Acquiring naming rights is just the cherry on top for Kosuke Morita, whose team discovered the 113th element on the periodic table. Morita and his research team at RIKEN Nishina Center in Japan began their quest to discover what’s temporarily known as ununtrium – the element now found between copernicium and flerovium on the periodic table – almost two decades ago. Morita says he hopes this discovery will lead to the discovery of more stable elements with longer half-lives. Morita’s perseverance – nearly 20 years of it – has greatly advanced the study of chemistry and physical sciences.

Read more in Asian Scientist.