better for handling and performance purposes, but they are much more expensive than aluminum wheels. Magnesium is also needed for health, supporting hundreds of chemical reactions in the body. Magnesium rich foods include avocadoes, figs, kelp, soybeans, nuts and seeds.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Sodium, element 11, is also known as Natrium, derived from natron, a type of soda. Sodium is an alkali metal that is reactive with water. Sodium (Na), by itself, is not table salt (NaCl). Sodium is needed in the body for conducting nerve impulses, contracting/relaxing muscles, and maintaining proper balance of water and minerals.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Chromium, element 24, was named after the Greek word for color, chroma. Chromium is used to make some bright pigments of green, yellow, orange and red. Chromium is also used to give stainless steel a shiny finish as well as protect it from rust.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Iridium is part of the Platinum family and is naturally found with platinum and osmium. From 1889 to 2018, iridium was used with platinum to define the international standard kilogram. Iridium was derived from "Iris," Greek goddess of the rainbow, for its colored salts.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Americium, element 95, is found in ionization smoke detectors, which typically detect flaming fires quickly. Americium was first synthesized by the University of Chicago team under James Seaborg.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Platinum is rarer than gold, and is a precious metal, which has been used in many applications. For instance, platinum has been used to treat certain types of cancer; to coat and protect air bags in cars; to produce clothes and blankets; to create more cost-effective and cleaner fuel cells; etc.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Darmstadtium, element 110, is part of a family that includes Nickel, Palladium, and Platinum. Like most man-made elements, Darmstadtium is radioactive, short-lived, expensive, and has no currently known uses.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Polonium has been used to power lunar rovers and to poison people, whether on purpose or accidental. Litvinenko was purposely poisoned and Arafat also died of polonium poisoning. Polonium is found in cigarettes and tobacco products, and has contributed to tobacco-related deaths. Polonium was discovered by the Curies and named after Marie Curie's homeland of Poland.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Lithium, element 3, can have soothing effects for treating bipolar disorders. Lithium is found in spodumene, petalite, lepidolite and amblygonite ores. Lithium is also used in batteries.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Zirconium, element 40, can be made to look like diamond, and is needed as cladding for fuel rods inside nuclear reactors. Zirconium is also used in ceramics, glass, metal alloys, furnaces and other applications.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Potassium, element 19, has a symbol K, from the Latin Kalium, meaning alkali. Potassium works to maintain proper fluid balance within our cells, and is vital for producing energy. Insufficient potassium can cause fatigue, muscle cramps/twitches, abnormal heart rhythms, low blood pressure, and other issues.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Nihonium, element 113, was named after Japan or Nihon, the land of the Rising Sun. There was fierce competition for this honor with Russia and the United States both in line. History was made on the East side when Nihonium was named to Japan's national pride.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Radium sits in the same column as calcium, and is part of the alkaline earth metal family. It is also radioactive and since radium and calcium share similar properties, the body can mistakenly use radium for calcium, causing great damage and even death.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Beryllium, element 4, can be beautiful, tough and toxic. Beryllium is a very light, tough, carcinogenic metal that is used to make rocket heat shields and space-telescope mirrors among other things. Beryl is a beryllium ore that comes in many colors, and is used for emerald, acquamarine, and other jewelry. Red beryl is considered one of the world's rarest gemstones.

The orbitals are swirling in Storistir to make holiday ornaments! Chlorine, element 17, is a halogen meaning salt forming. Chlorine is an important part of table salt (NaCl), and is also used for disinfecting, cleaning, and other purposes. Chlorine can be both useful and deadly. In fact, modern chemical warfare probably started with Fritz Haber's use of chlorine gasses as a weapon during WWI.