Unexpected Elements

This month, India began the immense undertaking of surveying its population of 1.4 billion people in the world’s largest ever census. Inspired by this huge task, the Unexpected Elements team explores some population science. First, counting – or miscounting – populations. The global human population may be much larger than previously thought as research shows counts may have missed those living in more remote areas. And we learn about the species stuck in a neverending “species limbo”, where they’ve gone unseen for decades but still can’t officially be declared extinct. Next, we’re joined by geneticist Dr Ambroise Wonkam, one of the researchers behind the Three Million African Genomes project, who tells us why sequencing more African genomes is the key to unlocking a wealth of vital genetics knowledge. Also, Mumbai’s out of tune musical road, how we know volcanoes are extinct, and the weight of the internet. All that, plus many more unexpected elements. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Candice Bailey. Producers: Lucy Davies, with Ella Hubber, Imy Harper and Georgia Christie.

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 underwater microphones can tell us about underwater geography, noisy ships, and whale conversations, and how it took nearly 300 researchers working together to map 140 000 neurons in a fruit fly’s brain. Then, we are joined by biogeochemist and author Karen Lloyd, who tells us about the long-lived microbes living deep in the crust below the sea floor, how they survive for 100 000 years, and what their mysterious existence tells us about life and evolution. And forget sunken treasures – we will talk about the valuable, potato-sized mineral nodules that grow on the sea floor, and the pros, cons and current legality of mining them. Plus – how dolphins can help us track down abandoned undersea explosives. All that and even more unexpected elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Katie Silver and Tristan Ahtone Producers: Ella Hubber, with Lucy Davies and Georgia Christie

Japanese pedestrians have been forcefully colliding with each other in a spate of butsukari otoko – or ‘bumping man’ – incidents and the Unexpected Elements team has been inspired to investigate some bumpy science. First, what does your heart desire? Well, at a cellular level, the perfect match! We hear how your heart is built by cells going speed dating. Then, we discuss how birds avoid in-flock collisions, and we learn all about mesmerising murmurations. Next, we’re joined by science journalist and author Robin George Andrews, who tells us about NASA’s mission to avoid a city-killing disaster by bumping into an asteroid before it can bump into us. Also, a colourful question about migraines, a surprising new treatment for them, and the scientists who took antimatter for a test drive. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Sophie Ormiston, with Ella Hubber, Katie Tomsett, Imy Harper and Lucy Davies

After the end of a near 17-year legal battle between popstar Katy Perry and fashion designer Katie Perry, the Unexpected Elements team has been inspired to explore the question at the heart of the case – what's in a name? First, we hear how marmosets use their calls as a way of naming which friend they’re talking to. Then, we discover why a phenomenon known as auditory pareidolia means you can’t necessarily believe your ears. We're then joined by David Kaiser, professor of physics and history of science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who explains just how hard it is to put physics into words. Also, the disappearance of indigenous languages, the law for naming laws, and where did all our hair go? All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton with Andrada Fiscutean and Michael Kaloki Producers: Imy Harper, with Lucy Davies and Sophie Ormiston

With this year’s Oscars on the horizon, and vampire film Sinners nominated for a record-breaking 16 awards, the Unexpected Elements team sinks their teeth into some blood-sucking science. First, we discover that Vlad the Impaler, the Romanian prince who inspired Dracula, may have not only had blood on his hands, but also in his tears. We also hear about a woman in Guadeloupe with the world’s newest and rarest blood type. We’re then joined by Dr Naomi Ewald from the UK’s Freshwater Habitats Trust who tells us all about nature’s little bloodsuckers – leeches – and why their use in medicine is not just a practice consigned to the history books. Also, the gravity-defying gecko of the Gambia, how close are we to producing artificial blood, and the Patagonian dinosaur that looks like a judgemental chicken. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Ella Hubber, with Sophie Ormiston, Lucy Davies and Imy Harper

The Hindu festival of Holi has the Unexpected Elements team delving into the science of colour. First up, forget chicken and egg, we bring you a whole new controversy of which came first: colour or colour vision? Then, we learn how a new development in infrared contact lenses could extend our range of vision and help people with colour blindness. We’re then joined by marine biologist Roger Hanlon who explains how octopuses are great at changing tones, even though they can’t appreciate the colours that they make. Plus, what’s orange, cream, 5,000 years old and worryingly resistant to most of our common antibiotics? And why does reading on dark mode leave one listener seeing things? All on this week’s Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Chhavi Sachdev Producers: Imy Harper, with Ella Hubber and Lucy Davies

A dip in global cocoa prices got the Unexpected Elements team wondering about chocolate science. First, we look at how the microbial communities in cocoa beans fine tune the taste of chocolate. Also, could table sugar help us detect the missing bits of the universe? We look at how three elements in sugar were used in the hunt for dark matter. We’re then joined by Professor of Experimental Psychology Charles Spence, who explains the myriad ways that taste can be influenced – including the shape and name of chocolate, and even the music we listen to as we eat it. Plus, we hear about the rediscovery of a moth in South Africa that was lost to science for 150 years. And finally, why we cry when we chop onions and the insects that pollinate the cocoa tree. That’s all on this week’s Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Candice Bailey and Sandy Ong Producers: Sophie Ormiston, with Lucy Davies, Tim Dodd, Imy Harper and Margaret Sessa-Hawkins

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. With both having the same DNA, it got the Unexpected Elements team thinking, when do identical twins cease to be identical? First, we look at how scientists have been confronting the possibility that they might soon be able to create an evil twin to life itself - mirror life. Also, we hear why the ‘Tatooine planets’ which orbit twin stars are so rare in our galaxy. We’re then joined by professor of developmental psychology Nancy Segal, who explains why prosecutors should be able to distinguish between the French twins on trial. Plus, we hear how African farmers are struggling with a lack of data on pre-harvest crop loss. And finally, why gorse flowers smell like pina coladas, and how the use of DNA evidence in court can still come down to interpretation. That’s all on this week’s Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Michael Kaloki Producers: Ella Hubber, with Lucy Davies, Sophie Ormiston, Imy Harper and Tim Dodd

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 Unexpected Elements team thinking, are some people just lucky? First, we look at how music resonates in the brain and why listening to it live can feel more emotional. Also, can we measure how lucky we are? We look at a possible formula, and how you can increase your chances of striking on a lucky event. We are then joined by professor of marketing Marco Bertini, who explains the wild west of dynamic pricing and gives us some tips and tricks along the way. Plus we hear about Kenya’s ambitious plans to integrate traditional medicine into its health system. And finally, why we dance when we pee and the Great British art of queuing. That’s all on this week’s Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Phillys Mwatee and Imaan Moin Producer: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, with Ella Hubber, Lucy Davies, Imy Harper and Tim Dodd

The Winter Olympics has the Unexpected Elements team looking into some of the incredible science behind the sports. First up, the tale of India’s lone luge pilot: how did using old train tracks as sled runners give him a competitive edge? Then, we look at the physics behind a cheating scandal that has rocked the ski jumping world. Scientific studies tell us exactly how much difference changing a single stitch in a costume can make. Did you know there are different types of ice? Professor Christoph Salzmann has discovered three of them, and tells us what makes them unique. Plus dinosaurs, disease, and whether we laugh with an accent. All on this week’s Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Tristan Ahtone Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, with Lucy Davies, Imy Harper and Tim Dodd

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 alive and well – but if you miss it, an emergency contact is alerted. The app is aimed towards those who live alone, so it’s got us contemplating the science of connection and loneliness. First, we take a look at the most isolated trees on Earth and how they act as important recorders of history. We also discuss NASA’s space probe Voyager 1, and how we can connect with a device that’s 25 billion kilometres away from us. We’re joined by glaciologist Liz Morris, who shares what it was like to do research far from civilisation, in Antarctica. Then we reunite with a species that we thought was lost for ever, and answer an important question: just how big can spiders get? All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Candice Bailey and Ogechi Ekeanyanwu Producers: Ella Hubber, with Lucy Davies, Imy Harper, Tim Dodd, Sophie Ormiston and Margaret Sessa-Hawkins

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 our own drum and exploring some rhythmic science. First, we look at nature’s drummer, the woodpecker, and why their pecking doesn’t give them a concussion. We also discuss how the rhythm of your brain waves impacts your sense of ownership over your own body. Then, we’re joined by Daniel Levitin, author of Music as Medicine, who tells us all about using rhythm in the treatment of neurological conditions. Next, we hear about a new claim to the title of the world’s oldest computer, and how flying affects your body’s natural rhythms. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Anand Jagatia, with Sandy Ong and Edd Gent Producers: Sophie Ormiston, with Ella Hubber, Lucy Davies and Imy Harper

This week the Unexpected Elements team has travelled Down Under to sunny Sydney where we discover some wonderfully Australian science with the help of some wonderfully Australian panellists. First, we discuss the surprising American origins of Australia’s iconic marsupials and Marnie gets up close and personal with Pez the Tasmanian Devil. We also talk to Andy Flies from the University of Tasmania who is working on a vaccine to combat a deadly contagious cancer spreading through Australia’s Devil population. Next, we’re joined by Susan Sawyer from the University of Melbourne as we delve into the debate surrounding Australia’s social media ban for under 16-year-olds. Are the kids alright? Plus, we find out about the tree that seems to be adding fuel to the country’s recent wildfires. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Katie Silver and Jonathan Webb Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, with Ella Hubber, Sophie Ormiston and Lucy Davies

We take a look at some exciting science of the near future. First, the latest developments in animal-to-human organ transplants and the ambitious goals of eliminating cervical cancer around the world. We are then joined by plasma physicist Dr Fatima Ebrahimi from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, who breaks down the mysteries behind nuclear fusion energy and how ambitious scientists are trying to channel the power of the Sun on Earth, in the hope of creating a massive source of clean energy. Next, we investigate what blue-light-blocking glasses can do and consider what future scientists will think of the fossils of our civilisation! Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Phillys Mwatee and Edd Gent Producer: Imaan Moin

We revisit our listeners’ favourite topics and dig deeper in this special programme. First, we hear from some of our insomniac listeners and explore how we fall asleep with neuroscientist Dr Ada Eban-Rothschild from the University of Michigan. Next, we return to our favourite food facts with a small surprise for one of the presenters. Then, we put our knowledge to the test with extra quizzes and examine the randomness of multiple-choice questions. Finally, we’re joined by Dr Alyn Euritt to discuss the importance of connection, especially between Marnie, Caroline and all the loyal listeners of the show. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenters: Caroline Steel and Marnie Chesterton Producers: Imaan Moin, with Margaret Sessa-Hawkins and Lucy Davies

This Boxing Day and holiday season, our present to you is the science of gifts. First, we investigate the health benefits of donating blood, and find out about the predator sharing a feast of food in the Arctic. We’re then joined in the studio by physicist Dr Krishma Singal from Rice University, who unravels the soft-matter physics and brilliant engineering potential of knitting. Next, we discuss the reputation of piranhas, enquire about the uniqueness of our sneezes, and break down how salting roads makes them safer in the winter. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Alex Lathbridge, with Camilla Mota and Meral Jamal Producer: Imaan Moin

The end of Australian soap opera Neighbours has us wondering why a television series ending makes us sad. Also, what does science say about how to engage with screens while still protecting your vision? Also on the show, visual ecologist Daniel Hanley has created a camera to help us visualize the world animals see, and why are there green birds, green insects, but no green mammals? All that plus more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, and Ella Hubber

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 available), which inspired the Unexpected Elements team to chew over all things chicken! First, we discover that chicken may never have become domesticated if it wasn’t for rice farming. We also ponder whether the chicken or the egg came first. Next, we find out that humans are surprisingly smart at translating chicken chatter. We are by Dr Jingmai O’Connor, associate curator of fossil reptiles at the Field Museum of Natural History, who reveals more about the links between dinosaurs and birds. Plus, how Brazil became a poultry superpower, and what happens to chickens in tornadoes. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Godfred Boafo Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber and Robbie Wojciechowski

A teddy bear launched into the upper atmosphere as part of a school science project has gone missing! Inspired by this story, the Unexpected Elements team look into how bears could help improve astronauts’ health on long-term space flights. Next, how has a US Air Force site delivered an unexpected conservation win for an endangered species? We’re then joined by Justin Gregg, a professor of animal behaviour and cognition. He reveals why we anthropomorphise cuddly toys – such as teddy bears – and why this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We meet Alan Turing’s teddy bear, before finding out why it’s good to get lost. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Chhavi Sachdev Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Alice McKee and Robbie Wojciechowski

The Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer by Gustav Klimt has recently sold for $236m, making it the second-most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. Inspired by this headline, the Unexpected Elements team delve into the story of how microbiology may have influenced Klimt’s work. Speaking of microbiology, we find out that bacteria could help restore frescoes to their former glory. We also get on the line with Dr Siyakha Mguni, an archaeologist and senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town, who tells us about ancient artworks far older than anything Klimt ever painted. Plus, the world’s biggest spider’s web, and why mosquitoes are impressive 3D printers. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Edd Gent Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Alice McKee, Lucy Davies and Robbie Wojciechowski

