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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

50:16

Corrupted thinking and cancerous co-option

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/08/17

The conversation this week starts off on corruption. There are allegations of political or corporate malfeasance in the news regularly throughout the world. But can science bring anything to the investigators? We look at some efforts to bring empirical rigour to the fight. But corruption of sorts is also a big thing in our online lives. Algorithms can deliver duff results, maybe because they are poorly conceived, or perhaps because they are fed corrupt data. So when our cellular biological

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53:40

Some of our universe is missing

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/08/10

This week on the show that looks for the science behind the news, Marnie Chesterton investigates mystery after mystery. Where is Yevegeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, and could science help to trace him? Which animals would do best at a game of hide and seek? And we hear about the time when half the stuff in the universe went missing, and how cosmologists found it again. We continue our endless quest to identify the Coolest Science in the World. This week’s contender studies the murky

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50:28

The World Cup and hallucinogenic bananas

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/08/03

The World Cup has us looking at why women get more ACL injuries, how to avoid cracking under pressure, and why some animals play dead. Also on the program we consider the pros and cons of Artificial Intelligence in Africa, whether the continent is turning to nuclear power, and if banana skins are hallucinogenic.

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50:22

Password1234#Invisibility&Moonshot

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/07/27

As Netflix cracks down on password sharing around the world - something it once encouraged - we wondered why people like to share passwords to other things, such as phones, email accounts and logins. Passwords and encryption exist as ways of protecting us from hostile agents in most aspects of life. But timing is everything. Nature has been doing it for years of course. But climate change is upsetting some of the ecological match-ups of locks and keys, migration and feeding that have evolved over

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50:15

Barbie in Space

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/07/20

Unexpected Elements looks for the science behind the news, and this week the news is glittery and pink with the release of the Barbie movie.The movie has very pink aesthetic, so we get philosophical about the colour pink – does it actually exist and if so, how come it isn’t in the rainbow?We also discover how this iconic doll has performed some actual valuable science, helping cryogenic researchers design space suit technology to help future missions to the moon.In Ask the Unexpected this week we’ve

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50:11

Nato and the left-handed universe

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/07/13

As Nato meets, we look at what science says about consensus decision-making, whether the universe is left-handed, and what chemistry can tell us about our ancient past.Also, we examine windfarms potentially blocking reindeer herding, our quest for the coolest science in the world continues with Beth the bee queen, and Caroline contemplates the long road that got us to a malaria vaccine.

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50:21

Unexpected elements on the sea bed

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/07/06

This week time is up for the UN to come up with rules about how to mine the ocean bed. We hear about the mysterious potato shaped objects on the sea floor that contain lots of valuable minerals that are essential for electronics like mobile phones.Our team on three different continents compare how recycling of precious metals is going in their parts of world, and we hear why early Lithium batteries kept catching fire. We also speak to an expert on hydroelectric power who tells us how small scale

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50:12

Predictions from the sky and murderous fish

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/06/29

Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid, but how to pick a date for your festivities? The Islamic calendar says look to the moon, but haven’t we always chosen to order life on earth by using the planets, moons and stars? We hear about the Mayans who tracked Venus and the astronomer who proved that comets weren’t bad omens.Having looked at the outsourcing of decisions to the sky, we wonder why we can’t just trust our brains and wonder what neuroscience has to say about it.And now that AI is able

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50:54

Hayfever, paleobotany and snot palaces

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/06/22

A look at some unexpected elements of congestion: Why does pollen make so many of us wheezy, and sneezy? What can it tell us about the distant past? Plus, we take a look at what we can learn from the construction and engineering behind aquatic snot palaces.Plus your enemy’s enemy can be your friend – hear about the tiny viruses that invade certain bacteria. Speaking of bacteria, we look at the latest place to hunt for new antibiotics – the fur of a certain animal, and with reports of famine emerging

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50:16

Wildfires and wild animals

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/06/15

The show that brings you the science behind the news, with Marnie Chesterton and an inter-continental team.This week we take the headlines of the wildfires in North America, pull out the science and run with it. We explore what’s actually in smoke-polluted air, looking at the part the El Nino weather system plays in starting fires, and discover why a surprising element of air pollution is helping conservation biologists to track animals.We look at how tobacco is not just bad for your lungs – it’s

