A group of boffins from Nottingham Uni is about to launch an entertaining short video guide to the periodic table - apparently designed to give them the chance to chuck sodium into water with unrestrained glee:

The chap with the exemplary boffin's barnet is professor Martyn Poliakoff, who told El Reg that the site should be functioning fully within the next few days and subscribers will thereafter be able to receive alerts as new elements are added to the video roster.

Since we felt obliged to add a certain amount of gravitas to this popular science initiative, we pressed the good prof as to how the team would eventually tackle ununoctium - weighing in at 118 and, with a life of just 0.9 milliseconds, hardly an inspiring subject for a cinematic profile.

He provocatively replied: "You will have to wait for Uuo as a surprise..."

We then asked: "If while you're working your way towards number 118, scientists manage to brew 119 or beyond, do you think this might be an opportunity to press the STFC for extra video production cash, provided it hasn't shut down all UK science research by then?"

Professor Poliakoff diplomatically dodged that poser, but was prepared to assure us that his team's explosive reactions expert, Pete Licence, wasn't planning to do anything silly when they eventually got around to plutonium. ®

Related stories

• Did we say you can read that? (15 August 2008)
• Boffins brew up new element (17 October 2006)
• Boffins make heaviest ever element? (26 February 2004)