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 down to personal experiences? We also look at the science behind competitions and the audience effect. Why do we sometimes perform better when we’re watched? Also on the show, Oxford professor Marcus du Sautoy explains why maths can be beautiful, and former Miss Universe Ireland and NASA datanaut Fig O’Reilly talks about balancing pageants and a career in science outreach. Plus, the science behind death metal singing, why civet coffee tastes so good, and how ugly plants inflame allergies, on this week’s Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Katie Silver and Sandy Ong Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Lucy Davies, Robbie Wojciechowski and Alice McKee

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 things. First, we hear about a rare condition where the body brews its own alcohol. Next up, we find out that small amounts of alcohol make male fruit flies more attractive. We’re then joined in the studio by food historian Pen Vogler, who helps us travel back in time to explore beer’s origins. Next, we discover how air pollution is affecting our brains, and delve into some surprising ways that yeast could help the climate. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Candice Bailey Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Lucy Davies and Robbie Wojciechowski

As rescue and relief efforts in the Caribbean are ongoing after Hurricane Melissa, Unexpected Elements looks at the science of storms. We explore how AI might help us better predict the weather patterns, and whether it could act as an early warning signal to help us prepare for natural disasters, and we look at what a sinkhole off the Coast of Belize has helped reveal about 6000 years of storm history in the Caribbean. Giles Harrison, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Reading University helps explain the unexpected link between bees and storm clouds. We also investigate whether storms with female names are more deadly, your letters have us contemplating banana varieties, and whether wind turbines could ever have an effect on the breeze. Presenter: Alex Lathbridge, with Andrada Fiscutean and Leonie Joubert Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins with Eliane Glaser, Minnie Harrop, and Lucy Davies

The daylight robbery of precious crown jewels from the Louvre museum in Paris has us stealing your attention to inspect heists and crime scenes in science. We explore how stealthy spiders use tricks and deceit to rob precious prey from one another, and we look at how seagulls and other birds have the advantage when it comes to stealing food from humans. We also learn how our immunological security systems try to prevent bacteria from doing an iron-heist from our cells and blood. But what about figuring out whodunnit? Forensic ecologist and palynologist Professor Patricia Wiltshire shares how pollen can be instrumental when solving crimes and how thorough, detailed forensic work can help uncover the truth when unravelling mysteries. We also hear about the tensions between elephants and humans in Kenya, why we prefer the taste of certain foods, and how the code to a famous puzzle-filled sculpture might have finally been cracked. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Phillys Mwatee and Kai Kupferschmidt Producers: Imaan Moin, with Lucy Davies, Eliane Glaser and Robbie Wojciechowski

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 used responsibly, and can it be cracked? We also look at how some animals use dung as biometric data with Dr. Adrian Shrader, how your walk can be used to ID you from Professor Mark Nixon, and why gold has its own special measurement. All that plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins with Lucy Davies and Robbie Wojciechowski

Record high gold prices have us looking at the science of inflation, why gold is leaking from volcanoes, and entomologist Katy Prudic explains why shiny gold can be a good color for camouflage. Plus the dark science going on in a gold mine, whether we can move at the speed of light, and the debate around golden rice. All that, plus more unexpected elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies.

Egyptian strongman Ashraf Mahrous recently pulled two ships totalling 1,150 tonnes with his teeth, setting his sights on the Guinness World Record. Inspired by this story, this week we’re tackling the science of all things strong. First, we find out about new research that could keep our muscles strong as we age. Next up, we discover why graphene is so strong and how it could help improve data storage. We're then joined down the line by Dr Matt Caplan, an astrophysicist from Illinois State University, who tells us about his search for a weird substance called ‘nuclear pasta’. And no, you won’t find it in your local Italian restaurant. Plus, find out how robo-exoskeletons can help you climb hills and why Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance was weaker than expected. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Andrada Fiscutean Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies

The launch of Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, has inspired this week’s episode of Unexpected Elements. First up, we hear how a Brazilian songbird courts its mate as part of a boyband. We then find out about the microbes that dance to survive in their extreme habitat. Next up, Professor Troy Magney, a forest ecophysiologist at the University of Montana, tells us about his TSWIFT machine and how it can assess the health of the planet’s forests. Also in the programme, we find out why migratory birds trick weather data, how fish sing, and how hackers used SWIFT bank payments to nearly pull off a billion-dollar heist. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Godfred Boafo Producers: Imaan Moin and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies

This week marks 200 years since the first steam train pulled passengers over 26 miles of north-east England’s countryside, and started a revolution. Jump on board for show filled with train tales. We explore Mumbai’s lunch delivery system – train based, of course, which has the sort of error rate that delivery firms arounds the world can only dream of. We ask what it takes to run a railway on time, and look at how the bullet train changed Japan, with history professor Jessamyn Abel. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Robbie Wojciechowski, Lucy Davies

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 down our microscopes at a bacterium that takes its inspiration from a pirate warship. Next, we turn our attention to scurvy, the disease that plagued mariners and is now making a comeback in the modern age. We then get on the line with marine archaeologist Dr Sean Kingsley, who is about to set sail on a mission to survey the unexplored wrecks of Nassau. Plus, we delve into the tricky topic of modern-day piracy and copyright, before testing our pirate knowledge in a swashbuckling quiz. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Sandy Ong Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Margaret Sessa Hawkins, with Robbie Wojciechowski and Imaan Moin

The inauguration of Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam has us looking at how we decide when, where, and even whether to build dams. But humans aren’t the only ones building dams – Loren Taylor of the Beaver Institute joins us to talk all about nature’s hydroengineers and the wide-spread benefits beavers (and their dams!) have on ecosystems. Also on the program, how close are we to clean energy from space, the science behind holding your breath for a really, really, really, REALLY long time, and how natural sounds can be turned into musical instruments. All that, plus more unexpected elements. Presenter: Alex Lathbridge with Andrada Fiscutean and Katie Silver Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Robbie Wojciechowski.

A dinosaur with metre-long spikes has been discovered. The species, Spicomellus afer, is from the Jurassic Period and is the oldest example of a group of animals called ankylosaurs. The scientists behind the research have dubbed the new dinosaur the ‘punk rock dinosaur’, which led the Unexpected Elements team to go out searching for the science on all things punk, rock, and heavy metal. First up, we find out what other punks might be lurking in the fossil record. And meet a pair of unconventional molluscs. Next up on the set list, we investigate the physics underpinning mosh pits and the implications this could have for crowd control. We speak with Anirudh Patel, an astrophysicist from Columbia University, who is scouring deep space to find out more about the origins of heavy metals. And we dig into the unexpected link between water pipes and IQ. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Meral Jamal Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Lucy Davies and Robbie Wojciechowski

It’s August, and in the northern hemisphere, many people are hitting the beach to escape the summer heat. And that inspired us to investigate bucketloads of beach-based science. First up, we find out about the forces that build and shape the seaside. Next, we discover that the waves from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption reached the atmosphere. Speaking of waves, we’re joined by Dr Edward Hurme from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, who tells us about his research into surfing bats. And why are beaches disappearing? All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Tristan Ahtone and Phillys Mwatee Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Imaan Moin, Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies

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 environments, and what can be done? Plus, are mountains carbon sources, or carbon sinks? And why do we feel the drive to summit these peaks anyway? A psychologist specialising in thrill-seeking explains. Also on the show, we take your questions, read out your comments, and look at what it takes to physically measure the height of a peak like Everest. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Leonie Joubert Producers: Margaret Sessa Hawkins, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Imaan Moin and Lucy Davies

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 thanks to social media’s trending machine. Their fame was previously limited to China and parts of Asia, but since 2024 their popularity has grown and the dolls can now be purchased in more than 30 countries round the world. This week, the global demand for Labubu inspired us to play around with trend-based science. First up, we hear how the special sauce behind TikTok’s algorithm helps drive viral trends. Next, we find out that humans are not the only ones that love a fad – chimpanzees are susceptible to them too! We then discover what connects the hugely popular Beanie Baby toys of the 1990s with modern CubeSat exploration, thanks to aerospace engineer Professor James Cutler, from the University of Michigan. Plus, we discuss a weird object thousands of light-years away that could lead to new physics. And why do we find songs annoying after multiple listens? All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Godfred Boafo and Edd Gent Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Imaan Moin, Lucy Davies and Margaret Sessa Hawkins

This week, floods have hit the global headlines. First up, we delve into the various reasons why floods form. After learning about the causes of floods, we discover a nature-based solution in the form of mangrove forests. Laura Michie from the Mangrove Action Project tells us why these ecosystems are important, and how they can protect coastal zones. We also find out that humans have moved so much water around the planet that we’ve shifted the location of the geographic North Pole. Plus, a rare flooding event is currently taking place in the Australian Outback, awakening an ecosystem after years of dormancy. And what could happen when hackers take control of tractors? All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Sandy Ong Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Lucy Davies, Debbie Kilbride and Margaret Sessa Hawkins

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 discernible cause actually form? Does the weather experience traffic jams? And why do our cords also seem to get tangled in their own little cord-traffic-jams no matter how hard we try to keep them separate? Christine Yohannes from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Tristan Ahtone in Helsinki, Finland, join Marnie Chesterton to discuss all this, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Christine Yohannes and Tristan Ahtone Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Lucy Davies

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-award-winning podcast is back, hosted by space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock. She tells the story of triumph and tragedy - of a dream that revolutionised modern space travel forever. You can listen to the trailer here. To hear episodes, search for 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service. Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music. Archive: Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office.

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 investigate the science of ageing. First, we ask if a 60-year-old brain is as sharp as a 20-year-old one. Then, we find out about parts of the world that boast impressively long life expectancies. Have these places found the secret to longevity, or are they not what they seem? Next up, we talk to Professor Thomas Boothby from the University of Wyoming about tiny, eight-legged animals called tardigrades, and what they could teach us about living longer. We also dig into the story behind a recently uncovered ancient Peruvian city, before finding out the science behind so-called ‘old wives’ tales’. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Phillys Mwatee Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Lucy Davies and Robbie Wojciechowski

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 science of dust. First, we look at the report by the World Meteorological Organisation and hear about what can be done to mitigate the dangers of dust. We also find out the surprising way in which the Sahara is keeping the Amazon rainforest well-fed, and Derek Fabel from the University of Glasgow tells us how dust can help us to determine the age of glaciers. Plus, the dusty maths that took 15 years to solve, and the musician who swapped jazz for space dust. All that, and many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Caroline Steel Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Minnie Harrop, Lucy Davies, and Robbie Wojciechowski

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 aeroplane flights more efficient. Next, we hear about the fish that don’t flee from sharks... instead, they seek them out to help them hunt. Bob Duke, Meyerson Professor of Music and Human Learning at the University of Texas, Austin, joins us in the studio to reveal how and why the iconic Jaws music taps into our psychology to leave us trembling. We also hear about a couple of tiny islands in the Southern Ocean, on which an unexpected predator is wreaking havoc. Plus, why a tiny fish is being ground up and fed to other fish. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Leonie Joubert and Christine Yohannes Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Imaan Moin, Minnie Harrop and Margaret Sessa Hawkins

The X-Press Pearl shipping disaster takes us on a voyage through shipping-related science. First, we learn about how pollution from the X-Press Pearl explosion impacted the foundation of the marine food web – plankton. We also hear about an innovative system that can help slash the shipping industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. And we take a short trip in a time-machine back to the Stone Age, where biological anthropologist Professor Yousuke Kaifu from the University of Tokyo explains what it takes to recreate a Palaeolithic voyage from Taiwan to the Ryukyu Archipelago. We also look at how artificial intelligence could help Canadian caribou cross sea ice, the science of lightning and thunder, and the tricky disputes around shipwrecks and treasure. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.     Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Meral Jamal and Godfred Boafo Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Minnie Harrop and Imaan Moin

This week, Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae has been unveiled at London's Natural History Museum. This newly described herbivorous dinosaur has inspired us to take a stomp through the science of ancient animals, mass extinctions and fossils. First up, we hear about a shepherd who recently found a South African dinosaur, which has helped shed light on the period between the Triassic and Jurassic. We then take a look at some new theories that suggest the mass extinctions that wiped out ancient creatures may not have been as massive as we thought. But one extinction definitely is currently underway, according to ecologist Professor Dave Goulson. And that’s the mass extinction of insects. Plus, we find out the latest theory of why the Tyrannosaurus rex had such tiny arms, and we meet the rat ancestors that munched on dinosaurs. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Candice Bailey and Camilla Mota Producer: Margaret Sessa Hawkins, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Minnie Harrop

