hydrogen's heart

One of my Savannah Tech students was talking about the world of chemistry last Thursday, after our last lab of the semester. He had started by complimenting me on still having so much enthusiasm for material I've been teaching for more than two decades.
I had responded that even though the material had not changed since the nuclear age, I keep it interesting for me by changing up the order of the topics, looking for that "best way" for the students to understand the material. Also, the department changes textbooks every two or three years, so that helps, too.
(In fact, Armstrong will be using an open-source textbook this coming fall. That will be very exciting! Now, every student will have access at the very beginning of the semester, with no issues about financial aid to pay for it. Now, that is equality!)
I wasn't quite correct about chemistry being a done deal, of course.
As we know, the 7th Period elements have all been filled in now. As of early last year, the existence of the final four has been verified. Last summer, the proposed names began their probation period with IUPAC and, as of November of 2016, the names are now official.
Element 113, synthesized in Japan by bombardment of bismuth with zinc, has been named Nihonium, with the chemical symbol Nh. "Nihon" means "Land of Rising Sun", as their homeland is known.
(Nihonium has the distinction of being the first element to ever be discovered by an Asian country! I'm so glad the name reflects that honor!)
The other three of the final four were discovered by a Russian and American team, collaborating their efforts in Russia, Tennessee, and California. Element 115 is now Moscovium (Mc) and Element 117 is Tennessine (Ts), named for the geographic locations of their origins. Element 118 has been named Organesson (Og) in honor of Yuri Oganessian, the Russian who discovered the superheavy elements of the Periodic Table. How wonderful that he is still alive for this honor!
I didn't mention the above to my student, however.
He was just elated to be finally done with a lab that doesn't relate to his major.

Then the bfe posted this on facebook as a clue to the work he is doing.
It's just a proton, the heart of every hydrogen atom, the one and only particle in its nucleus.
The coloration of the image hints of the three quarks, two of the "up" variety and one which is "down", that compose the hadron and give it the resultant positive charge.
From a physicist's point of view, the proton still holds mysteries to be solved...
amazing.
I'll look forward to seeing him when he returns from his sabbatical...
and to the card he told me yesterday that he is sending me...
a card he wrote himself!!!

I found out when I was walking in the Primitive Garden. That stroll had brought him to mind, of course, so I had texted him to let him know.
I received an immediate response!
He had the day off and was at an exhibit of guitars at a science museum.
He was "rockin' like Dokken"!
(smile)
Ah, good times!