Recently deceased Motorhead frontman Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as Lemmy, may be the first metal legend to be named to an element in scientific periodic table. Change.org user John Wright, has created an online petition asking fans to help him name one of four newly discovered heavy metal elements as a tribute to the metal legend.
York, UK native Wright’s petition would like one of the four newly discovered elements which all have temporary names to be renamed “Lemmium.” The four temporary named elements on the periodic table include ununtrium (113), ununpentium (115), ununseptium (117) and ununoctium (118).
Wright created the online petition on Change.org, soon after the death of Kilmister. Wright’s petition already has over 135,000 of the 150,000 signatures needed to present to The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemestry (IUPAC), who is in charge of these sort of things.
IUPAC’s naming requirements state that new elements “can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral, a place, country, property or scientist.” Wright stated that since a star is named after Kilmister, that his name meets the IUPAC’s requirements and jokingly added that Kilmister is also a rock & roll scientist.
Scientists who helped discover the four new synthetic elements typically have the honor of naming. After they are named, they go up for public review for five months before being confirmed and officially added to the periodic table.
Wrights petition even caught the eye of returning Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan who sent out a twitter message to fans to help support the petition by retweeting Wright’s post for his online petition.
Expressen.se reports that Motorhead drummer Mikkey Dee stated that the band is now “over,” since the passing of Kilmister who died at 70 from an aggressive form of cancer. Dee stated that Kilmister “was” Motorhead, and being that Kilmister was the only original member left in the band, its only right to stop making music and touring.
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