New elements on the periodic table are named Since Phelps was part of a team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other institutions in Tennessee laid the groundwork for discovery, Element 117 was ...

Phelps contributed to the discovery that filled in square 117 on the periodic table, creating tennesine (Ts), the second-heaviest known element on Earth.

According to US census data, women make up half of the US workforce, but only 27% work in STEM fields; of those, only 2% are Black women, according to 2015 National Science Foundation data.

How the first Black woman to help discover an element ‘claimed a seat at the periodic table’ By Charli Leevongcharoen , CNN 6 minute read ...