Ram Mohan looks at how bismuth — a remarkably harmless element among the toxic heavy metals in the periodic table — has sparked interest in areas varying from medicinal to industrial chemistry.

The position of an element on the periodic table provides information about its properties. The majority of elements are metals and they are found on the left and in the middle of the periodic table.

Currently, there are 118 known elements on the periodic table, from hydrogen all the way to oganesson, which was officially named in 2016. It's pretty hefty, with at least 294 subatomic particles ...

There are 17 rare earth elements (REEs) in all — 15 lanthanides plus yttrium and scandium. It's a fairly diverse group, with ...