Instead, they may be made of naturally occurring "superheavy elements" beyond those listed in the periodic table — our current best catalog of 118 chemical elements — new research suggests.

Scientists have observed the creation of rare chemical elements in the second-brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen – casting new light on how heavy elements are made.

The James Webb Space Telescope's detection of tellurium in the violent environment of a dead-star merger is a step toward determining where the universe's heaviest elements come from.