[bradman3001]

What is the point in discovering/making the elements above 83 if they have such short half lives. It seems to me like a waste of resources if it's not able to be used for something. Is there some sort of purpose to it?

[macman104]

What is the point in discovering/making the elements above 83 if they have such short half lives. It seems to me like a waste of resources if it's not able to be used for something. Is there some sort of purpose to it?

Are you sure they didn't say 93?  Uranium, atomic number 92, is last naturally occurring element on the periodic table.  However, just because it is synthetic, does not mean it has a short half-life.  ²⁴⁷₉₇Bk, Berkelium, has a half-life of 1380 years.  I'm sure we can agree that is a sufficiently long half-life .  But more to answer your question, I believe most research is done, in researching the the Island of Stability.