This week, the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers at ice hockey’s Stanley Cup championship, which sent us skating into ice-related science. First up, we hear about an ancient ice skate that’s been unearthed in Prerov, Czech Republic, which sends us pondering about the physics of ice-skating. We then discover why licking a flagpole on a chilly day is a bad idea, before delving into the science of cryopreservation. Next up, we speak to Dr Mark Drinkwater of the European Space Agency, who reveals how satellites can help us monitor and better understand our planet’s melting ice sheets. Plus, what do you do if you want to play ice hockey but you live near the equator? All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Sandy Ong Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins and Minnie Harrop

World War II bombs were defused in Cologne, Germany, which has inspired us to explore the science of diffusion and defusing! First, we hear how new, artificially intelligent video generators are modelled on diffusion. We also hear about the health impacts of home aroma diffusers and candles. We’re joined by conflict-mediator Gabrielle Rifkind of the Oxford Process, to discuss the psychological stakes behind defusing conflict in wars and at home. We also taste-test the difference between raw and cooked broccoli, learn about in-insect synthesis, and explore an anechoic chamber. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Tristan Ahtone and Edd Gent Producer: Imaan Moin, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Minnie Harrop and Debbie Kilbride

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 power to battle misinformation. We also hear how scientists are putting harbour seals in front of a computer monitor to decipher how they navigate under the water. And Dr Brett Kagan from Cortical Labs joins us down the line to tell us why he taught a clump of brain cells to play the 1970s arcade game Pong. Along the way, we discover what happens when artificial intelligence tries to explain idioms, we learn about a tiny frog named after Bilbo Baggins and try to establish whether or not video games benefit your brain. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.     Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Leonie Joubert Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Imaan Moin and Minnie Harrop

With the new Mission Impossible film playing in cinemas, the Unexpected Elements team is channelling Tom Cruise’s energy to see if scientists can push the boundaries of what is considered ‘impossible.’ First up, we fuse medieval alchemy with particle physics and explore a method to turn lead into gold. We then look at the latest research that uses artificial intelligence to help us humans communicate with animals. We put the spotlight on a favourite trope of science-fiction films – time travel! String theorist Brian Greene of Columbia University explains how going to the past, or back to the future, may or may not be hypothetically possible. We also ponder ancient auroras, whether ants can plan a Hollywood-style heist, and what it takes to understand our consciousness.    Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Affelia Wibisono and Andrada Fiscutean Producer: Imaan Moin, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Studio engineer: Mike Mallen

Much ado was made about a cancelled auction of an ultra-rare set of Shakespeare’s folios, which could have fetched millions of dollars. This headline – along with Shakespeare being one of the world’s most well-known playwrights – inspired the Unexpected Elements team to delve into the science of stories. First up, we find out why your brain loves a tale. We then discover that some people can’t see images in their mind when they read, and reveal the impact this could have. Shakespeare’s folios are almost 400 years old, but how have they survived that long? We get on the line with Kathryn Kenney, a book and paper conservator, to find out how she keeps precious books safe. We also find out about a disappearing island, whether climate change needs a new narrative and if you could eat books to survive. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.     Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Tristan Ahtone Producer: Margaret Sessa Hawkins, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Imaan Moin and Minnie Harrop Studio Manager: Rhys Morris

This month will see thousands of people take to streets around the world to test their feats of endurance. It’s marathon season. And this week, we’re looking at the science behind what keeps you running. We’ll learn about the psychological preparation that goes into undertaking mammoth challenges, like marathons and expeditions, and meet a scientist from the UK Space Agency who’s endured the Antarctic winter, and is now training to be an astronaut. We’ll find out just how genetic our ability to cope with endurance exercise is. How air pollution could be affecting your running times. And find out how evolution has gifted our animal friends with some unique ways of getting ahead. As well as all that, there’s the science of what makes something ugly. And an exciting innovation that could see us using cow dung to fuel our cars. All that and more in this week’s Unexpected Elements.     Presenter: Alex Lathbridge, Chhavi Sachdev and Candice Bailey Producers: Robbie Wojciechowski with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Imaan Moin, and Minnie Harrop

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 learn about the earliest ants who lived among dinosaurs, ants that can sniff cancer, and ants who were sent into space! Then we take a turn from ants to anteaters and talk to Mariella Superina from the International Union for Conservation of Nature about the different adaptations and skills needed for anteaters to successfully eat ants. Plus, we discuss plant smuggling and ant wrangling, both unexpectedly dangerous ventures. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.    Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Leonie Joubert and Godfred Boafo Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Imaan Moin, Robbie Wojciechowski and Minnie Harrop This programme does not relate to the Ant Antics Ltd company or Ant Antics Foundation CIC.

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 into the thorny issue of when early humans started to carry out funerary rituals, before turning our attention to graveyards and the life that thrives within these sacred environments.   Next, we are joined Carl Öhman from Uppsala University in Sweden, who reveals what happens to our data when we die and why we should care about it. Plus, we discuss the precious materials hiding in our old devices, and find out whether animals mourn. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.    Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Edd Gent   Producers: Margaret Sessa Hawkins, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Robbie Wojciechowski and Minnie Harrop

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 cleaner, more sustainable solution. Plus, we’re joined by Joyce Maru, the regional director for Africa at the International Potato Centre. She reveals the science behind the orange-flesh sweet potato and explains how it could improve livelihoods and boost health across Africa. We then hear about the story of the two Kenyan inventors who have created a Swahili-speaking robot. Finally, our panellists go against the clock in our Kenyan Science Showdown. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.     Presenter: Alex Lathbridge, with Christine Yohannes and Phillys Mwatee Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Sophie Ormiston and Harrison Lewis Studio engineers: Andrew Garratt and Gayl Gordon

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 turtles. Plus, we are joined by Dr Luis Welbanks, who tells us about a nearby exoplanet that reeks of rotten eggs. Finally, we delve into the science behind IVF. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Sandy Ong Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Debbie Kilbride, Robbie Wojciechowski and William Hornbrook

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 while humans use maps to get around, how do animals know where to go on their long migrations? To find the answer, we speak to Dr Kayla Goforth at Texas A&M University who studies exactly how sea turtles and monarch butterflies innately know how to navigate the world around them. We also learn why polar bears keep themselves ice-free, and we hear old records of the first men to reach the North Pole. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Andrada Fiscutean and Phillys Mwatee Producer: Imaan Moin, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Noa Dowling and William Hornbrook

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 the behaviour of play. On the topic of ‘rat’ behaviour, we are joined by Dr Zach Berry from the University of Southern California to talk about the psychology behind ratting people out in the workplace, testing the loyalty and morals of the Unexpected Elements team. And speaking of rats in the workplace… we hear a first-hand report on whether African giant pouched rats might just be better staff members than humans when it comes to detecting tuberculosis at APOPO labs. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Anand Jagatia, with Tristan Ahtone and Christine Yohannes Producer: Imaan Moin, with Debbie Kilbride, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Noa Dowling, Harrison Lewis and Sophie Ormiston. Studio Manager: Cath McGhee

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 a question sent in from one of you: if two people eat the same thing for breakfast, does the same thing come out the other end of both of them? Prepare for a prank or two on Unexpected Elements. Or as they say in Finland, ‘Aprillia, syö silliä, juo kuravettä päälle’, which translates to ‘April trick, eat herring, drink muddy water afterwards!’ Presenters: Caroline Steel with Camilla Mota and Phillys Mwatee Producers: Harrison Lewis, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, William Hornbrook and Imaan Moin

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 up the scent of death. Next, are you prone to telling lies? Well, research suggests that your nose might give you away! We then turn our attention to the cinema to find out more about the chemicals you release during a scary film. We’re also joined by chemist Professor Matija Strlic, who reveals how he can detect aromas in ancient Egyptian mummies and – crucially – tells us why he wants to do this. That, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Affelia Wibisono Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with William Hornbrook, Debbie Kilbride, Imaan Moin and Noa Dowling

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. We then find out why deserts in South Africa are spreading at an alarming rate. Plus, we’re joined by Dr Claire Lee, a particle physicist who works with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. She explains how she and her colleagues accelerate particles to phenomenal speeds, how they detect these particles when they collide, and what this can tell us about the origins of the universe. That, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Tristan Ahtone and Leonie Joubert. Producers: William Hornbrook, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Harrison Lewis, Debbie Kilbride and Noa Dowling.

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're a techy you probably have a pair of noise cancelling headphones. But have you ever wondered how they work? We’ll take them apart to figure out how they work. Plus, dive into the fascinating world of gene silencing, definitely one of the coolest areas of genetics. Learn how this cutting-edge technology could help protect our crops from pests in the future. Later, Caroline is joined by her two wonderful panellists to contemplate and reflect on silence, when might it be harmful? And does true silence even exist? All that and many more Unexpected Elements. Presenters: Caroline Steel, Candice Bailey and Kai Kupferschmidt Producers: Harrison Lewis, with William Hornbrook, Debbie Kilbride and Noa Dowling

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 curating the perfect theme park thrills. Professor Brendan Walker is sure to inject a scientific rush that will make you question who you take on your next roller coaster ride. Crack open the World Service archives to delve into the curious world of cryonics, exploring the science behind preserving bodies in suspended animation. And, have you wondered what your favourite music genre says about you? We uncover the surprising psychology behind your musical tastes. Presenters: Caroline Steele, with Andrada Fiscutean and Phillys Mwatee. Producers: Harrison Lewis, with William Hornbrook, Debbie Kilbride and Noa Dowling

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 how giant clams put solar panels to shame. Plus, we’re joined by Professor Shinobu Ishigaki, director of the Museum of Dinosaur Research at the Okayama University of Science. He tells us about the ginormous footprints he found in the Gobi Desert, and what they could teach us about herbivorous dinosaurs. That, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenters: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Camilla Mota. Producers: William Hornbrook, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Debbie Kilbride, Imaan Moin and Noa Dowling.

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 behind AI chatbots, and find out if a new dating app can help shine a light on the science of compatibility. Plus, we are joined by Bianca Acevedo, a research scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who studies the neuroscience of love. She reveals what’s going on in our brains when we are infatuated with someone and what purpose love serves. Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Tristan Ahtone and Edd Gent Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, William Hornbrook, Debbie Kilbride, Imaan Moin and Noa Dowling

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 the impact it can have on your health, before discussing what evolutionary roads isolated island species will go down. Plus, we’re joined by Professor Jonathan Harrington from the University of Munich. He reveals how our accents can be affected by isolation. That, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Christine Yohannes and Affelia Wibisono. Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Dan Welsh, William Hornbrook and Imaan Moin.

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, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, William Hornbrook and Imaan Moin.

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 whether it’s possible to be too clean, or if being a bit grubby is okay. Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Affelia Wibisono and Andrada Fiscutean Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Dan Welsh, William Hornbrook and Imaan Moin

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 Robin Dunbar, who calculated Dunbar’s number; that is, the maximum number of folks you can hold onto in your circle of friends... five? 500? 5,000? Robin reveals how many REAL friends science says you can have. Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Phillys Mwatee Producers: Harrison Lewis, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and William Hornbrook

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 order to memorise really long strings of digits. Plus we look into the backstory of the human buttocks with science journalist and reporter Heather Radke. She answers the question ‘why do we humans have such large behinds?’ And we hear from Professor Andre Isaacs at the College of the Holy Cross who has filled his chemistry lab with music and dance in order to change perceptions about who can be a scientist. That, plus many more Unexpected Elements.  Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Jonathan Blackwell and Harrison Lewis with Imaan Moin and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell

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 climate change from Professor Christian Dunn of Bangor University.  With another amazing year behind us, we reminisce about our favourite stories and listener correspondences in 2024.  And finally, we’re wowed by the regenerative ‘superpowers’ of the magnificent axolotl who has the cellular capabilities to re-grow limbs!  That, plus many more Unexpected Elements.  Presenters: Marnie Chesterton and Caroline Steel  Producers: Harrison Lewis, Imaan Moin and William Hornbrook  Sound Engineer: Duncan Hannant

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 people together, spending too much time with loved ones can lead to tense moments. Rafi Kohan shares expert tips on how to outsmart your opponent during a heated board game debate. And don’t think trash talk is limited to sports fields. The world of science has its share of drama, too. We’ll explore some of history’s most scandalous squabbles with scientists behaving badly. Come waste an hour with us on Unexpected Elements! Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Candice Bailey Producers: Harrison Lewis, Imaan Moin, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, William Hornbrook and Eliane Glaser Sound engineer: Gavin Wong

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 nose reindeer’s big secret. You’ll never hear that song in the same way again Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Phillys Mwatee and Camilla Mota Producers: Emily Knight, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and William Hornbrook Sound engineer: Searle Whittney

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 missing persons cases. We find the answer to why toads have evolved such dangerous skins, and yet more bananas, as we look at the pros and cons of the Ethiopian False Banana. Why hasn’t this hardy plant conquered the world? Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Christine Yohannes Producers: Emily Knight, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and William Hornbrook Sound engineer: Searle Whittney

