Radium (Ra) is the heaviest alkaline earth metal and extremely radioactive. It was discovered by Marie Curie in 1898 in uranium ore from the Czech republic. (Her handling of radium was reasoned to be the cause for her premature death.) In fact, the harmful effects of radioactivity would be understood in years to come (peaking around 1930) when deaths and bone cancer would be linked to exposure to radium in certain products- luminescent paints, some foods, toothpaste and hair cream. Since Ra is chemically similar to calcium, it does great harm by replacing Ca in bones. (Interesting that Ra decays into radon gas, also radioactive, which is used in cancer treatment.)
Ra has more recently fell out of favor again (even for those practical uses embracing its radioactive properties) by scientists who are choosing to work with more powerful and safer radioisotopes. However, experimental physicists continue to use radium- when combined with beryllium, neutrons are produced.
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