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CALIFORNIA CONNECTION
Some scientists
hypothesize
californium might
be produced in
supernovae.
Californium-252 is a very
strong source of neutrons. It
is used to identify gold and
silver ores and identify water
and oil layers in oil wells.
The most stable isotope,
californium-251, has a half-life
of about 898 years.
It was synthesized in 1950 by Stanley Thompson,
Kenneth Street, Albert Ghiorso, and Glenn
Seaborg at UC Berkeley with the cyclotron.
ELEMENT
QUEST
CA 44