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 finding out about the ‘home scars’ created by limpets. Next we hear from Dr Nadescha Zwerschke, a scientist who spent time on Rothera research station in Antarctica. She reveals how she made this isolated outpost feel like home. Also, we reveal that global talks to agree a reduction in plastics have collapsed, which could have an impact on all our homes from a pollution perspective. And finally – a type of pasta that would be no good for your homecooked recipes. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Tristan Ahtone and Godfred Boafo Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Harrison Lewis and William Hornbrook Sound engineer: Gavin Wong

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. Have you ever asked a pigeon for advice when gambling? We hear from a professor of psychology about why you should not. And finally, the story of Lee Sedol, the world’s best player of the board game Go, who was challenged by Google to a game worth one million dollars. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Phillys Mwatee and Christine Yohannes Producers: Emily Knight, Harrison Lewis, Imaan Moin and William Hornbrook Sound engineer: Searle Whittney

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 and swears by it as a boost for our health. As the leader of the free world goes on an Amazon jungle tour, we talk tiny frogs, giant frogs and radiation tolerant frogs. We also hear how cancer survivors may have a secret superpower and how we’ve co-opted plants superpowers for medicines. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Affelia Wibisono Producers: Imaan Moin, Harrison Lewis and Dan Welsh Sound engineer: Gavin Wong

It’s been 24 years since the release of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, which left audiences captivated by the story of Maximus the gladiator, played by Russell Crowe. Now, Gladiator II is hitting the cinemas, so this week we enter the arena to take a look at some gladiatorial science. We hear about an angry little fish that fights off its rivals in mouth-to-mouth combat, we discover how humans have looked to nature to design better armour, and we find out about the perfume that Julius Caesar would have worn. We also speak to Dr Chris Nowinski, a former WWE professional wrestler who's now a pioneering neuroscientist. He’s leading some research into how to prevent concussions in sport, and is co-founder of The Concussion Legacy Foundation. That, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Christine Yohannes and Chhavi Sachdev Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Dan Welsh and Imaan Moin Sound engineer: Dyfan Rose

Russia has fined Google more than two undecillion rubles, which is more than 20 decillion dollars. How much you ask? 20 decillions is a 20 with 33 zeros behind it, more money than there is in the entire world! This unpayable fine inspired us to look at extremely large numbers, from the amount of cells in our body, to infinity hotels and beyond. Plus, two-time world memory champion Jonas von Essen teaches us how to memorise these supermassive numbers. Also, we unpick a dubious influential biodiversity statistic that has no basis whatsoever, and we look at the scientific tools of ghost hunting. Plus, to round it off, presenter Marnie looks at a sport with more possible moves than there are atoms in the Universe. Can you guess what it is? Presenter: Marnie Chesterton with Tristan Ahtone and Candice Bailey. Producer: Florian Bohr with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Imaan Moin. Sound engineer: Rhys Morris

On this weekend ahead of the US election, we clock the importance of so-called swing states – and swing into action looking into not politics, but the science of swings. We examine how a pendulum swung by French physicist Foucault demonstrated that the earth is spinning, and hear about how the gibbon became the king of swingers – and what current-day elite climbers can learn from them. We also hear from educator Francis Mavhunga at the University of Eswatini who has regularly used swings in his physics classes, and now shows a new generation of teachers how to integrate children’s lived experiences into the classroom. Plus, how science has revealed new secrets about the ancient silk road, and what your brain can see when your eyes can’t. And, just to swing back to the beginning, presenter Marnie Chesterton digs into the archives to find out if science and tech can provide a foolproof voting system, and how astronauts vote. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton with Chhavi Sachdev and Godfred Boafo Producer: Harrison Lewis with Florian Bohr, Julia Ravey, Dan Welsh and Imaan Moin Sound Engineer: Gareth Tyrrell

White blobs have been appearing on the beaches in Newfoundland, Canada. They’re kind of doughy-looking, and smell of vegetable oil. As yet, officials are not sure what they could be. Of course, this got the Unexpected Elements team intrigued, so we decided to dedicate the programme to the weird world of blobs, slime and bizarre things that wash up onshore. We hear about the fabulous hagfish, which produces copious amounts of snot-like slime to defend itself from predators. But what makes slime so slippery in the first place? And why is ketchup so hard to get out of a bottle? And what makes quicksand so difficult to escape from? It’s all down to fluid dynamics. Professor Daniel Bonn, from the University of Amsterdam, explains the physics behind all these sticky situations. Also this week, we find out more about a shipment of bath toys that tumbled overboard, and how they have helped scientists to decipher ocean currents. Plus, we discover more about the restoration of mangrove forests, how flowers can cause weird dreams, the size of the biggest black forest gateau and a species of plankton and how it floats. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Phyllis Mwatee Producer: Emily Knight, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Eliane Glaser and Noa Dowling Sound engineer: Gareth Tyrrell

Spoiler alert! At the end of the fourth season of Emily in Paris, the protagonist sets off to go to Rome. In response, the French President Emmanuel Macron has promised that “we will fight hard” to keep Emily in Paris in France. Why does he care so much? A recent study suggests that 38 per cent of all visitors to Paris name the show as one of the reasons for visiting. Inspired by this factoid, we started thinking about the ways in which TV can influence us. We examine how Star Trek inspired mobile phones – and the outfit of one of our panelists. Plus, we find out more about the impact Dana Scully from The X Files had on a generation of girls. And what does psychology say about fandom? But how can science influence the films? We speak to Dr Adam Rutherford, a geneticist, broadcaster, and, importantly, scientific advisor for movies. What does that last role involve? Which films get the science right? And is scientific accuracy important for a Hollywood blockbuster? Also in the programme, we hear about the mysterious recent earthquakes in Ethiopia, and Unexpected Elements listeners with visual impairments get in touch to share the secrets of what they can see inside their heads. And finally, we take a look at the surprising connection between cricket and statistics. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton with Andrada Fiscutean and Christine Yohannes Producer: Florian Bohr with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Anna Charalambou Sound engineer: Cath McGhee

After 31 years, a mammoth treasure hunt consisting of solving eleven cryptic clues has finally concluded. A replica of the final prize – a golden owl – was dug up in France, leaving fellow treasure hunters both disappointed and relieved. Inspired by this pursuit, the Unexpected Elements team unearth some of science’s hidden gems. From the potential resurrection of ancient healing tree balm to the world’s rarest stone, and even how cats could help solve crimes. The team are also joined by astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol to speak about the potential treasures hiding on another moon in our solar system. Along the way, our panel have their own clues to crack as they take on a mini hunt of their own to find the location of a scientific golden nugget. Plus, we solve the mystery of a moth which ended up 4000 miles from home, hear what our brains see when we can’t and talk about returning treasures to where they came from. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Panel: Chhavi Sachdev + Tristan Ahtone Producer: Julia Ravey Production team: Harrison Lewis, Jonathan Blackwell + Tom Taylor Studio Engineer: Gavin Wong

Did you know the iconic yellow smiley face was first designed in 1963? However, its creator, Harvey Ball, soon worried that the symbol had become over-commercialised. To counter this, he introduced World Smile Day in 1999, celebrated on the first Friday of October, as a way to encourage acts of kindness and spread smiles. In the spirit of making you smile, the Unexpected Elements team has gathered science stories that bring them joy—each with a twist, of course. Children across cultures have invented secret languages to confuse their parents—and there's science behind it. The human face can produce 19 different types of smiles. And let’s not forget the Brazilian scientist who not only pioneered species classification but also became a key figure in the country's suffragette movement. Meanwhile, Marnie Chesterton introduces us to the ever-cheerful Professor Andrea Sella from University College London, whose humour never fails to brighten her day. Together, they explore the role of humour in science and its importance in engaging both audiences and students. Plus, we’ll dive into the science of vocal fingerprints, meet a man who physically couldn’t smile, and hear about a global update to cyber security regulations that just might make you grin. Happy Friday! Presenters: Marnie Chesterton with Andrada Fiscutean and Camilla Mota Producers: Harrison Lewis with Jonathan Blackwell, Elizabeth Barsotti, and Anna Charalambou.

Join Marnie Chesterton and her panel of science journalists Chhavi Sachdev and Jes Burns, on their Oregon science mission. We investigate building materials of the future, from creative cement alternatives to buildings made of wood, and hear from forest scientist Sarah Jovan about how one humble plant has made huge changes to Portland's air quality. Plus, we make waves with a new wave energy testing facility, uncover the benefits (or costs) of bamboo alternatives and our panellist fight against the clock to pitch what they think should take the crown of Oregon's Coolest Science. And, we hear from our studio audience about how they experience the world and one of them even volunteers to do the fact file. Recorded at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) studios in Portland Oregon. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Julia Ravey Production team: Alex Mansfield and Cathy Edwards Studio engineer: Kate Barker and Darren Wardrobe

This week, Apple releases the new iPhone 16. It's new, it's shiny, and tech-nerds will be queueing round the block for a chance to snap it up. But why? We look at the science behind why we get so dazzled with new and shiny things. We hear about the psychology behind our magpie tendencies, and find out it might all be connected to one of our deepest evolutionary drives: for clean, fresh, sparkling water. And we find out what the shiniest thing in the natural world is. An extraordinary blue berry with some mesmerising visual qualities. We find out about diamonds made from your dead pets. And, we dissect the science behind the first flush of love. Why do we get so obsessed with a new partner? And why doesn't the feeling last? Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Phyllis Mwatee Producer: Harrison Lewis, with Emily Knight, Noa Dowling and Elizabeth Barsotti Sound engineer: Searle Whittney

Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō ascends the Māori throne as the new Kuini (Queen), much to the joy of her people, heralding a new age of prominence for the Kiingitanga movement. We ask whether the new queen may have a biological advantage making her a better fit for leadership, whilst searching for examples of matriarchy in the animal kingdom and analogous human societies. As is customary, Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō was crowned on the same day as her father’s funeral, thrust into a leadership role during a time of profound grief. We hear from Prof Lucy Selman, expert in palliative and end-of-life care from the University of Bristol, and founder of the Good Grief Festival. She speaks about the physical and emotional manifestations of grief and how it can be processed and overcome, even in the face of immense responsibility. We remember the legendary voice of the late James Earl Jones, who played the intergalactic monarch, Darth Vader, as Marnie unpicks the science of stuttering. Unravel a massive jigsaw puzzle, uncover a hidden secret behind Queen’s hit song Don’t Stop Me Now, and delve into the fascinating realm of neuroscience and much more on Unexpected Elements.

Here on Unexpected Elements, we've been glued to the drama of the Paralympic games in Paris. But it's not just the thrill of the competition that's got us hooked, we've also become obsessed with some of the high-octane training regimes undertaken by the athletes. Take American 'Armless Archer' Matt Stutzman, who shoots arrows through the windows of his own house and car to recreate the high pressure of the Olympic stadium. He's chasing a thrill, and so are we! We hear about the research on one extraordinary woman who had a medical condition which caused her to have no fear. And we follow the fate of an extraordinary marine creature, who detaches his own arm in his quest for a mate. We hear about why humans love to be scared - as long as it's all in good fun. And we hear about the space debris falling to earth, and the thrilling quest of a plane full of scientists who want to watch it fall. That and loads more unexpected elements in this week's show. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Tristan Ahtone and Affelia Wibisono Producer: Emily Knight, with Harrison Lewis, Dan Welsh and Noa Dowling Sound engineer: Gwynfor Jones

Following anti-tourism protests across popular Spanish cities and towns, we are looking for the world's most unwelcome visitor. Our panellists (and producers) are pitching their terrible tourists to see who really is the worst of them all. Some of our contenders include... The wild boars who's unanticipated vacay to Rome has gone on for so long and caused so much carnage that researchers are putting them on birth control. The microbes potentially hitching a ride to the moon via space probes and astronauts' poo The multi-destination parasite who wreaks havoc as it interrails through snails (castrating them on the way), frogs (making them spout multiple limbs) and birds. But there are some instances when tourists can be a good thing - and this is especially the case in the human body when we want to grow a baby. How is in that we are able to protect what should be an 'unwelcome visitor' from a hyperalert, hostile immune system? Our expert Edward Chuong explains. Plus, we uncover the DNA origins of the world's most popular coffee bean, hear the freeloading activities of the male angular fish, and read out a selection of your wonderful emails. Presenter: Caroline Steel Panellists: Phillys Mwatee & Christine Yohannes Producer: Julia Ravey Production team: Emily Knight, Noa Dowling Studio manager: Emma Harth

The US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are currently stranded on the ISS. They arrived on the Boeing Starliner, which was meant to bring them home after eight days. Unfortunately, it has run into tech issues, meaning that the astronauts may be stuck up there for up to eight months. We started to ponder, what could an extended period of being stuck in space do to your body? Next we look to the world of psychedelics research, which has currently got itself a little bit stuck. We also find out more about the Haraldskær Woman, discovered preserved in a Danish bog in the 1800s. Mads Ravn, head of archaeology, research and collections at the Vejle Museums in Denmark, reveals the stories behind the bog bodies and explains how they ended up stuck in the mud. And staying with the theme of stickiness, we find out what Neanderthals used as glue. That, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Kai Kupferschmidt Producer: Harrison Lewis, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Noa Dowling. Sound engineer: Mike Mallen

