Dubna Scientists Report Discovery of Element 105

G. N. Flerov, director of the Dubna Laboratory for Nuclear Reactions, recently reported the discovery of element 105. At the Tokyo Nuclear Structure meeting in September, Flerov said that Dubna physicists had bombarded $Am242$ with $Ne22$ from the 300‐cm cyclotron and produced either isotope 261 or 262 (they are not sure which one). The new isotope had a half‐life of less than 0.1 sec and an alpha energy of $9.45±0.15 MeV.$