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50:29

Collapsing pensions and civilisations

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/06/08

As French citizens protest against the raising of the state pension age, we look at the figures – are we really living longer? And if so, why? We take notes from the naked mole rat - it’s born looking wrinkled but this rodent is apparently ageless. And moving on from mere creatures, we’re asking if every state, society or civilisation has a lifespan, and if we can prevent it ending on our watch.Also, as South Africans battle to live their best lives against almost daily power cuts, we look at load

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49:46

Migrate ideas

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/06/01

Human migration is in the headlines again – India and Australia have announced a new migration deal, in the US a Covid-inspired policy that allowed migrants to be quickly expelled has come to an end, and in the UK new measures were announced to stop foreign students bringing families with them, in a bid to reduce migration figures.But what does science tell us about migration? With a team across three continents, we’re looking at the origins of human migration and exploring some of the greatest

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50:33

Signals, seaweed and space

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/05/25

On the anniversary of the first telegraph being sent, the team discover how the telegraph was used as a colonial tool in Ghana, and how an eccentric Brazilian emperor helped spark a communications revolution.They also reveal how tiny worms have helped scientists work out how our hearing works, and how bioelectricity might help focus your mind and heal your wounds.There’s a tale of evil seaweed causing havoc for coastal communities, a scientist studying misophonia makes a pitch for The Coolest

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53:51

Co-operation and cohesion

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/05/18

After the elections in Thailand and Turkey, we explore the forces that shape how you decide to vote. Clue: a lot of it comes down to us being social animals. We getting stuck into various sticky subjects – the glue that holds together animal societies, the cells in our bodies and even the International Space Station.We also looking at how the blueprint of the human genome just got a whole load better. Also, join our mission to find the coolest science in the world, with the scientist who explores

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50:49

Coronation exploration

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/05/11

Unexpected Elements is all about finding surprising stories and nuggets of science in everyday news. Each week we start by taking a news story that’s floating around and use that as a launchpad for three other science stories that become increasingly unexpected. This week, the team squints at the recent lavish ceremony and ritual of the British King’s coronation and asks: What does it all mean? Why is ritual so important to us humans, and why does it always seem to involve precious objects?That’s

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61:36

Return of Cyclone Freddy

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/03/19

34 days after it first formed at the far end of the Indian Ocean, record-breaking Cyclone Freddy made a repeat landfall on Mozambique as well as passing over Malawi, causing extensive damage and loss of life. Climate scientists Liz Stephens and Izidine Pinto join Roland to give an update on the destruction and explain how Cyclone Freddy kept going for an exceptionally long time. At the Third International Human Genome Summit in London last week, Professor Katsuhiko Hayashi announced he had created

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61:54

Human genome editing: Promise and Peril

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/03/12

We meet experts at the Human Genome Editing Summit in London, seeking to cure genetic disease and ensure that it is safe and available to all.Roland Pease hears from Victoria Gray, the first person to be cured of the debilitating and life-shortening disease sickle cell anaemia by gene editing, and from the scientists making it possible.Also, the prospect of work to attempt gene rescue in fetuses before they are born. But the technology is expensive and complex. The question troubling the

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59:18

Drought worsens in East Africa

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/03/05

The long rains of East Africa are forecast to fail again, for the third year running, precipitating a food crisis affecting millions. Science In Action explores the science of the drought, hears about new methods improving forecasts, and what is unusual about the region that makes it so vulnerable.When we think of helium, for many of us balloons and squeaky voices come to mind. But the noble gas is critical for many aspects of modern life – and we’re facing a global shortage. Dr Annie Cheng and her

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77:21

Animals at the Wuhan Market

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/02/26

DNA has revealed potential animal COVID carriers at the Wuhan market, but what does that tell us about the start of the pandemic? Roland talks to two of the experts behind the new analysis: Dr Florence Débarre and Professor Eddie Holmes.Also, we look into Europe’s grand new space ambitions. ESA director general Josef Aschbacher gives Roland the details of the space agency’s out-of-this-world plans.And Beethoven's last DNA: a hairy story of his family and genetic afflictions. Dr Tristan Begg shares

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64:59

Cyclone Freddy batters Madagascar

Unexpected Elements ·

2023/02/26

Cyclone Freddy has made landfall on Madagascar, leaving destruction in its wake. At the time this edition of Science In Action is going to air, Freddy is on course to reach Mozambique and South Africa. Freddy, which has been gaining strength since it originally formed on the 30th of January, is the most powerful southern hemisphere cyclone on record. Professor Francois Engelbrecht provides the science behind the storm system. In the centre of our galaxy, an enormous cloud is heading towards the

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