Unexpected Elements
Episodes
A scientific séance
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join the Unexpected team as they journey beyond the borders of reality to ask why we believe in the illogical. After a fraudulent psychic dupes 1.3 m...
Computer memories and quantum futures
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
These days, over a trillion semiconductor microchips are made and shipped each year. The industry is worth eye-watering amounts, and since the 2020-20...
Beyoncé, banjos and dancing chemistry
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Beyonce's new album tops the charts with a reappraisal of who can do country music and the Unexpected Elements team has a hoedown. Panellist Christine...
Unexpected elections
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a year when billions of people have been to the ballot box, what do stickleback fish have to do with it? Alex Lathbridge, Tristan Ahtone and Candic...
G.O.A.T
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can you put a price on the perfect athlete? In baseball you can, and that’s a $700 million dollar contract. Shoehi Ohtani took to the field in Seoul...
Ancient water, modern solutions
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ma...
Fandom: The next generation
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Passionate K-Pop fans send us on a journey into the science of fandom. Panellists Andrada Fiskutean in Bucharest, Romania and Tristan Ahtone in Helsin...
Unexpected Oscars
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
Leaping in Sync
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 cl...
Going the distance
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Not so random acts of kindness
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Deep in thought
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Brain implants have been sparking conversation about the future of humanity after Elon Musk's company Neuralink announced it has embedded a microchip ...
How plankton made mountains
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 di...
Populations of people, frogs and microbes
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ru...
Rulers and the rules of ageing
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
Super corals and science diplomacy
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Could geopolitical tensions around the Red Sea affect research into the region’s heat-resistant super corals? Also on the program, what an ocean tha...
Timing is everything
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The Best of Unexpected Elements
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 b...
A very dark day
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
An exploration of empathy
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, we look into the phenomenon of caring for things outside of ourselves – whethe...
Boring science
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 chan...
Meetings with intelligent worms
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 intere...
All about cricket(s)
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The cricket world cup has us looking at the science of spitting on cricket balls, particle accelerators, and insect sound engineers.Also on the progra...
Why we need to talk toilets
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Working 70 hours a week
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Scary science
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the week where many celebrated Halloween we are wondering about that tingle down your spine, the dryness in your mouth, the racing pulse - might it...
Fashion to dye for
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lagos Fashion Week makes some unexpected connections to vegan wool, 1920s car marketing, and Right to Repair legislation. If we consider our obsession...
Putting Madonna to the test
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
According to the pop icon Madonna, music makes the people come together. But can we prove that using science?As Madonna embarks on her greatest hits w...
How bedbugs took over the world
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How did bedbugs become a global concern? We examine why their unconventional reproduction methods are so successful, how bedbugs and humans even cross...
Complete shutdown
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How would it feel wake up years later? After the US narrowly avoided a government shutdown, we look at how complicated systems - such as living things...
How inflation affects the entire cosmos
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week on the show that brings you the science behind the news, there are lots of stories about inflation in economies across the world. When infla...
Can technology read our mind?
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How does our brain process language? We speak to an expert who is using technology to turn narrative thoughts into text. Also on the show, what is hap...
Forgetful fish, telescopic worms and bad air days
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a week where global heat records have melted, we find out how that can make fish life-threateningly stupid. We also dive a little deeper to find th...
Zombies, cows and coups
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Following recent coups in Niger and Gabon, and with seven African coups in the last three years, some political commentators are suggesting that there...
Protecting the Moon
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
India's successful moon landing has the Unexpected Elements team engaging in some serious lunacy. We look at where the moon even came from, how it hel...
The man who couldn’t lie
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we start off by digging into conspiracy theories. What’s behind their enduring allure? And have they always been around? Marnie and the p...
Corrupted thinking and cancerous co-option
17 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The conversation this week starts off on corruption. There are allegations of political or corporate malfeasance in the news regularly throughout the ...
Some of our universe is missing
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week on the show that looks for the science behind the news, Marnie Chesterton investigates mystery after mystery. Where is Yevegeny Prigozhin, t...
The World Cup and hallucinogenic bananas
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 pro...
