On to the sixth row! No matter how careful you are, the sixth row would definitely kill you. 现在到第六行了!现在无论你多么小心,这一行元素还是肯定会置你于死地。 This version of the periodic table is a little wider than you might be used to, since we're inserting the lanthanide and actinide elements into rows 6 and 7. (These elements are normally shown separately from the main table to avoid making it too wide.) 这个版本的元素周期表比你平常看到的要宽一些,因为我们把镧系元素和锕系元素插进了第六和第七行。(这些元素一般不放在主表中而是单独列出来,避免主表太宽。) The sixth row of the periodic table contains several radioactive elements, including promethium, polonium, astatine, and radon. Astatine is the bad one. 元素周期表的第六行有许多放射性元素,包括钷、钋,砹和氡。砹是里面的大坏蛋。 We don't know what astatine looks like, because, as Lowe put it, "that stuff just doesn't want to exist." It's so radioactive (with a half-life measured in hours) that any large piece of it would be quickly vaporized by its own heat. Chemists suspect that it has a black surface, but no one really knows. 我们不知道砹看上去是什么样子的,正如劳维所说:"这玩意儿根本就是不想存在。"砹具有极强的放射性(半衰期以小时计算),任何一块稍微大一点儿的砹块都会被自身衰变释放出来的热量气化掉。化学家猜测它的表面是黑色的,但没有人能够确切知道。 There's no material safety data sheet for astatine. If there were, it would just be the word "NO" scrawled over and over in charred blood. 材料安全数据中没有砹这一项。假如有的话,里面大概会是一连串血迹斑斑的"不"字。 Our cube would, briefly, contain more astatine than has ever been synthesized. I say "briefly" because it would immediately turn into a column of superheated gas. The heat alone would give third-degree burns to anyone nearby, and the building would be demolished. The cloud of hot gas would rise rapidly into the sky, pouring out heat and radiation. 而我们这个立方体中的砹含量将在短时间内超过有史以来所有提纯出来的砹的总量,这里我强调"短时间内",是因为这个砹块将会迅速变成一大团炽热的气体。这股热气本身就会让任何靠近的人三度烧伤,整幢建筑也会被夷为平地。之后这团热气会迅速升入空中,同时放出更多的热和辐射。