Hi. I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but here

I remember hearing somewhere that people were trying to produce those
transuranic elements because they figured there was relatively stable area
around Z=118 or 120 or something like that -- stable enough so that people
might actually able to make use of those elements. (As it turned out,

elements still were quite unstable if I recall correctly -- just less
unstable than the other ones).

I'm starting to question whether any of those elements could be stable

all. At best, you'd have elements with half-lives of a few million years
(like the first few transuranic elements). Why? Just think of the quote

the scientist who asked about the existence of alien life:

"Where are they?"

If those elements were stable, they probably would still be around

You would be able to simply pick them up off the ground (like uranium).

only way that they could be stable and not be around today would be if

were never created in the first place. But if the supernova explosions

produced elements more complex than iron were able to produce elements

Z=26 to Z=92 without any problems, there's no reason to believe that they
never tried synthesizing elements heavier than uranium. So those elements
must have been produced along with uranium, which means we should still

them around today.

What is wrong with my reasoning?

I'm starting to question whether any of those elements could be stable

all. At best, you'd have elements with half-lives of a few million years
(like the first few transuranic elements). Why? Just think of the quote

the scientist who asked about the existence of alien life:

"Where are they?"

If those elements were stable, they probably would still be around

You would be able to simply pick them up off the ground (like uranium).

Hi. I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but here goes.

I remember hearing somewhere that people were trying to produce those
transuranic elements because they figured there was relatively stable area
around Z=118 or 120 or something like that -- stable enough so that people
might actually able to make use of those elements. (As it turned out, those
elements still were quite unstable if I recall correctly -- just less
unstable than the other ones).

I'm starting to question whether any of those elements could be stable at
all. At best, you'd have elements with half-lives of a few million years
(like the first few transuranic elements). Why? Just think of the quote by
the scientist who asked about the existence of alien life:

"Where are they?"