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PODCAST

Unexpected Elements

BBC World Service

The news you know, the science you don’t. Unexpected Elements looks beyond everyday narratives to discover a goldmine of scientific stories and connections from around the globe. From Afronauts, to why we argue, to a deep dive on animal lifespans: see the world in a new way.

science

All Episodes

50:20

Ancient water, modern solutions

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/03/21

In a week of headlines about water shortages slowing ships in the Panama Canal and drought in India's Silicon Valley, we look at unexpected ways to manage the world’s water. Presenter Marnie Chesterton and panellists Chhavi Sachdev in Mumbai, India, and Meral Sachdev in Nunavut, Canada, tell stories of innovative ideas being tried in their parts of the world. Then Marnie meets water detective Barbara Sherwood Lollar, professor in earth sciences at the University of Toronto, to hear how ancient water

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50:10

Fandom: The Next Generation

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/03/14

Passionate K-Pop fans send us on a journey into the science of fandom. Panellists Andrada Fiskutean in Bucharest, Romania and Tristan Ahtone in Helsinki, Finland bring us stories of Star Trek’s sci-fi utopias, why allegiances affect our behaviour and how a cunning sea creature chooses which side of itself to reveal. Presenter Marnie Chesterton meets one of her heroes - American theoretical cosmologist and particle physicist Dr Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who helps Marnie understand the universe with

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50:20

Unexpected Oscars

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/03/07

As award season reaches its climax in the US, Unexpected Elements holds its own glitzy ceremony.Which bit of science will win Best Picture? Who will take home the Best Supporting Actor? And will Prof Elaine Chew play us out with her Best Original Music?The nominations include a particularly noisy tiny fish, a sweating mannequin, and a composition based on a misbehaving heartbeat. All this plus your correspondence and a discussion of how far science infuses the real Academy Awards.Presented by Marnie

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50:14

Leaping in Sync

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/02/29

As the leap year helps to keep us in sync with the sun, we turn our attention to the natural world. There is no simple solution to stop forces like climate change that are sending nature out of sync. We’re seeing flowers such as Japan’s famous cherry blossom blooming early because of warmer weather. Some pollinators are emerging only to find the plants they rely on have been and gone. But, within the natural world, there also incredible stories of animal synchrony that offer hope and that we could

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50:07

Going the distance

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/02/22

A scientific tribute to to the successes and potential of Kelvin Kiptum, the best marathon runner to ever take to the roads. Marnie and the team take time to reflect on the tragic loss after Kelvin's death and looks at the science behind his record breaking performances. Why do East African long distance runners continue to dominate the world stage? Can one group of indigenous people in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico, really run 100km without getting tired? And what makes you fall off the back of

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50:22

Not so random acts of kindness

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/02/15

Ahead of international Random Acts of Kindness Day, Marnie Chesterton and an invited panel look at some of the science behind nature’s better nature.Are mother spiders in Africa behind the ultimate act of kindness? How are lightning and lava lamps involved in the quest for a truly random number? And the engineer trying to bring more compassion to the machines we use every day.We also hear about the technology helping archaeologists discover lost worlds in South America, the maths that might benefit

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50:22

Deep in thought

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/02/08

Brain implants have been sparking conversation about the future of humanity after Elon Musk's company Neuralink announced it has embedded a microchip in a human skull. It has fired up people's imaginations and led some to wonder whether these devices that connect to our brain could be a stepping stone towards the ideas more often found in sci-fi, and maybe even create a tool to read people's thoughts. Marnie Chesterton and the panel discuss whether our privacy is at risk or whether we are already an

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50:33

How plankton made mountains

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/02/01

This week, the world’s largest cruise ship set sail from Miami. Whilst a cruise holiday may be appealing to some, there is also a long history of disease spreading around the world via ships. Marnie and the panel take a look at the reasons why and the resulting impact on public health policies.It’s not just humans and microbes that are hitching a ride aboard sea vessels. Animals such as mussels can cling on to ship hulls, exposing previously pristine environments to potentially invasive species. We

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50:13

Populations of people, frogs and microbes

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/01/25

This week on the show that brings you the science behind the news, we’re looking at news that China’s population has fallen for the second year running. Worrying news for China’s economy, but would a declining population be a good thing for the planet?The Unexpected Elements team on three continents meet the musical frogs who are having to climb a mountain to keep their populations stable, and dig deep to explore the earth’s declining microbiome and the hope scientists have for the future.As the

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50:17

Rulers and the rules of ageing

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/01/18

As France's youthful new Prime Minister gets his feet under the desk, we examine how stress and strains can change the way we look. We also ask what the late nights and lack of sleep that go hand in hand with leadership can mean for the health of the human body and we hear how measuring intelligence in young people isn't as straightforward as it might seem.