The Olympics is all about flying the flag for your home country, shoulder to shoulder with your team-mates. But what if you have no team-mates? At this year’s Olympic games, four countries had just one competitor. Like Sean Gill from Belize, Somalian runner Ali Idow Hassan, or Romano Püntener, a mountain-biker representing Liechtenstein. This got us thinking about the only one. The panel discuss what it must be like to be an ‘Endling’ – the last remaining animal of an otherwise extinct species, and wonder if there might be ways to bring them back. We delve into the intriguing psychology behind the urge to collect things, why collectors are so entranced by rare items, and how the psychological pull of ‘exclusivity’ and ‘limited editions’ can make us vulnerable to marketing scams. And what about a baby, born of only one parent? A ‘virgin birth’ – a miracle perhaps? Not so, as we discover that females giving birth without any help from males is surprisingly common. It is called Parthenogenesis, and although humans cannot do it, a dizzying array of animals can. Alexis Sperling from the University of Cambridge explains the science. News montage sources: Channel 5 Belize, BBC News Presenter: Marnie Chesterton with Chhavi Sachdev and Andrada Fiscutean Producer: Emily Knight with Florian Bohr, Julia Ravey Sound engineer: Emily Preston

This week we’re inspired by the price of a lobster dinner fit for a king. The recently revealed price tag for President Macron’s banquet back at the end of 2023, about half a million dollars, kickstarts an Unexpected Elements challenge – can the team create something similar and manage to save not only cash, but an Italian ecosystem from an American invader? And waste not want not as we discover how the bits of a crustacean dinner you’d usually throw in the bin may be the key to a new generation of rechargeable batteries. We’ll also be exploring the science of spices with Dr Stuart Farrimond and singing the praises of a blue-blooded crab that’s really a giant spider, which has been helping out the medical industry for decades. That plus many other Unexpected Elements. Bon appétit!

Champagne has been discovered in a 100+ year old shipwreck. It's an amazing find. But can you drink it? Speaking of bubbly, we learn more about the physics of bubbles, and why understanding it is crucial for the climate. Also on the show, a 2,000 year-old mystery about a navigation device that persists up to the present day.

This week the panel take a look at their favourites of the newer Olympic sports as Paris 2024 gets underway. Surfing will happen in Tahiti this year, but could it ever be held on Titan, in orbit around Saturn? Obviously very unlikely, but not for the reasons you might expect. No vertebrate on earth can rock-climb like a gecko. Can nanomaterials come to our aid? And Amy Pope, Principal Lecturer of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University helps us understand the physics challenges the B-boys and girls are maybe subconsciously putting themselves through as Break Dancing makes its Olympic debut. Also, climate change unearths some of our oldest fossils in Brazil, being scared of long words, and designing cities to be cooler. Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Philistiah Mwatee and Camilla Mota. Produced by Alex Mansfield with Harrison Lewis, Dan Welsh and Noa Dowling.

Radhika Merchant has married her partner Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. When your Dad is the 11th richest person in the world, worth over $112bn, you can afford a wedding year, rather than a wedding day, right? After seven months of celebration, Marnie and the panel review the festivities to see if there is any science lingering under the ‘I dos’. Hear of Hindu wedding customs and superstitions, and why something called evolutionary lag might be behind traditions that make very little sense. Also, rings, but not the wedding bands. Professor Valerie Trouet, from the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research at the University of Arizona tells tales of the ancient circles found within trees harbouring secrets of climates past and future. Plus sleep divorce, why it might be a marriage saver, and finally putting to bed who has the best sleep pattern, the night owls or the early birds. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Panellists: Tristan Ahtone and Chhavi Sachdev Producers: Harrison Lewis, Julia Ravey, Alex Mansfield and Noa Dowling

In the lead up to the US election President Joe Biden admitted to ‘screwing up’ in a debate against Donald Trump. His excuse? Several trips around the world, a cold and severe jet lag. Joe has Marnie and the panel wondering how we can fly better. We’ll be stopping off to hear how one species, much like the US president, should consider reducing its airmiles, if only to avoid a pointless 16,000km round trip every year. There’ll also be a stopover in Northern Canada to hear how thinning ice is making it difficult for local communities to remain in touch with their ancestral heritage and traditional modes of travel. Whilst we recommend considering more environmentally friendly alternatives here at Unexpected Elements Airways, we understand that some flights can’t be avoided. Take time whilst onboard to consider how you can reduce the symptoms of jetlag with tricks learnt from the latest scientific understanding of human physiology. Professor Rosemary Braun tells us how the clocklike rhythms of the body can be manipulated to make any long haul flights more manageable. Also, the smashing specificity of Wimbledon’s grass tennis courts, a grand astronomical debate from the 1920s and a very special Nunavut Day. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Panellists: Christine Yohannes and Meral Jamal Producers: Julia Ravey, Harrison Lewis, Dan Welsh and Noa Dowling

In Australia, more than six people were hospitalised suffering from hallucinations and persistent vomiting. The thing they all had in common? They ate a specific brand of hemp-infused mushroom gummies, which have since been recalled. But why take mushroom supplements in the first place? Social media claims fungi harnesses the power to unlock your hidden potential, to increase concentration and reduce stress. This week’s panel looks into the evidence. Will these claims crumble under scrutiny? Professor David Nutt pulls magic mushrooms out of the magicians hat to expose its secrets. These recreational drugs are classified as a psychedelic, causing users to hallucinate. Find out what hallucinations are and why David believes this shroom, illegal in much of the world, could become a key ingredient in medicinal treatments sometime soon. Also, the first chemist on record, how touch screens can tell the difference between your finger and an inanimate object, and why some songs get stuck between your ears. Presenter: Alex Lathbridge Panellists: Christine Yohannes and Godfred Boafo Producers: Harrison Lewis, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Noa Dowling and Florian Bohr

A nationwide power outage in Ecuador left 18 million people in the dark, shutting down traffic lights and the capital’s subway system. But Ecuador isn’t the only place dealing with blackouts. In Nunavut, Canada, where panelist Meral Jamal lives, power outages happen frequently, including as she was preparing for this programme. How do you deal with a power outage in a remote place? And how did the Inuit manage the cold winter months without electricity at all? What is the darkest colour in the world? You may think it is black, but, in fact, there is something even darker – ultra-black. Deep-sea fish, butterflies, and, surprisingly, even humans have used ultra-black for a variety of purposes, like being sneaky, fashion statements, and contemporary art. But what about nature’s blackouts? Ocean scientists Allie Clement tells us about long sunless winters in Antarctica, merry midwinter celebrations, and how ecosystems in Antarctica responds to months of darkness. Also, the singular origin of a new apex predator hybrid, why alligators have such disgusting table manners, and the maths of scamming which adds up to some astonishingly big bucks. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton with Meral Jamal and Phillys Mwatee Producer: Florian Bohr with Julia Ravey, Noa Dowling and Katie Tomsett Sound engineer: Tim Heffer

At a recent Taylor Swift concert in Scotland, seismographs measured a “Swift Quake” caused by foot-stomping fans. But this wasn’t the only star that has made the ground shake - there have been several others, including Travis Scott and Bruce Springsteen. Could this power be harnessed in some way? Turning our attention to non-popstar quakes, there are some animals that seem to predict earthquakes. A pond in Italy, usually filled with toads during breeding season, was suddenly void of them shortly before an earthquake hit. Are there any other animals with seismographic abilities? And is there a chance we could harness their abilities somehow? Also, tremors on the small island of Mayotte led to a surprising deep-sea discovery. Nathalie Feuillet shares some earth-shattering facts about her team’s discovery. And, to shake things up, Marnie and panel talk about the 'Frenchness' of French fries, the tech hidden inside the Euros’ footballs, and the gadgets that fools your employer into thinking you are working. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, Godfred Boafo, Christine Yohannes Producer: Florian Bohr, Julia Ravey, Dan Welsh, Noa Dowling. Sound engineer: Emily Preston

Could a scientific burger compete against the fast food giants? We fear not! You will need: • Meat - A tick capable of inducing alpha gal syndrome, a disease that makes you allergic to red meat. • Garnish - Lettuce grown in space. (WARNING: it is more susceptible to bacterial infection than that grown on Earth). • Buns - A short but thick guide to the human buttocks with Heather Radke. Why do we humans have such large behinds? • Something sweet - We chose the humble baobab seed. An unusual tree indigenous to Madagascar, the subject of an incredibly successful conservation project. • Fries - Of course! The humble potato is threatened by climate change, what is being done to futureproof it? Instructions: • Who are we kidding! There is no scientific method! • Bang it all together and feast your ears on this week’s show! Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Panellists: Candice Bailey and Affelia Wibisono Producers: Harrison Lewis, Julia Ravey, Ben Motley and Noa Dowling

After North Korean balloons delivered trash to South Korea, we explore balloons of all kinds, why they can be useful, and when they’re not. Scientists have been using balloons for a long time, from pig bladders dropped from great heights, to Michael Faraday inventing the rubber balloon. Floating through the air seems like a great, energy-efficient way to fly. So why isn’t the sky full of airships? And party balloons are fun… but do we want to waste our precious helium on parties? What is this limited gas worth saving for? Also, why you’re likely smarter than your grandparents were at your age, why snails climb up walls, and scientists looking at clouds from space. Presenter: MarnieChesterton Panellists: Andrada Fiscutean, Meral Jamal Guests: Prof Andrea Sella (University College London) and Prof Dave Hodgson (University of Exeter) Producer: Florian Bohr with Harrison Lewis, Julia Ravey and Noa Dowling

As the Olympic torch makes its way through France, we investigate the fires that continually smoulder and those which are stomped out. You might expect snow to make a solid fire extinguisher, but in Canada, it is somehow keeping embers alight. These ‘Zombie fires’ keep burning through the winter, releasing huge amounts of carbon into the air and enhancing the tinderbox for summer wildfires. While wildfires leave trails of destruction, for some plants and animals, they act as a catalyst for life – helping them to spread their seeds or flower. And the extent of these blazes can also be marshalled by nature – with elephants and beavers building natural fire breaks into landscapes to prevent uncontrollable flames. We hear about when the first fires happened on Earth and how we can study ancient fires which have long since gone out. Plus, we unpick the key to monogamy (in mice), why cicadas love prime numbers as well as your thoughts on snakes... Presenter: Caroline Steel with Philistiah Mwatee and Chhavi Sachdev Producer: Alex Mansfield with Florian Bohr, Harrison Lewis, Julia Ravey and Noa Dowling Sound engineer: Emily Preston

How would you feel if you spent more and more of your life underground? Could that be how more and more of us live in the future? Presenter Marnie Chesterton and panellists Candice Bailey in Johannesburg, South Africa and Tristan Ahtone in Helsinki, Finland dig into subterranean science. Did you know around a million people live underground in China's capital Beijing? Have you heard of the race to dig the deepest hole in the Earth? In this episode we explore how humans have been digging deep for over 3,000 years explorer Christian Clot tell us why living underground with no contact to the world above was a nicer experience that you might expect.

In a competitive world, is it always best to finish first? A tribute to second place, second thoughts, and second opinions. You might assume that Olympic gold medallists have more successful lives than their silver-placed competitors. A study shows that on average winners die a year younger than the runners up, and earn less money. In the invasive jelly-fish wars of the Black Sea of recent years, it seems the second-comers prevailed over the voracious first-timers. And what about siblings? Does the first-born in a family really have any discernible advantage in life? Also, the potential perils of cutting-edge wearable medi-tech, the value of second opinions, and the chemical benefits of silver itself. Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Godfred Boafo and Andrada Fiscutean Produced by Alex Mansfield, with Dan Welsh, Julia Ravey and Noa Dowling Sound by Gwynfor Jones

It’s time for an unexpected celebration and we look to science for advice on clothes, cake and how presenter Marnie and panellists Christine and Candice can improve their singing. We also hear about the sleuths who have tracked down an animal that’s been presumed extinct for almost a century, we help a listener find the answer to whether using sunscreen is stopping him from getting vitamin d and Marnie talks to the Dog Aging Project to ask why studying healthy ageing in our canine companions can lead to better health for people too. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Panellists: Christine Yohannes and Candice Bailey Guests: Bryan Nichols, Pennsylvania State University and Matt Kaberline, founder of the Dog Aging Project. Producer: Tom Bonnett with Dan Welsh, Emily Knight, Julia Ravey and Noa Dowling

The sight of horses running wild in a city leads panellist Tristan Ahtone in Helsinki to rethink how we rate horses' welfare, Chhavi Sachdev in Mumbai tells the story of the country that is cloning the Lionel Messi of horses for sport and presenter Marnie Chesterton finds out why roboticist Eakta Jain is studying horses to engineer better relationships between humans and autonomous vehicles. All that, plus the slippery record for the world's biggest snake, how the alphabet came to be and asteroid forcing scientists to reiterate 'it will not hit Earth'.

