Unexpected Elements

This week, a court in Kenya sentenced four men to either a year in prison or a fine of £5,800 for trying to smuggle 5,000 ants out of the country. The contraband included highly-valued ants like the giant African harvester ant, and it’s believed these ants were intended for exotic pet markets abroad. But all this talk of ant smuggling got the Unexpected Elements team feeling antsy to talk ants! We...

On 21st April 2025, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, died. His funeral took place on 26th April, with thousands of mourners crowding into St Peter’s Square to pay their respects. Following the death of a Pope, there are centuries-old traditions and rituals that must be followed, and that got the Unexpected Elements team thinking about the science surrounding loss. First up, we delve...

This week the Unexpected Elements team left our windowless BBC studio and paid a visit to the CGIAR conference in Nairobi, Kenya. In this episode, we find out about the Kenyan invention that’s pulling clean, safe water from thin air, before discovering what makes Kenyan coffee taste so great. Next, we hear about the problems with burning charcoal and the ways in which briquettes could offer a clea...

This week is the Christian celebration of Easter, which sent the Unexpected Elements team scrambling for egg-related stories. First up, we find out about the rise of a vegan egg substitute. Next, we discover how to cook the perfect boiled egg, according to science. We then turn our attention to climate change, and find out how it is affecting the breeding patterns and nesting behaviour of sea turt...

The Aurora Borealis – also known as the Northern Lights – won’t be at their peak activity much longer, and the Unexpected Elements team dreams of going north to see them. And that has got us looking at the science of navigating our way north! We hear about how humans have been using the sky to navigate for millennia, and we learn about how relying on GPS may be impacting our memory ability. And wh...

On World Rat Day, we’re getting ratty! We look at the biology behind the eternal struggle between rats and rat poison, and we hear about rat-on-rat warfare and other forms of pest control. We don’t play games when it comes to rats, but we know someone who does. Dr Michael Brecht from the Humboldt University of Berlin tells us how he played hide-and-seek with lab rats and what that tells us about t...

April 1st is notorious across the globe. Renowned for being a day of practical jokes. And it’s no different here on the BBC World Service. Mischievous elephants, the secret to fool's gold and one of the biggest scientific hoaxes in scientific history. From the Magic Circle to the Magic Lab, the psychology underpinning why we humans are so delightfully easy to trick with Professor Gustav Kuhn. And...

Five years ago, people around the world were enduring COVID lockdowns as we attempted to prevent the spread of the virus. Today, many of those who caught COVID-19 are still suffering from lingering symptoms, including a loss of their sense of smell. And that got the Unexpected Elements team thinking about all things olfactory. First up, hold your noses as we investigate the two chemicals that make...

It’s the month of Ramadan, when Muslims across the world fast between dawn and sunset in the belief that it will bring them closer to Allah. And this has inspired the Unexpected Elements team to turn their attention to all things fast. First, we explore the latest research around intermittent fasting. Next, we contemplate a new way to relax by harnessing the time-distorting power of black holes. W...

Sparked by a silent album released by 1,000 musicians in protest of the UK government’s planned changes to copyright law, Unexpected Elements hits the pause button... Is there any science to silence? Fear not, this week’s show is packed full of chatter! You might think there’s only one type of silence, but supposedly exists in political science too. In fact, there are seven distinct types. If you'...

Unexpected Elements has a shake up looking into the topsy turvy world of science, all thanks to an upturned campervan in Western France. Explore why scientists are suspending rhinos from cranes, brace yourself for a quirky elementary particle that is hard to get your head around and if you love getting yourself in a tizz then fasten your seatbelts to meet one of the scientists responsible for cura...

Monty the giant schnauzer won best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. And rather than thinking of all things canine, this week the Unexpected Elements team turn their attention to all things giant. First, we find out how a giant virus could help keep our planet cool. Next up, we discover the origins of enormous Greek characters, such as the Titans and the Cyclops. We then find out ho...

Valentine’s Day is here - the one day of the year where you can be unashamedly romantic and splash out on posh dinners, flowers and chocolates for your beloved. So we dig into the science of love. First, we find out about a monogamous rodent that has a special way of forming lifelong bonds with its partner. Next, we discover how to apply maths to your love life, before delving into the technology...

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 ta...

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 w...

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 spa...

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 C...

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....

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 e...

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 pollut...

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 micr...

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...

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 abo...

It’s Black Friday! Everyone is camping in the street, staying up all night for the very best deals around. And Unexpected Elements are joining in. We take a look at the huge underground trade of vital resources...not run by criminals but fungi. Then it is onto illegal animal trade and the 300 pets who got a terrible deal, strapped to a man’s chest as he tried to make it through airport security. H...

Headlines that Canadian uranium deposits could make it a nuclear superpower has the Unexpected Elements team musing on all manner of superpowers. Tardigrades are an obvious candidate – boil them, freeze them, irradiate them in space, these adorable creatures are almost indestructible. We also meet Dr Deep Sea, Joseph Dituri, from the University of South Florida, who lived under water for 100 days...