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Science news and highlights of the week
Sir David Attenborough is arguably the world’s favourite broadcaster, and this week he’s blowing out the candles on his 100th birthday cake....
The blockade on the strait of Hormuz has led to an unexpected consequence – condom prices are set to increase by up to 30 percent! This has...
On 26th April 1986, Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded, releasing vast amounts of radiation. Now, 40 years l...
In 2025, Russian-born scientist Kseniia Petrova picked up some spliced frog embryos from a laboratory in France and brought them back to the...
This month, India began the immense undertaking of surveying its population of 1.4 billion people in the world’s largest ever census. Inspir...
China’s ambitious underwater mapping operation takes us on a voyage into the depths of ocean and map science. We look at what a network of u...
Japanese pedestrians have been forcefully colliding with each other in a spate of butsukari otoko – or ‘bumping man’ – incidents and the Une...
After the end of a near 17-year legal battle between popstar Katy Perry and fashion designer Katie Perry, the Unexpected Elements team has b...
With this year’s Oscars on the horizon, and vampire film Sinners nominated for a record-breaking 16 awards, the Unexpected Elements team sin...
The Hindu festival of Holi has the Unexpected Elements team delving into the science of colour. First up, forget chicken and egg, we bring y...
A dip in global cocoa prices got the Unexpected Elements team wondering about chocolate science. First, we look at how the microbial communi...
Identical twins on trial for murder in France have left forensic experts unable to answer the question of which one pulled the gun’s trigger...
K-pop fans in Taiwan have been turning to the God of love in the hope it will boost their luck in getting concert tickets. It got the Unexpe...
The Winter Olympics has the Unexpected Elements team looking into some of the incredible science behind the sports. First up, the tale of In...
Are You Dead? That’s the name of an app that’s gone massively viral in China. Every two days, you click a green button to confirm you’re ali...
After the leaders of Japan and South Korea ended their summit with the two participating in a drumming duet, we’re marching to the beat of o...
This week the Unexpected Elements team has travelled Down Under to sunny Sydney where we discover some wonderfully Australian science with t...
We take a look at some exciting science of the near future. First, the latest developments in animal-to-human organ transplants and the ambi...
We revisit our listeners’ favourite topics and dig deeper in this special programme. First, we hear from some of our insomniac listeners and...
This Boxing Day and holiday season, our present to you is the science of gifts. First, we investigate the health benefits of donating blood,...
The end of Australian soap opera Neighbours has us wondering why a television series ending makes us sad. Also, what does science say about...
Over the Christmas season, it is estimated that some 3.6 million families in Japan will tuck into KFC over Christmas (other fried chicken is...
A teddy bear launched into the upper atmosphere as part of a school science project has gone missing! Inspired by this story, the Unexpected...
The Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer by Gustav Klimt has recently sold for $236m, making it the second-most expensive artwork ever sold at auct...
The Miss Universe pageant final has us considering the science of beauty. How much of our perception of beauty is genetic, and how much is d...
A 150-year-old bottle of Arctic Ale is being uncapped, which got the team talking about all things related to yeast, beer, and opening thing...
As rescue and relief efforts in the Caribbean are ongoing after Hurricane Melissa, Unexpected Elements looks at the science of storms. We ex...
The daylight robbery of precious crown jewels from the Louvre museum in Paris has us stealing your attention to inspect heists and crime sce...
Europe has a new entry/exit system based on biometric data. But what exactly is the science behind biometric data, how can we ensure it’s us...
Record high gold prices have us looking at the science of inflation, why gold is leaking from volcanoes, and entomologist Katy Prudic explai...
Egyptian strongman Ashraf Mahrous recently pulled two ships totalling 1,150 tonnes with his teeth, setting his sights on the Guinness World...
The launch of Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, has inspired this week’s episode of Unexpected Elem...
This week marks 200 years since the first steam train pulled passengers over 26 miles of north-east England’s countryside, and started a rev...
For International Talk Like a Pirate Day on 19th September, we dig up a treasure chest full of pirate-inspired science. First up, we peer do...
The inauguration of Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam has us looking at how we decide when, where, and even whether to build dams. But huma...
A dinosaur with metre-long spikes has been discovered. The species, Spicomellus afer, is from the Jurassic Period and is the oldest example...
It’s August, and in the northern hemisphere, many people are hitting the beach to escape the summer heat. And that inspired us to investigat...
As Nepal makes 97 peaks free to climb, we look at the science of overtourism – especially on mountains. How do so many visitors affect these...
What's got rabbit-like ears, huge eyes, nine teeth and a demonic grin? It’s Labubu! These ugly-cute toys have gone viral online, largely tha...
This week, floods have hit the global headlines. First up, we delve into the various reasons why floods form. After learning about the cause...
This week, a viral video of a robo-traffic-cop in Shanghai has the team contemplating the science of traffic. How do traffic jams with no di...
The epic space story of a sci-fi dream that changed spaceflight forever. Told by the Nasa astronauts and team who made it happen. Our multi-...
This week, Cameroon’s Paul Biya announced his plan to run for an 8th term as president at the grand old age of 92. So, we have elected to in...
This week, a new report into the dangers that sand and dust storms pose to the world's health and economy has inspired us to delve in the sc...
Shark Awareness Day on 14th July sends us on a deep dive into marine biology. First, we learn how shark-inspired materials could help make a...
The X-Press Pearl shipping disaster takes us on a voyage through shipping-related science. First, we learn about how pollution from the X-Pr...
This week, Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae has been unveiled at London's Natural History Museum. This newly described herbivorous dinosaur has...
This week, the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers at ice hockey’s Stanley Cup championship, which sent us skating into ice-related sc...
World War II bombs were defused in Cologne, Germany, which has inspired us to explore the science of diffusion and defusing! First, we hear...
This week, get ready for a whole loot box of gaming-related stories! First up, we find out about a video game that could give people the pow...