Petition launched to name new element after Terry Pratchett's colour of magic

Scientist's proposal of 'Octarine', the Discworld shade visible only to wizards and cats, for newly discovered element 117 gains 12,000 signatures in two days

A petition to name one of the new elements added to the periodic table "octarine", in honour of the late Terry Pratchett's colour of magic, has garnered more than 12,000 signatures in less than two days.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced the verification of the discoveries of four new chemical elements earlier this week. Currently known as elements 113, 115, 117 and 118, they will be officially named by the teams that discovered them in the months to come, but chemist Dr Kat Day, who blogs at the Chronicle Flask, has put in an early bid for element 117 to be named octarine.