Unexpected Elements

The news you know, the science you don’t.

World Service,274 episodes

Episodes

ListGrid

Kenya believe it?
The Unexpected Elements team visits Nairobi, Kenya.
25 Apr 2025,49 mins
An eggciting episode
The Christian celebration of Easter got us thinking about egg-related science.
18 Apr 2025,49 mins
Navigating northward
The Northern lights have us wondering how to go north (and other unexpected directions).
11 Apr 2025,49 mins
Oh, Rats!
Can we make the case for remarkable rats, or are they just rubbish?
04 Apr 2025,49 mins
Don’t be a fool!
Your one stop shop for scientific pranking this April Fools’ Day!
28 Mar 2025,49 mins
What’s that smell?
We sniff out stories about death, lies, cinema and COVID...
21 Mar 2025,49 mins
The fast and the curious
The Unexpected Elements team takes a whistlestop tour of all things fast!
14 Mar 2025,49 mins
Silent science
An album produced by musical legends contains just silence, is there any science to it?
07 Mar 2025,49 mins
Topsy turvy
An upturned caravan has everyone baffled in Western France, time for a scientific shakeup
28 Feb 2025,49 mins
Standing on the shoulders of giants
The Unexpected Elements team are going supersized.
21 Feb 2025,49 mins
Let’s talk about love
Dig into the science of love from monogamous rodents to AI chatbots and compatibility
14 Feb 2025,49 mins
All by myself
The Unexpected Elements team are discussing isolation.
07 Feb 2025,49 mins
Snake science
The Unexpected Elements team are talking all things snakes!
31 Jan 2025,49 mins
Keep it clean
A whole bathtub of science, from brains cleaning themselves to how space keeps sparkling
24 Jan 2025,49 mins
Circles, circumferences and Covid
From ancient Earth measurements to viral cycles and the science of friendly limits
17 Jan 2025,49 mins
Scientist spotlight
Humans outrunning horses, mountains made from plankton and much, much more.
10 Jan 2025,49 mins
(Re)New Year
New year is giving Team Unexpected renewed chances to learn about regenerative science
03 Jan 2025,49 mins
Festive trash talk
December is a month of waste, rubbish and trash talk
27 Dec 2024,49 mins
The science of Santa
The Unexpected Elements team are unwrapping the science of Santa!
20 Dec 2024,49 mins
Totally bananas
The Unexpected Elements team have gone bananas… for bananas!
13 Dec 2024,49 mins
Going home
A potential homecoming for Chagossians got us investigating the science of home.
06 Dec 2024,49 mins
Doing a deal
It's Black Friday! And Unexpected Elements are on a hunt for the best deals
29 Nov 2024,49 mins
Super Science
Geopolitical superpowers have Team Unexpected on the hunt for scientific superheroes.
22 Nov 2024,49 mins
Are you not entertained?
Gladiator II is hitting the cinemas, so the Unexpected Elements team enters the arena.
15 Nov 2024,49 mins
Supermassive numbers
As Russia fines Google an unpayable sum of money, we look at some extremely large numbers
08 Nov 2024,49 mins
The Swing of Things
So-called swing states inspire us to look into swing science.
01 Nov 2024,49 mins
Mystery blobs
Blobs are appearing on beaches, so the team look at the science of gooey things.
25 Oct 2024,49 mins
TV made me do it
Macron’s comments on Emily in Paris has us unpicking the power of television.
18 Oct 2024,49 mins
The world's longest treasure hunt
We dig for scientific gold in the form of seeds, aliens and cats
11 Oct 2024,49 mins
Science to make you smile
What better way to celebrate World Smile Day other than with scientific excellence
04 Oct 2024,49 mins