Join the Unexpected team as they journey beyond the borders of reality to ask why we believe in the illogical. After a fraudulent psychic dupes 1.3 million Americans, panellist Camilla Mota turns to history for insight into how scientists debunk such con artists. The Unexpected library harbours secrets of paranormal experimentation and dead air live on the BBC, and panellist Phillys Mwatee reveals why our beliefs win out over hard evidence written in ink. Nevertheless, in a world rife with conspiracy and vaccine hesitancy, Melissa Kapulu from the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya, shares the fascinating scientific obstacles faced in the quest to eradicate malaria from Africa once and for all. Also hear how a Nigerian pastor and super-star has been making Melissa's job much harder, and life on fake mars. Presenter: Alex Lathbridge, Phillys Mwatee and Camilla Mota Producer: Harrison Lewis, Alex Mansfield and Noa Dowling

These days, over a trillion semiconductor microchips are made and shipped each year. The industry is worth eye-watering amounts, and since the 2020-2023 global shortage, nearly all governments are trying to get a slice of the industrial wafer. But what was it like just 40 years ago trying to get yourself a home computer when your communist leaders didn’t approve, and there were nowhere enough devices to go round anyway? Andrada Fiscutean spoke to some of the bootleggers. These days, not only are computing devices in just about everyone’s hands, they are mostly interconnected to vast arrays of machines collectively forming “the cloud”, which provides so much of our economic and scientific infrastructure. It is no longer about stand alone computing. But just maybe the deep future of computing lies in using individual atoms and photons as information-bearing digits. This is the basis of “quantum computing” which could use the properties and mechanics of the quantum scale to perform hugely complicated calculations in fractions of a second. Prof David Lucas of Oxford University physics department and colleagues are building some key demonstrators of the techniques we need to master. And just recently, they built an impressive manifestation of “Blind Quantum Computing”, which just might enable something like the quantum cloud of the future. Also, we have a look at an app for modern motorists that adjusts a piece of music to react to the movement of the car. Developed by Mercedes-AMG and the rapper Will.i.am, Christine Yohannes has been thinking about drivers becoming the musical maestros of their own journeys. Presented by Alex Lathbridge, with Andrada Fiscutean and Christine Yohannes. Produced by Alex Mansfield, with Harrison Lewis and Tom Bonnett.

Beyonce's new album tops the charts with a reappraisal of who can do country music and the Unexpected Elements team has a hoedown. Panellist Christine Yohannes unearths new research that changes our understanding of the origins of cowboys. Chhavi Sachdev has a thing or two to teach Beyonce as she reveals why the banjo has it's characteristic twang and we meet a man with powerful chemistry - TikTok dance sensation Dr Andre Isaacs from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts tells presenter Marnie Chesterton how dancing in his lab helps explain click chemistry. We also hear how new species could be given names that refer to the locations they're found in, we discuss whether mining is causing the Earth to shrink and, of course, eclipses make an appearance. We shed some light on how an eclipse over 100 years ago helped prove Einstein's theory of relativity.

In a year when billions of people have been to the ballot box, what do stickleback fish have to do with it? Alex Lathbridge, Tristan Ahtone and Candice Bailey discuss some unexpected elements of electoral studies. Can ancient geology really map election outcomes? What has machine learning done for polling? Psychologist Sandra Obradović drops in to share some of her expertise in the psychology of voting with the team. Plus, what does a solar eclipse have to do with dragons? Presenter: Alex Lathbridge, with Tristan Ahtone and Candice Bailey Producer: Katie Tomsett, with Harrison Lewis, Alex Mansfield and Phil Sansom

Can you put a price on the perfect athlete? In baseball you can, and that’s a $700 million dollar contract. Shoehi Ohtani took to the field in Seoul for the LA Dodgers to prove that the big cheque was worth it. It has Marnie asking – can you predict if one of your kids will become the G.O.A.T – the Greatest of All Time in any sport? She’ll also be investigating the other kind of goat – I'd say ordinary, but these ones are fighting wildfires. We bring you the curious tale of a never-before-seen beach pebble washing up on the shores of a remote island. What are they? And get the lowdown on the most unpleasant sounding ultramarathons after a 40-year-old Scottish woman completes a race SO hard that only 20 people have finished . Plus, gravitational waves, home-grown antivenom, and listening on double speed. Can your brain take it? Presented by Marnie Chesterton, Phillys Mwatee and Camilla Mota. Produced by Harrison Lewis with Tom Bonnett, Jack Lee and Cath Mcghee.

In a week of headlines about water shortages slowing ships in the Panama Canal and drought in India's Silicon Valley, we look at unexpected ways to manage the world’s water. Presenter Marnie Chesterton and panellists Chhavi Sachdev in Mumbai, India, and Meral Jamal in Nunavut, Canada, tell stories of innovative ideas being tried in their parts of the world. Marnie meets water detective Barbara Sherwood Lollar, professor in earth sciences at the University of Toronto, to hear how ancient water can help us plan for the future. Plus, how submersible speakers can help corals, and stories of living underground. Producer: Dan Welsh with Tom Bonnett, Harrison Lewis, Jack Lee, Katie Tompsett and Emily Preston.

Passionate K-Pop fans send us on a journey into the science of fandom. Panellists Andrada Fiskutean in Bucharest, Romania and Tristan Ahtone in Helsinki, Finland bring us stories of Star Trek’s sci-fi utopias, why allegiances affect our behaviour and how a cunning sea creature chooses which side of itself to reveal. Presenter Marnie Chesterton meets one of her heroes - American theoretical cosmologist and particle physicist Dr Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who helps Marnie understand the universe with lyrical beauty.

As award season reaches its climax in the US, Unexpected Elements holds its own glitzy ceremony. Which bit of science will win Best Picture? Who will take home the Best Supporting Actor? And will Prof Elaine Chew play us out with her Best Original Music? The nominations include a particularly noisy tiny fish, a sweating mannequin, and a composition based on a misbehaving heartbeat. All this plus your correspondence and a discussion of how far science infuses the real Academy Awards. Presented by Marnie Chesterton with Godfred Boafo and Camilla Moto. Featuring pianist Elaine Chew, Professor of Engineering at Kings College London. Produced by Alex Mansfield, with Tom Bonnet, Harrison Lewis, Dan Welsh and Katie Tomsett.

As the leap year helps to keep us in sync with the sun, we turn our attention to the natural world. There is no simple solution to stop forces like climate change that are sending nature out of sync. We’re seeing flowers such as Japan’s famous cherry blossom blooming early because of warmer weather. Some pollinators are emerging only to find the plants they rely on have been and gone. But, within the natural world, there also incredible stories of animal synchrony that offer hope and that we could learn from. We meet the Cape Ground Squirrels who appear to be adapting to sweltering summers, fireflies who offer a model for understanding the relationships between objects and hear about a ‘perfect’ solar system in which all planets are in sync. Plus, the underwater mountain range discovered in Chile, a listener asks a question about keeping time and we hear what you’ve been getting in touch about over the past week.

A scientific tribute to to the successes and potential of Kelvin Kiptum, the best marathon runner to ever take to the roads. Marnie and the team take time to reflect on the tragic loss after Kelvin's death and looks at the science behind his record breaking performances. Why do East African long distance runners continue to dominate the world stage? Can one group of indigenous people in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico, really run 100km without getting tired? And what makes you fall off the back of a treadmill when you just can't keep going? Is the limiting factor in endurance sports found in the body or the mind? We also hear how one small insect is having a mighty impact on African ecosystems, and Marnie ponders the future of AI. What happens when we are no longer able to trust our eyes and ears in a world of deepfakes. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Philistian Mwatee and Tristan Ahtone Producer: Harrison Lewis, with Dan Welsh, Tom Bonnett, Katie Tomsett and Jack Lee

Ahead of international Random Acts of Kindness Day, Marnie Chesterton and an invited panel look at some of the science behind nature’s better nature. Are mother spiders in Africa behind the ultimate act of kindness? How are lightning and lava lamps involved in the quest for a truly random number? And the engineer trying to bring more compassion to the machines we use every day. We also hear about the technology helping archaeologists discover lost worlds in South America, the maths that might benefit your love life, and Marnie receives her very own random act of kindness - a surprise trip to a lab to meet some of the most extraordinary creatures on the planet. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Camilla Mota Producer: Dan Welsh, with Tom Bonnett, Katie Tomsett and Alex Mansfield

Brain implants have been sparking conversation about the future of humanity after Elon Musk's company Neuralink announced it has embedded a microchip in a human skull. It has fired up people's imaginations and led some to wonder whether these devices that connect to our brain could be a stepping stone towards the ideas more often found in sci-fi, and maybe even create a tool to read people's thoughts. Marnie Chesterton and the panel discuss whether our privacy is at risk or whether we are already an open book. They try to understand the concept of backing up our brains, and they meet Dr Michael Winding from the Francis Crick Institute in the UK to hear about a pioneering study to map the pathways of a brain, and you might be surprised how small that brain was. Plus, Katie Tomsett looks at how tattoos could be used to indicate the health of our bodies. In Under the Radar we learn how batteries could one day charge through sound, we hear the story of an alleged spy pigeon caught in India, and we highlight the wonderful tale of a beluga whale. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Kai Kupferschmidt Producer: Tom Bonnett, with Alex Mansfield, Dan Welsh, Katie Tomsett and Jack Lee

This week, the world’s largest cruise ship set sail from Miami. Whilst a cruise holiday may be appealing to some, there is also a long history of disease spreading around the world via ships. Marnie and the panel take a look at the reasons why and the resulting impact on public health policies. It’s not just humans and microbes that are hitching a ride aboard sea vessels. Animals such as mussels can cling on to ship hulls, exposing previously pristine environments to potentially invasive species. We hear how scientists are tackling this problem with novel polymer lubricants. And we’re not done yet with marine creatures creating big issues. Professor John Parnell tells us the huge impact microscopic phytoplankton has had on Earth’s geology, and how the stuff in your pencils could actually be the bodies of long dead plankton... Plus, we explore the latest developments in rhino IVF, say ‘saluton’ to our Esperanto listeners and answer a question about going grey. And as Alabama uses nitrogen to execute a prisoner, we look at the science behind death penalty drugs. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Yangyang Cheng and Philistiah Mwatee Producer: Sophie Ormiston, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Alex Mansfield, Dan Welsh, Harrison Lewis, Katie Tomsett and Jack Lee Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris

This week on the show that brings you the science behind the news, we’re looking at news that China’s population has fallen for the second year running. Worrying news for China’s economy, but would a declining population be a good thing for the planet? The Unexpected Elements team on three continents meet the musical frogs who are having to climb a mountain to keep their populations stable, and dig deep to explore the earth’s declining microbiome and the hope scientists have for the future. As the Africa Cup of Nations continues, we’ll be wondering how you might date a footballer. Not in a romantic sense… we hear about some suspiciously mature youth players and how science can help when the age on a passport isn’t reliable. Marnie will be wondering why Japanese men are shouting their love from a hilltop, and unpicking the recipe for a truly satisfying hug. All that plus a postbag bursting with multilingual puns, and the reason Portuguese speakers have trouble with English doors. Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield, Dan Welsh, Katy Tomsett and Jack Lee

As France's youthful new Prime Minister gets his feet under the desk, we examine how stress and strains can change the way we look. We also ask what the late nights and lack of sleep that go hand in hand with leadership can mean for the health of the human body and we hear how measuring intelligence in young people isn't as straightforward as it might seem.

Could geopolitical tensions around the Red Sea affect research into the region’s heat-resistant super corals? Also on the program, what an ocean that used to lie under the Himalayas can tell us about evolution, the fruit chat continues with the latest chapter in the bananadine saga, and how looking to the past could help create the shipping of the future.

