By Sid Perkins
Noble gases—radon, xenon, krypton, argon, neon, and helium—are snobs. Their atoms typically shun liaisons with other elements because they already have all the electrons they need, but none to share. Only when chemists engage in forced matchmaking do some of these gases react with other elements to form stable, neutral compounds.
Researchers at the University of Helsinki in Finland report in the Aug. 24 Nature that the formerly aloof argon has been coerced into the chemical equivalent of a shotgun wedding.