Symbol: Cn
Atomic number: 112
Overview: Copernicium can only be created in a laboratory. Since it's also extremely radioactive, you have to wonder why anyone would want to create it in the first place. And yet here we are, lumbered with something that'll kill us if we spend too much time in its company. (Insert own gag concerning toxic minor celebrity here.)
Discovered: The first batch of Copernicium was cooked up in 1996 in Darmstadt, Germany, and was, by all accounts, delicious.
What it looks like: No one knows. Not even that Brian Cox off of the telly. Not the Succession one. The other one.
What it does: Behaves in a fashion so unstable, it makes Judy Garland look like Joan Bakewell.
What it's used for: Since Copernicium is so 'new', scientists are still trying to figure out how it might be of use to us. Of course, it could be very handy in bringing about the destruction of life on Earth as we know, but you'd be hard pushed to describe that as a particularly 'useful' feature.
You might not know this but: Copernicium is named after the celebrated Polish/Prussian astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Actually, given the similarities between the names, it's probably safe to say this is something you might already have known. Then again, since Copernicus was one of the first people brave enough to suggest that the Earth wasn't at the centre of the universe, one should never pass up an opportunity to mention his name and sing his praises.
Old Copper Knickers was born in Torun, close to where I live. Not a lot of people know that.