As the new year arrives for much of the world, Marnie and pals look at a few time-related oddities. From the abolition of the leap second, to how some people feel they can actually see time stretching before them, to a festival of lunar-loving worms. On the anniversary of the invention of the word “robot”, we discuss EU AI legislation and its parallels with science fiction of a century ago, regal handedness, Arctic golf courses and the time-capsule of all humanity, stuck to the side of the Voyager Probes. Presented by Marnie Chesterton with Meral Jamal, Andrada Fiscutean, plus Prof Anje Schutze of Texas A&M University Produced by Tom Bonnett, with Alex Mansfield and Dan Welsh

Usually Unexpected Elements looks at the science behind the news, but this week Marnie Chesterton and Caroline Steel are looking back at some of the best bits from our first few months. We’ve got the best from our team of panellists across the globe, including what’s going on in your brain when you speak more than one language, the horrific mating ritual of the bedbug and the science behind our panellist Camilla’s terrible haircut decision. We look back at some of the brilliant scientists we’ve spoken to, with subjects as diverse as whale song, how the entire universe was once the size of a marble, why an archaeologist hasn’t run off with all the gold he’s found and how the jewel wasp turn a cockroach into a zombie. We have ‘Under the Radar’ stories about power outages in South Africa, human ancestors from China, bringing Rhinos back to life in Kenya and how to keep everyone safe from Polar Bears in a place where there’s no phone signal. We reflect on our attempts to find the Coolest Science in the World, and whether it’s possible to pit a hurricane machine against an alternative to antibiotics. And it wouldn’t be a ‘best of’ show without a digest of all the fruit chat from throughout the year. All that plus eating glue for science, our best (or worst?) puns and some singing cows. Presented by Marnie Chesterton & Caroline Steel Produced by Ben Motley, with Tom Bonnett

In the week of the solstice – the shortest or longest day of the year depending on your latitude - Unexpected Elements brings you tales of darkness and light. We hear about the dark history of sensory deprivation studies and why up until now, we’ve been in the dark about light’s role in the fairly fundamental process of evaporation. We’ll be shining a light on the darkest oceans, meeting the fantastical creatures who can turn their bodies into flashlights. Our Under the Radar story this week also comes from the sea as we discover how fish skin is helping to treat burn victims in Brazil. We have an Ask the Unexpected question about why we don’t sneeze when we’re asleep, and more of your emails and voicenotes about obscure sports, tunnel living and earworms. We even find time to wonder why the Brazil nut isn’t called the Bolivia nut. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Chhavi Sachdev Producer: Ben Motley, with Dan Welsh

On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, we look into the phenomenon of caring for things outside of ourselves – whether it’s human rights, the environment, or even odd sports.

After 41 Indian miners were happily rescued last week, Unexpected Elements takes a look at how our futures might lie below the surface. As climate change suggests more of our infrastructures need to be buried safely, and even living spaces could be cooler down there, we discuss future technologies for digging tunnels more safely and cleanly. But tunnelling and boring could go back a long way - more evidence suggests species of dinosaurs used to to live semi-subterranean lives. Tunnelling also happens at the very smallest scales and lowest temperatures, as observed this year by physicists at Innsbruck University. Dr Robert Wild of Innsbruck University in Austria describes quantum tunnelling - a crucial process that belies most chemistry and even the fusion of hydrogen in the sun, and which is increasingly becoming part of our electronic devices. Also, a new technique for monitoring the rapid evolution of the malaria parasite, your correspondence including obscure sports and asteroid fantasies, and a discussion of the difficulties of hiring a panda. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Philistiah Mwatee and Alex Lathbridge

This week on the show that brings you the science behind the news, inspired by COP28, we’re talking about meetings. Honestly, it’s way more interesting than it sounds. Come to hear about blackworm blobs – a wormy meeting that only happens in stressful situations - and how scientists are taking inspiration from it to design robots. Stay for the stories from nature where species are missing crucial pollination meetings thanks to that global stressful situation that is climate change. And what’s better for the planet, a big meeting that everyone flies to or a telephone conference with no video? In ‘Ask the Unexpected’ we answer a listener’s question about antibiotics - if there are good bacteria in the body, how do they know which ones to attack? Also, OMG it’s the OMG particle – we hear about the tiny but powerful particles that pound the planet from time to time. All that plus your emails about toilets and the rules of Cricket. Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Tristan Ahtone. Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield and Dan Welsh.

The cricket world cup has us looking at the science of spitting on cricket balls, particle accelerators, and insect sound engineers. Also on the program, how AI is breaking into e-commerce, why do we get in the middle of the night, and is a fat flightless parrot the world's greatest bird?

To mark UN World Toilet Day on 19 Nov, Alex Lathbridge discusses all things toilet related with Andrada Fiscutean and Tristan Ahtone, as they attempt to lift the lid on our collective taboo of discussing sanitary matters. In 2020, 3.6 billion people – nearly half the global population – lacked access to safely managed sanitation. Diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and diarrhoea can spread amongst populations who still practice open defecation. And lack of access to a functioning toilet disproportionately affects women. But even if you do have access to a flushing toilet, do you always close the lid? Researchers have measured the invisible aerosol plumes that rise up from the pan of an uncovered toilet flush, potentially spreading other communicable diseases including respiratory infections including even SARS-CoV2. But flushing toilets are resource heavy. A normal flush can use 5l of water. Could they be re-conceived? Prof Shannon Yee of Georgia Tech swings my to give us the latest on the “Reinventing the Toilet” project. Next March they hope to unveil the production model of the second generation reinvented toilet (“G2RT”). Much like other household appliances, it could run from a domestic power source, yet turn a family’s faecal matter and urine into clean water and a small amount of ash, with out the need for the grand and expensive sewage infrastructure required by more normal flushing cisterns. In the black sea meanwhile, AI is being deployed to track the dwindling populations of the beluga sturgeon, from whom the luxury food caviar is harvested. We discuss sightings of cryptids (mythical or scarcely believable animals) you have sent us, and after the announcement of the rediscovery of a rare echidna species in Indonesia, we look at how conservation and natural history expeditions have changed over the course of the broadcasting career of Sir David Attenborough. Presenter: Alex Lathbridge, with Andrada Fiscutean and Tristan Ahtone Producer: Alex Mansfield, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Dan Welsh and Ben Motley

This week on the show with the science behind the news, we’re looking at a story that has sparked a debate in India about a 70-hour work week. In an interview, the billionaire NR Narayana Murthy said that young people should be ready to work 70 hours a week to help the country's development, suggesting that unless productivity improved, India would not be able to compete with other countries. But if you work twice as long, do you get twice as much done? The Unexpected Elements team on three continents look at research that sheds light on whether a 70 hour working week is actually as productive as Mr Murthy suggests. And if you’re working all the time there’s less time for sleep – we hear about the marine mammals that manage on 2 hours a day, and the Inuit hunters in northern Canada who follow a similar pattern. We’re also joined by Environmental Economist Matthew Agarwala, wondering whether traditional notions of productivity ignore the issues of the climate and well-being. Our ‘Under the Radar’ story this week is from Kenya, where Trachoma - a bacterial infection – is still causing people to become blind. It’s one of a group of a diseases known as ‘neglected tropical diseases’, but why are they neglected, and what can we do about it? In ‘Ask the Unexpected’ a listener wonders why eating makes some pregnant women sick and not others. We ask an expert for the answer, and we discover that the menopause is not as unique to humans as we used to think. All that plus your emails and messages, including a listener who left a cult as a result of learning another language, and the mystery of the Eastern Australian Panther. Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Phillys Mwatee and Meral Jamal. Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield and Tom Bonnett.

In the week where many celebrated Halloween we are wondering about that tingle down your spine, the dryness in your mouth, the racing pulse - might it actually be good for you? We also look into a special frequency of sound, just below our human hearing range, that might cause rational people to start feeling spooky. And we explore Cryptids and the zoology of creatures that don’t really exist. Plus, if you’re bilingual, do you really have a first and second language? We also explore why driving a taxi is a workout for your brain and look at the benefits and pitfalls of cycling around the world. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Godfred Boafo. Producer: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, with Alex Mansfield, Tom Bonnett and Ben Motley

Lagos Fashion Week makes some unexpected connections to vegan wool, 1920s car marketing, and Right to Repair legislation. If we consider our obsession with the clothes we wear to be some result of sexual selection, do any other animals evolve their self-expression with such frequency? Dr Ellen Garland of St Andrew’s University tells how male humpback whales change their song with surprisingly infectious rapidity, and talks us through some recent hits. Also, some catalytic promise for wastewater management, and how choosing a language in which to think changes your decision making. Plus, this week’s messages from you, and can poetry help science? Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Godfred Boafo Producer: Alex Mansfield, with Tom Bonnet and Margaret Sessa-Hawkins

According to the pop icon Madonna, music makes the people come together. But can we prove that using science? As Madonna embarks on her greatest hits world tour, the Unexpected Elements team on three continents take some of those hits and examine the science behind them. Like a Virgin take us on an excursion into parthenogenesis, and the Komodo Dragons that can reproduce without the inconvenience of having to find a mate. Madonna sung about travelling ‘quicker than a ray of light’, but is that actually possible? We take a very fast trip through the strange world of warp bubbles. And we Get Into the Groove with the physicist who created a record so tiny it fits into one of the grooves of a normal record. We also hear about the “find your ancestry” kits that have the capacity to solve so-called cold cases, identifying unknown human remains often decades old. With the eyes of the world on events in Gaza, we discover how tech can help make sure that any reportage – video or photos – are accurate and not doctored. All that plus your emails and WhatsApps, and a listener wonders whether fish can drown. Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Philistiah Mwatee and Katie Silver Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield, Tom Bonnett, Sophie Ormiston and Margaret Sessa Hawkins

How did bedbugs become a global concern? We examine why their unconventional reproduction methods are so successful, how bedbugs and humans even crossed paths in the first place and what public health has to do with nation building. Also on the show, we look at why there's no human version of dog food, how conspiracy theories take hold, and the legal wranglings over an old Canadian oil pipeline.

How would it feel wake up years later? After the US narrowly avoided a government shutdown, we look at how complicated systems - such as living things - can just press pause. Could humans ever hibernate like bears and squirrels? Or even like simpler animals that can be revived after 46,000 years. Also, which way does antimatter fall under gravity? And how might IVF save a functionally extinct species of rhino? Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Philistiah Mwatee. Producer: Alex Mansfield, with Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Ben Motley and Sophie Ormiston

This week on the show that brings you the science behind the news, there are lots of stories about inflation in economies across the world. When inflation happens your money doesn’t go as far, so what does psychology say about how much money you really need to make you happy? We humans aren’t the only ones experiencing inflation either, trees are suffering from it too. We find out what happens when the balance of supply and demand of nutrients between trees and fungi is disrupted by climate change. And then we take a look at the bigger picture - the much bigger picture - as cosmologist Ghazal Geshnizjani tells us about how the entire universe once existed in a space smaller than a marble. Plus, are Romanian bear populations inflating? We probe a scientist about spider webs – why do they look the way they do? And we look at vaping – it’s illegal in some countries while smokers in other countries are encouraged to take it up. All that plus your emails, WhatsApps and some unexpected elephants. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Godfred Boafo and Andrada Fiscutean. Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield, Sophie Ormiston and Margaret Sessa Hawkins.

How does our brain process language? We speak to an expert who is using technology to turn narrative thoughts into text. Also on the show, what is happening in our brains when we switch languages? And what are the positives and perils of technology and translation? Also on the show, we look at internet connectivity in incredibly remote areas, whether carbon capture is realistic, and we continue to explore different foods from around the world.

In a week where global heat records have melted, we find out how that can make fish life-threateningly stupid. We also dive a little deeper to find the part of the ocean where a little heat proves life-enhancing. And we bring you boring science… no, not in that way. Find out what tree rings can tell us about ancient civilizations and past climates. Also, a new Japanese mission aims to park nice and neatly on the moon – how different is that from the famous first effort from the Apollo 11 team? We hear about an unwelcome Delhi resident that’s taking years off locals lives – air pollution. And what is a “supervolcano” and how likely is it that one ruins our run as dominant species on this planet? Presented by Marnie Chesterton With Chhavi Sachdev and Tristan Ahtone Producers: Alex Mansfield, Ben Motley, Sophie Ormiston, Emily Bird and Patrick Hughes

Following recent coups in Niger and Gabon, and with seven African coups in the last three years, some political commentators are suggesting that there might be an epidemic of coups. But are coups really contagious, and what does the political science say? Caroline Steel and the Unexpected Elements team across three different continents go on a quest to find the science lurking behind the news. We find out what trees in Chile can tell us about coups and we meet the wasp that performs a coup on a poor unsuspecting cockroach, turning it into a zombie and eating it alive. There’s light relief in the form of cows listening to classical music, the answer to a listener question about carbon capture and reflections on efforts to rid the world of plastic bags. All that plus your emails, whatsapps, and more fruit chat than you can shake a banana skin at. Presented by Caroline Steel Produced by Ben Motley, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins and Sophie Ormiston

India's successful moon landing has the Unexpected Elements team engaging in some serious lunacy. We look at where the moon even came from, how it helps us navigate, and whether it has a cultural and ecological heritage. Also on the show, is Dr. TikTok leading to a raft of self-diagnoses, should we be eating banana peels and worms, and we go back to the moon to see if it has any effect on our sleep.

