In 2008, the chant went “Bring FRIB to our crib” – in a bid to construct the world’s leading rare isotope research facility right here in Greater Lansing.

The Lansing State Journal posted a photo gallery about the 2018 FRIB and NSCL Open House.

A decade ago, MSU defied expectations and beat out a national laboratory for the chance to design and build the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. Some 400 scientists and engineers are now working inside the advanced nuclear research site.

Researchers from MSU and the RIKEN Nishina Center in Japan discovered eight new rare isotopes of the elements phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, argon, potassium, scandium and, most importantly, calcium.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the first periodic table of elements. At stages the table has been added to, as new elements are discovered or, these days, ‘manufactured’. Just how far can the table keep growing?