
Unexpected Elements
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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.
Unexpected Elements
5d ago
French president Emmanuel Macron recently announced that Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa painting will be moved to her very own room at the Louvre, as part of a plan to renovate the iconic museum.
And that got us thinking. Once the crowds have gone home every night, the Mona Lisa will be all by herself, with no other paintings to smile at enigmatically across the room.
So this week, we are talking all things isolation. We start things off by finding out about a key cognitive skill that may have been impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns.
Next, we discover more about the history of loneliness and ..read more
Unexpected Elements
1w ago
Celebrations for the Lunar New Year kicked off on 29th January, and this year is the Year of the Snake.
We start things off by discussing the purpose of some mysterious serpent markings on the banks of the Orinoco River.
Next, we find out about the origins of snake oil, before digging into the psychology of why we trust snake-like people.
Plus, herpetologist Dr Mark O’Shea tells us all about his work identifying snakes, and what happened when he got bitten.
That, plus many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Christine Yohannes. Producers: Dan Welsh ..read more
Unexpected Elements
2w ago
The Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela is currently underway in India. As part of the event, millions of pilgrims will take a cleansing dip in the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. Inspired by this headline, we splash into a whole bathtub of stories about the science of cleaning. We find out why it’s so important to prevent contamination of other planets and moons, and how space scientists keep things clean.
Next up, we discover how our brains clear out harmful toxins while we snooze.
And is there any truth in the saying, ‘tidy house, tidy mind’?
Finally, Marnie ponders wh ..read more
Unexpected Elements
3w ago
After the comic malfunctions of a self-driving car, which drove its passenger/prisoner in endless circles, Unexpected Elements rounds its attention on the humble circle. Explore how one man calculated the circumference of the Earth 2,000 years before GPS was invented, then be spellbound by the Magic Circle and the mysterious woman who broke into it. And as we hit the five-year anniversary of the COVID pandemic, we take a look at the cycle of infection and mutation, before asking, 'why don’t we have one antiviral pill that kills them all?' We’re joined by evolutionary psychologist Professor Rob ..read more
Unexpected Elements
1M ago
Team Unexpected have been digging into their mind palaces to pull on the scientific research that has stuck with them most over the past year. We hear from Professor John Parnell, geologist at the University of Aberdeen, about the role of plankton in forming ancient mountains. How ocean bubbles play a role in climate regulation with bubble physicist Dr Helen Czerski from University College London. Would you know how to measure the size of a bubble? We also participate in some memory sports with Jonas von Essen who is a two-time world memory champion. He helps us construct a mind palace in orde ..read more
Unexpected Elements
1M ago
Happy New Year! This week, the Unexpected Elements team is reflecting on 2024 and looking forward to 2025 for renewed chances to spot the northern lights while they're at their peak visibility in this current solar cycle, and we recap on cellular regeneration advancements and regulations in embryonic stem cell models.
We chat to Professor Rene Oudmaijer from the Royal Observatory of Belgium who explains that stars also renew themselves... and this process is key to our lovely planet (and ourselves) existing!
We also learn all about the potential of bogs and wetlands in the fight against cli ..read more
Unexpected Elements
1M ago
December is a time of celebration, family feuds, and now scientific rivalries. It's also one of the most wasteful months of the year, with festivities in full swing across the globe. No wonder the world is overflowing with rubbish—both literal and metaphorical!
Unexpected Elements dives headfirst into the scientific bin to wallow in waste. Could worms be the unexpected heroes of our plastic pollution crisis? How much garbage have we jettisoned into space? And why is part of our very own genome called "junk DNA"?
But it’s not all rubbish, we’re also talking trash. While celebrations can bring p ..read more
Unexpected Elements
1M ago
As news breaks that archaeologists have found the tomb of St Nick in Turkey, we check in on the North Pole Father Christmas, and fact-check his present giving schedule with advanced level physics and a Gant chart.
Plus, prepare for stories of reindeers high... despite their apparent immunity to their favourite hallucinogenic mushroom treats. And we burrow into Santa’s iconic beard to find any microbial magic that lives there.
And yet more reindeer magic, this time the mysteries of their amazing body clocks, which they seem to be able to switch on and off at will... AND we reveal Rudolf the red ..read more
Unexpected Elements
2M ago
This week, a banana sold at auction for $6.2 million dollars. Well, not quite… it’s actually a piece of conceptual art and it’s WAY more than just a banana. There’s also some duct tape. In response to this most bananas of auctions, the Unexpected Elements team are going bananas for bananas! We investigate the science of slipping on a banana-skin. Is it just ‘cartoon physics’ or are they actually a slip-hazard? And did you know your breakfast banana might be… radioactive? Also, can Romanian ethical hackers succeed where the police have failed? We look at the computer sleuths tackling real life ..read more
Unexpected Elements
2M ago
This week we’re looking at a political agreement that will hand back sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. In the 1970s, the UK removed the entire Chagossian population to make way for a US military base. The islanders have been fighting for their right to return ever since. If deal can be agreed, the islanders are hoping they will have the chance to go home.
And this got us thinking about all things home-related.
First up, we discover the intriguing reasons why you can’t smell your own home, then we take a closer look at our homes and all the creatures that live there, before findin ..read more