Unexpected Elements Podcast
The news you know, the science you don鈥檛. 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.
Episodes to download
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Going home
Fri 6 Dec 2024
A potential homecoming for Chagossians got us investigating the science of home.
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Doing a deal
Fri 29 Nov 2024
It's Black Friday! And Unexpected Elements are on a hunt for the best deals
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Super Science
Fri 22 Nov 2024
Geopolitical superpowers have Team Unexpected on the hunt for scientific superheroes.
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Are you not entertained?
Fri 15 Nov 2024
Gladiator II is hitting the cinemas, so the Unexpected Elements team enters the arena.
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Supermassive numbers
Fri 8 Nov 2024
As Russia fines Google an unpayable sum of money, we look at some extremely large numbers
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Mystery blobs
Fri 25 Oct 2024
Blobs are appearing on beaches, so the team look at the science of gooey things.
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TV made me do it
Fri 18 Oct 2024
Macron鈥檚 comments on Emily in Paris has us unpicking the power of television.
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The world's longest treasure hunt
Fri 11 Oct 2024
We dig for scientific gold in the form of seeds, aliens and cats
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Science to make you smile
Fri 4 Oct 2024
What better way to celebrate World Smile Day other than with scientific excellence
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All things Oregon!
Fri 27 Sep 2024
Join Marnie Chesterton and science journalists Chhavi Sachdev and Jes Burns, on their Ore
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Shiny: Why we are dazzled by new sparkly things
Fri 20 Sep 2024
Like magpies, we're obsessed with everything shiny. What is behind this attraction?
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Ng膩 Wai Hono i te P艒: The new M膩ori Kuini
Fri 13 Sep 2024
The crowing of the new M膩ori Kuini (Queen) is cause for a scientific celebration
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The world's worst tourist
Fri 30 Aug 2024
Following anti-tourism protests in Spain, we're looking at the world's peskiest visitors
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A sticky situation
Fri 23 Aug 2024
Two astronauts are stuck on the ISS, which got us thinking about other sticky issues.
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The only one
Fri 16 Aug 2024
Olympians representing their countries alone got us thinking about being the only one
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Let them eat crab
Fri 9 Aug 2024
Everything you need for a French royal banquet, with an unexpected twist, of course.
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Can I eat it?
Fri 2 Aug 2024
The discovery of champagne in a shipwreck has us pondering preservation
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Breaking, climbing, and surfing
Fri 26 Jul 2024
Could we surf on Titan, or dance like a physicist? Olympic levels of science chat.
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Mushroom magic
Fri 5 Jul 2024
Hallucinatory, deadly or lifesaving? Your one-stop guide to everything fungi
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Seismic swift
Fri 21 Jun 2024
A Taylor Swift gig in Scotland made us look at human earthquakes and animal seismographs
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An unexpected burger
Fri 14 Jun 2024
After McDonalds鈥� recent court case loss the team cook up a scientific culinary delight
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Balloon manoeuvres
Fri 7 Jun 2024
Balloons in South Korea have us floating ideas about airships and helium.
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Eternal flames
Fri 31 May 2024
From Olympic torches to zombie fires, we stoke the flames which do not go out
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A world going on underground
Fri 24 May 2024
In bunkers, basements and boreholes, we explore life going on underground