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50:16

Super corals and science diplomacy

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/01/11

Could geopolitical tensions around the Red Sea affect research into the region’s heat-resistant super corals? Also on the program, what an ocean that used to lie under the Himalayas can tell us about evolution, the fruit chat continues with the latest chapter in the bananadine saga, and how looking to the past could help create the shipping of the future.

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50:24

Timing is everything

Unexpected Elements ·

2024/01/04

As the new year arrives for much of the world, Marnie and pals look at a few time-related oddities. From the abolition of the leap second, to how some people feel they can actually see time stretching before them, to a festival of lunar-loving worms. On the anniversary of the invention of the word “robot”, we discuss EU AI legislation and its parallels with science fiction of a century ago, regal handedness, Arctic golf courses and the time-capsule of all humanity, stuck to the side of the Voyager

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49:56

The Best of Unexpected Elements

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/12/28

Usually Unexpected Elements looks at the science behind the news, but this week Marnie Chesterton and Caroline Steel are looking back at some of the best bits from our first few months.We’ve got the best from our team of panellists across the globe, including what’s going on in your brain when you speak more than one language, the horrific mating ritual of the bedbug and the science behind our panellist Camilla’s terrible haircut decision.We look back at some of the brilliant scientists we’ve spoken

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50:20

A very dark day

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/12/21

In the week of the solstice – the shortest or longest day of the year depending on your latitude - Unexpected Elements brings you tales of darkness and light. We hear about the dark history of sensory deprivation studies and why up until now, we’ve been in the dark about light’s role in the fairly fundamental process of evaporation.We’ll be shining a light on the darkest oceans, meeting the fantastical creatures who can turn their bodies into flashlights.Our Under the Radar story this week also

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50:09

An exploration of empathy

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/12/14

On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, we look into the phenomenon of caring for things outside of ourselves – whether it’s human rights, the environment, or even odd sports.

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50:24

Boring science

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/12/07

After 41 Indian miners were happily rescued last week, Unexpected Elements takes a look at how our futures might lie below the surface.As climate change suggests more of our infrastructures need to be buried safely, and even living spaces could be cooler down there, we discuss future technologies for digging tunnels more safely and cleanly. But tunnelling and boring could go back a long way - more evidence suggests species of dinosaurs used to to live semi-subterranean lives.Tunnelling also happens

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50:28

Meetings with intelligent worms

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/11/30

This week on the show that brings you the science behind the news, inspired by COP28, we’re talking about meetings. Honestly, it’s way more interesting than it sounds. Come to hear about blackworm blobs – a wormy meeting that only happens in stressful situations - and how scientists are taking inspiration from it to design robots. Stay for the stories from nature where species are missing crucial pollination meetings thanks to that global stressful situation that is climate change. And what’s better

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50:21

All about cricket(s)

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/11/23

The cricket world cup has us looking at the science of spitting on cricket balls, particle accelerators, and insect sound engineers.Also on the program, how AI is breaking into e-commerce, why do we get in the middle of the night, and is a fat flightless parrot the world's greatest bird?

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50:18

Why we need to talk toilets

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/11/16

To mark UN World Toilet Day on 19 Nov, Alex Lathbridge discusses all things toilet related with Andrada Fiscutean and Tristan Ahtone, as they attempt to lift the lid on our collective taboo of discussing sanitary matters.In 2020, 3.6 billion people – nearly half the global population – lacked access to safely managed sanitation. Diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and diarrhoea can spread amongst populations who still practice open defecation. And lack of access to a functioning toilet

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50:12

Working 70 hours a week

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/11/09

This week on the show with the science behind the news, we’re looking at a story that has sparked a debate in India about a 70-hour work week.In an interview, the billionaire NR Narayana Murthy said that young people should be ready to work 70 hours a week to help the country's development, suggesting that unless productivity improved, India would not be able to compete with other countries.But if you work twice as long, do you get twice as much done? The Unexpected Elements team on three continents

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