Marnie Chesterton

Annie, I feel like we could carry on talking about sea cucumbers, but unfortunately we are out of time.

So thank you so much for sharing everything you've shared and, you know, spreading a world of sea cucumber wonder to Unexpected Elements listeners.

So Alfonso mangoes and their shortage has led us via lemon exoplanets and durian electronic components to a glimpse of the eternal life offered by sea cucumber offcuts.

Still to come on the show, a destructive African invasive, do plants ever die of old age and did El Nino do for an ancient Peruvian civilisation?

This is Unexpected Elements from the BBC World Service.

I'm Marnie Chesterton in the UK and with me are a couple of tip-top science broadcasters.

I say with me, but I do mean that in the spirit of radio and metaphor.

Team, can you introduce yourselves?

Name and location, please.

Sandy Young in Singapore.

Each week, the team like to make space for a story that might otherwise pass us by.

And it's often something that one of us brings from our part of the world to share with the global audience.

Now, it doesn't have to fit in with the theme of the show, but there will be prizes if it does.

And by prizes, I mean entirely pointless points.

You can't use them.

You can't sell them.

You can't use them to get a prize.

I don't know.

You can't swap them for anything.

Enticing, isn't it, Michael?