Christopher Tunnell and Daniel Coderre (IMAGE) Rice University Caption Rice University physicist Christopher Tunnell, right, with co-worker Daniel Coderre of the University of Freiburg, Germany, at the XENON1T experiment beneath a mountain in Italy. The collaboration discovered that xenon 124 has the longest half-life ever measured in a material. The element's half-life is many orders of magnitude greater than the current age of the universe. Credit Christopher Tunnell/Rice University Usage Restrictions Credit must be used. License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.