Password1234#Invisibility&Moonshot
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As Netflix cracks down on password sharing around the world - something it once encouraged - we wondered why people like to share passwords to other t...
Barbie in Space
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Nato and the left-handed universe
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Unexpected elements on the sea bed
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 f...
Predictions from the sky and murderous fish
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 w...
Hayfever, paleobotany and snot palaces
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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? P...
Wildfires and wild animals
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 wild...
Collapsing pensions and civilisations
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ta...
Migrate ideas
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Signals, seaweed and space
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 B...
Co-operation and cohesion
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 a...
Coronation exploration
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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’...
Return of Cyclone Freddy
19 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 passi...
Human genome editing: Promise and Peril
12 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 P...
Drought worsens in East Africa
05 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The long rains of East Africa are forecast to fail again, for the third year running, precipitating a food crisis affecting millions. Science In Actio...
Animals at the Wuhan Market
26 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Cyclone Freddy batters Madagascar
26 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
CRISPR & bioethics
19 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the decade since the genome editing capabilities of CRISPR-Cas9 emerged, research into novel medicines has boomed – but alongside progress comes ...
Turkey-Syria earthquake
11 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the early hours of Monday, a powerful earthquake hit Kahramanmaras in Turkey. Nine hours later another struck. When this edition of Science in Acti...
Science on ice
05 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Pull on an extra layer and stay toasty whilst Science in Action braces for a deep freeze. Whilst we know plenty about the ice on the Earth’s poles, ...
Bird flu (H5N1) outbreak in mink
29 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An outbreak of pathogenic bird flu, H5N1, in a Spanish mink farm could be a cause for concern. Some experts fear the virus may now spill over to other...
Climate science activism
22 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Climate researcher, Rose Abramoff took to the stage at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meetings, not as a guest speaker but in protest. Whil...
Atmospheric rivers
15 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Flood warnings in parts of California have seen some of the state’s best known celebrities flee their homes. The current weather conditions are in p...
One year on from the Tonga eruption
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re taking a look back at the January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, which literally sent shockwaves around the world. One year on,...
The James Webb Space Telescope - the first 6 months
01 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has produced amazing images in its first 5 months, but amazing science as well. Roland hears from one of the leading...
Mosquito pesticide failing
25 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mosquito pesticide failing - prevention of dengue fever and other diseases at risk. Dangerous bird flu evolving fast - researchers are learning why bi...
Fusion milestone
18 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Fusion milestone - the science behind the headlines. Laser fusion expert Kate Lancaster walks us through the technology that produced energy gain at t...
Ancient warmth in Greenland
11 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Two-million-year-old molecular fossils reveal flourishing woodlands and widespread animals in Greenland's pre-Ice-Age past, and give hints to the Arct...
COVID spreads in China
04 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hong Kong health expert Professor Malik Peiris relates the lessons from the devastation there earlier this year. UK virologist Dr Tom Peacock reveals ...
A distant planet’s atmosphere
27 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A distant planet's atmosphere - NASA's JWST space telescope has unpicked the chemical contents and state of the atmosphere of planet WASP-39b 700 ligh...
Online harassment of Covid scientists
20 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, scientists studying the virus have become targets of online harassment, and more recently, death threats. Roland sp...
Neurons that restore walking in paralysed patients
13 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers have identified which neurons, when electrically stimulated, can restore the ability to walk in paralysed patients. Professor Jocelyne Blo...
What peat can tell us about our future
06 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Congo Basin is home to the world’s largest peatland. Simon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science at UCL and the University of Leeds, tells R...
Seismic events on Mars
30 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The latest observations from Nasa’s InSight Mars Lander and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have revealed new information on Mars’ interior stru...
The most powerful explosion ever recorded
23 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been an unusual week for astronomers, with telescopes swivelled off course to observe GRB221009A, the brightest gamma ray burst ever recorded. ...
Inserting human neurons into the brains of rats
16 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sergiu Pasca, Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University has left the petri dish in the drawer and grown human neurons inside the brains of juveni...
