Still, the search for better batteries is an endless one, and Dr Pyykko's discovery might prompt some new thinking about what is possible in this and other areas of heavy-element chemistry.

ECONOMIST: Einstein and car batteries

Doping (adding the element niobium to the chemistry), as well as reducing the size of the material to nanoscale, makes it more conductive.

FORBES: Jump Start

Other risky bets include a drug that aims to prevent heart attacks by combating artery inflammation, and a partnership with Anacor, a San Francisco company that makes drugs based on a new type of chemistry involving the element boron.

FORBES: Magazine Article

One drug Glaxo is testing in early human trials is licensed from biotech company Anacor Pharmaceuticals and uses a new type of chemistry based on the element boron.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) will officially endorse the new element's name in six months' time in order to give the scientific community "time to discuss the suggestion".

BBC: New element named 'copernicium'