All known isotopes of darmstadtium are radioactive with short half-lives, and are not known to occur in nature; only minute quantities have been synthesized in laboratories.

[citation needed] In general, the ground state electronic configurations of heavier atoms and transition metals are more difficult to predict.

Nickel, platinum, and palladium are typically silvery-white transition metals, and can also be readily obtained in powdered form.

Group 10 elements are resistant to tarnish (oxidation) at STP, are refractory, and have high melting and boiling points.

Nickel was not formally named as an element until A. F. Cronstedt isolated the impure metal from "kupfernickel" (Old Nick's copper) in 1751.

B. Richter determined the physical properties of nickel using a purer sample, describing the metal as ductile and strong with a high melting point.

The first published report of platinum was written by Antonio de Ulloa, a Spanish mathematician, astronomer, and naval officer who observed "platina" (little silver) in the gold mines of Ecuador during a French expedition in 1736.

Both Pierre-François Chabaneau (during the 1780s) and William Hyde Wollaston (during the 1800s) developed a powder metallurgy technique to produce malleable platinum, but kept their process a secret.

In the 1800s, furnaces capable of sustaining high temperatures were invented, which eventually replaced powder metallurgy and introduced melted platinum to the market.