Nobel Prize 2022: The science behind the winners
09 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For the scientific community, the Nobel Prize announcements are an important part of the yearly science calendar. The award is one of the most widely ...
The final moments of DART
01 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
NASA’s latest mission, DART hit the headlines this week after the space agency’s satellite successfully collided with a far off asteroid. The miss...
Should we mine the deep sea?
24 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The first license of its kind has been granted for deep-sea mining. It will be used to run early tests to see whether the seabed could be good place t...
Science and the causes behind Pakistan’s floods
18 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A new report by the World Weather Attribution consortium demonstrates the impact of global warming on flooding in Pakistan. The consortium are helping...
The genetics of human intelligence
11 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Early humans and Neanderthals had similar-sized brains but around 6 million years ago something happened that gave us the intellectual edge. The answe...
The China Heatwave and the New Normal
04 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hot on the tail of China’s heatwave comes the other side of the extreme coin – tragic flooding. Also, a coming global shortage of sulfur, while sc...
Surprises from a Martian Lake Bed
28 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Jezero Crater on Mars was targeted by Nasa’s Perseverence rover because from orbit, there was strong evidence it had at some point contained a l...
Deadly drought
20 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
East Africa has endured more than two years on continuous drought. The latest predictions suggest the drought is not likely to end any time soon. We l...
Icelandic volcano erupts again
14 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We talk to volcano scientist Ed Marshall in Iceland about working at the volcano which has burst into life spectacularly again after a year of quiet. ...
Synthetic mouse embryos with brains and hearts
07 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week two research groups announced that they have made synthetic mouse embryos that developed brains and beating hearts in the test tube, startin...
The first galaxies at the universe's dawn
30 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the last week, teams of astronomers have rushed to report ever deeper views of the universe thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. These are gal...
Heat waves in the Northern Hemisphere
23 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The extreme heat wave in western Europe over the last couple of weeks is just one of many in the Northern Hemisphere in 2022. How is global warming ch...
First images from the James Webb Space Telescope
16 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Roland Pease talks to two astronomers who began working on the James Webb Space Telescope more than two decades ago and have now seen the first specta...
Long Covid ‘brain fog’
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Following a bout of Covid-19, a significant number of people suffer with weeks or months of 'brain fog' - poor concentration, forgetfulness, and confu...
Extreme heat death risk in Latin America
03 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Audio for this episode was updated on 8th July.A new analysis of deaths in cities across Latin America suggests rising global temperatures could lead ...
Monster microbe
26 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers have discovered a species of bacteria which dwarfs all others by thousands of times. Normally you need a microscope to see single-celled ...
Thirty years after the Earth Summit
19 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Thirty years ago, world leaders met at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio and appeared to commit to action to tackle two of the world's greatest e...
Body scan reveals HIV's hideouts
11 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers have developed a medical imaging technique which reveals where in the body HIV lies hidden, even when people have their infection well con...
Should we worry about the latest Omicron subvariants?
04 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Should we worry about the most recent Omicron subvariants, BA 4 and BA5? They are the subtypes of the Covid-19 virus now dominant in southern Africa ...
Heat death by volcano and other stories
29 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week Science in Action comes from a vast gathering of earth scientists in Vienna, at the general assembly of the European Geosciences Union. Rol...
Death in the rainforest
21 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tree mortality in tropical moist forests in Australia has been increasing since the mid 1980s. The death rate of trees appears to have doubled over t...
Portrait of the monster black hole at our galaxy’s heart
15 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The heaviest thing in the Galaxy has now been imaged by the biggest telescope on Earth. This is Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the cen...
Mekong Delta will sink beneath the sea by 2100
08 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Mekong Delta is home to 17 million people and is Vietnam’s most productive agricultural region. An international group of scientists warn this w...
The Indian subcontinent’s record-breaking heatwave
01 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Deadly heat has been building over the Indian sub-continent for weeks and this week reached crisis levels. India experienced its hottest March on reco...
Climate techno-fix would worsen global malaria burden
24 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a series of UN climate reports have warned recently, drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions – a halving over the next decade – are need...