Today's Word - Administratium

Investigators at a major US research university recently discovered the heaviest element known to science. The element, tentatively named administratium, has no protons or electrons and thus has an atomic number of 0. However, it does have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice neutrons and 111 assistant vice neutrons, which gives it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called morons. It is also surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since it has no electrons, administratium is inert. However, it can be detected chemically as it impedes every reaction it comes in contact with. According to the researchers, a minute amount of administratium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would normally have occurred in less than a second. The reaction can be further delayed by a process called meetingulation, during which an assistant vice neutron gathers together several morons to drink coffee and eat pastries while accomplishing nothing of significance.

Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately three years, at which time it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization to allow a number of the assistant neutrons, vice neutrons and assistant vice neutrons to  exchange places. In fact, an administratium sample's mass actually increases over time, since with each reorganization, some of the morons inevitably become neutrons, forming new isotopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to speculate that perhaps administratium is spontaneously formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "critical morass."