This week, we start off by digging into conspiracy theories. What’s behind their enduring allure? And have they always been around? Marnie and the panel investigate. Many conspiracy theories are based off of misinformation… but what’s actually going on in our brains when we lie? We look into the case of the man who was physically unable of spreading tall tales. Sometimes, the truth is there, but is difficult to uncover. Delving for this deeper meaning is something particle physicists like Dr Harry Cliff have been doing for decades. Harry tells us where we are in the ongoing quest to understand our Universe. Also, we hear the ingenious way Costa Rican scientists are dealing with pineapple waste, and we answer a South African listener’s question about evolution. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Sophie Ormiston, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins and Alex Mansfield

The conversation this week starts off on corruption. There are allegations of political or corporate malfeasance in the news regularly throughout the world. But can science bring anything to the investigators? We look at some efforts to bring empirical rigour to the fight. But corruption of sorts is also a big thing in our online lives. Algorithms can deliver duff results, maybe because they are poorly conceived, or perhaps because they are fed corrupt data. So when our cellular biological algorithms are corrupted, our health is affected. Can cancerous tumours be considered corrupt organs, co-opting healthy cells to assist in their nefarious ends? Dr Ilaria Malanchi of the Crick Institute in London muses on the commonalities. Also, a look at the politicisation of pre-human palaeontology and how our stories of human origins have been, and in some ways still are, connected with nationalist geographical identities that mainstream science doesn't recognize. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Yangyang Chen and Meral Jamal Producer: Alex Mansfield, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Ben Motley, and Sophie Ormiston

This week on the show that looks for the science behind the news, Marnie Chesterton investigates mystery after mystery. Where is Yevegeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, and could science help to trace him? Which animals would do best at a game of hide and seek? And we hear about the time when half the stuff in the universe went missing, and how cosmologists found it again. We continue our endless quest to identify the Coolest Science in the World. This week’s contender studies the murky side of the genome – dark DNA. Plus the low-down on the indefinite doctor’s strike in Nigeria, we look behind the latest news about our warming oceans and have you ever felt someone else’s pain? You might be the 1 in 50 people known as mirror touch synaesthetes. All that plus your emails, whatsapps and even more fruit chat. Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Ben Motley, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Alex Mansfield, Sophie Ormiston, Katie Tomsett and Florence Thompson.

The World Cup has us looking at why women get more ACL injuries, how to avoid cracking under pressure, and why some animals play dead. Also on the program we consider the pros and cons of Artificial Intelligence in Africa, whether the continent is turning to nuclear power, and if banana skins are hallucinogenic.

As Netflix cracks down on password sharing around the world - something it once encouraged - we wondered why people like to share passwords to other things, such as phones, email accounts and logins. Passwords and encryption exist as ways of protecting us from hostile agents in most aspects of life. But timing is everything. Nature has been doing it for years of course. But climate change is upsetting some of the ecological match-ups of locks and keys, migration and feeding that have evolved over the millennia. We hear how the shifting patterns of weather and food availability is affecting cuckoos in Europe and India. Another aspect of natural subterfuge is camouflage. Whilst physicists have been trying to make optical invisibility cloaks from ingenious new "metamaterials", Marc Holderied and team have been looking at how certain moths have used metamaterial properties in the structure of their wings to effectively hide from bats. They are acoustically invisible. Could similar materials be manufactured to make, for example, sound-proof wallpaper? Also, we hear how India's Chandrayaan-3 moon mission - due to land on 23 August this year - is exciting millions of people. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Alex Mansfield, with Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Ben Motley and Sophie Ormiston

Unexpected Elements looks for the science behind the news, and this week the news is glittery and pink with the release of the Barbie movie. The movie has very pink aesthetic, so we get philosophical about the colour pink – does it actually exist and if so, how come it isn’t in the rainbow? We also discover how this iconic doll has performed some actual valuable science, helping cryogenic researchers design space suit technology to help future missions to the moon. In Ask the Unexpected this week we’ve got dog science as we answer the age old joke: how does my dog smell? Terrible, obviously, but it also depends on something called the vomeronasal organ.. And there are newcomers in Germany and they’re troublemakers. We hear how an unpleasant mosquito borne virus has arrived in northern Europe and consider whether climate change might be to blame. All that plus your emails and WhatsApps, language pedantry and an ewaste dating service. Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Ben Motley, with Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Alex Mansfield and Sophie Ormiston

As Nato meets, we look at what science says about consensus decision-making, whether the universe is left-handed, and what chemistry can tell us about our ancient past. Also, we examine windfarms potentially blocking reindeer herding, our quest for the coolest science in the world continues with Beth the bee queen, and Caroline contemplates the long road that got us to a malaria vaccine.

This week time is up for the UN to come up with rules about how to mine the ocean bed. We hear about the mysterious potato shaped objects on the sea floor that contain lots of valuable minerals that are essential for electronics like mobile phones. Our team on three different continents compare how recycling of precious metals is going in their parts of world, and we hear why early Lithium batteries kept catching fire. We also speak to an expert on hydroelectric power who tells us how small scale hydro is a massively untapped resource, possibly even in your own back garden. This week’s Under the Radar story is a personal tale of floods and landslides in the Himalayas, and what science tells us about the huge cloudburst that caused them. Our search to discover The Coolest Science in the World continues with a fascinating look at sonification with a researcher who straddles science and music, and we dive into the fact that human use of underground water has redistributed the weight of the planet. All that plus your emails and WhatsApps, the answer to a question about heavy metal and the wonderful laugh of a Nobel laureate. Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Alex Mansfield, with Ben Motley and Sophie Ormiston

Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid, but how to pick a date for your festivities? The Islamic calendar says look to the moon, but haven’t we always chosen to order life on earth by using the planets, moons and stars? We hear about the Mayans who tracked Venus and the astronomer who proved that comets weren’t bad omens. Having looked at the outsourcing of decisions to the sky, we wonder why we can’t just trust our brains and wonder what neuroscience has to say about it. And now that AI is able to make decisions for us, we hear about the computer-predicted proteins doing work that would otherwise take millions of years of evolution. Our ‘Under the Radar’ story this week comes from Brazil, where we meet the Lionfish – hear how these kings of the coral reef are upsetting the ecosystem by eating most of it. In our ongoing quest to find The Coolest Science in the World, we hear from a scientist doing amazing things with immersive audio. And Marnie learns about the engineer trying to build roads through fresh volcanic lava, and reflects on how we predict eruptions. All this plus your emails and WhatsApps, and a lot of mango chat. Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield and Sophie Ormiston Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris

A look at some unexpected elements of congestion: Why does pollen make so many of us wheezy, and sneezy? What can it tell us about the distant past? Plus, we take a look at what we can learn from the construction and engineering behind aquatic snot palaces. Plus your enemy’s enemy can be your friend – hear about the tiny viruses that invade certain bacteria. Speaking of bacteria, we look at the latest place to hunt for new antibiotics – the fur of a certain animal, and with reports of famine emerging from North Korea, we hear about the scientist who is said to have saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.

The show that brings you the science behind the news, with Marnie Chesterton and an inter-continental team. This week we take the headlines of the wildfires in North America, pull out the science and run with it. We explore what’s actually in smoke-polluted air, looking at the part the El Nino weather system plays in starting fires, and discover why a surprising element of air pollution is helping conservation biologists to track animals. We look at how tobacco is not just bad for your lungs – it’s bad for some of the farmers who grow it too. We get the Kenyan perspective on farmers trying to move away from tobacco production. We continue our quest to find The Coolest Science in the World with a researcher who studies grasshoppers that are the noisiest on the planet, but might not actually be noisy enough. And as Ukraine struggles with the devastation caused by the destruction of the Kherson dam, we look at dam building along the Mekong river and ask why a lack of flood water might be causing a problem. All that, plus your emails and whatsapps, and a listener gets an unexpected answer to a question about whether we can send taste and smell over the airwaves. Presented by: Marnie Chesterton Produced by Alex Mansfield, with Ben Motley, Margaret Sessa-Hawkins & Sophie Ormiston

As French citizens protest against the raising of the state pension age, we look at the figures – are we really living longer? And if so, why? We take notes from the naked mole rat - it’s born looking wrinkled but this rodent is apparently ageless. And moving on from mere creatures, we’re asking if every state, society or civilisation has a lifespan, and if we can prevent it ending on our watch. Also, as South Africans battle to live their best lives against almost daily power cuts, we look at load shedding – why is their power being switched off and is there a light at the end of the tunnel? We continue our quest to find The Coolest Science in the World with a man using tiny microbes for big problems, and the launch of a new BBC World Service drama about Fukushima gets us thinking about the consequences. All that plus your emails and whatsapps, a team in three different countries and the decadence of Marnie’s footwear choices. Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Margaret Sessa-Hawkins and Ben Motley

Human migration is in the headlines again – India and Australia have announced a new migration deal, in the US a Covid-inspired policy that allowed migrants to be quickly expelled has come to an end, and in the UK new measures were announced to stop foreign students bringing families with them, in a bid to reduce migration figures. But what does science tell us about migration? With a team across three continents, we’re looking at the origins of human migration and exploring some of the greatest migrations in the animal kingdom. We discover that migrating birds are more like migrating humans than you might think, and learn how even the ground beneath our feet is trying to move somewhere else. We’re also introduced to the real life people labelling images that inform the algorithms behind AI, a researcher with a wall of wind makes a bid for The Coolest Science in the World, we find out why tiles are colder than carpets and we dig deeper into the news that a company founded by Elon Musk has been given the go-ahead to trial a ‘brain-machine interface’. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Margaret Sessa Hawkins & Ben Motley

On the anniversary of the first telegraph being sent, the team discover how the telegraph was used as a colonial tool in Ghana, and how an eccentric Brazilian emperor helped spark a communications revolution. They also reveal how tiny worms have helped scientists work out how our hearing works, and how bioelectricity might help focus your mind and heal your wounds. There’s a tale of evil seaweed causing havoc for coastal communities, a scientist studying misophonia makes a pitch for The Coolest Science in the World, and there’s a listener question about how chickens fly. And Marnie delves into a lesser known history of space flight, with the tale of a Zambian man who dreamt of being an astronaut.

After the elections in Thailand and Turkey, we explore the forces that shape how you decide to vote. Clue: a lot of it comes down to us being social animals. We getting stuck into various sticky subjects – the glue that holds together animal societies, the cells in our bodies and even the International Space Station. We also looking at how the blueprint of the human genome just got a whole load better. Also, join our mission to find the coolest science in the world, with the scientist who explores ocean gases. We have your correspondence and questions, including "How do birds know which perch will work?", and we take a peek inside a world of silicon as we hear how South Korea reacted to the global chip shortage.

Unexpected Elements is all about finding surprising stories and nuggets of science in everyday news. Each week we start by taking a news story that’s floating around and use that as a launchpad for three other science stories that become increasingly unexpected. This week, the team squints at the recent lavish ceremony and ritual of the British King’s coronation and asks: What does it all mean? Why is ritual so important to us humans, and why does it always seem to involve precious objects? That’s where we start - but in this show, our global panel of science journalists can take us to all sorts of places. We’ll be touring the ocean floors with the scientist who wants to map all of them, soaring in the skies of India to discover why one of the country’s biggest birds might be in trouble, and we’re even going off planet to find out about an asteroid with enough gold in it to build a nice shiny house out of the stuff – for every human on Earth.

34 days after it first formed at the far end of the Indian Ocean, record-breaking Cyclone Freddy made a repeat landfall on Mozambique as well as passing over Malawi, causing extensive damage and loss of life. Climate scientists Liz Stephens and Izidine Pinto join Roland to give an update on the destruction and explain how Cyclone Freddy kept going for an exceptionally long time. At the Third International Human Genome Summit in London last week, Professor Katsuhiko Hayashi announced he had created baby mice from eggs formed by male mouse cells. Dr Nitzan Gonen explains the underlying science, whilst Professor Hank Greely discusses the ethics and future prospects. And from one rodent story to another, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in brown rats scurrying around New York sewers. Dr Thomas DeLiberto from the US Department of Agriculture gives Roland the details. When imagining a robot, a hard-edged, boxy, humanoid figure may spring to mind. But that is about to change. CrowdScience presenter Alex Lathbridge is on a mission to meet the robots that bend the rules of conventionality. Inspired by how creatures like us have evolved to move, some roboticists are looking to nature to design the next generation of machines. And that means making them softer. But just how soft can a robot really be? Join Alex as he goes on a wild adventure to answer this question from listener Sarah. He begins his quest at the ‘Hello, Robot’ Exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany to define what a robot actually is. Amelie Klein, the exhibition curator, states anything can be a robot as long as three specific criteria are met (including a cute cuddly baby seal). With this in mind, Alex meets Professor Andrew Conn from the Bristol Robotics Lab who demonstrates how soft materials like rubber are perfect contenders for machine design as they are tough to break and - importantly for our listener’s question - bendy. Alex is then thrown into a world of robots that completely change his idea of what machines are. He is shown how conventionally ‘hard’ machines are being modified with touches of softness to totally upgrade what they can do, including flexible ‘muscles’ for robot skeletons and silicon-joined human-like hands at the Soft Robotics Lab run by Professor Robert Katzschmann at ETH Zurich. He is then introduced to robots that are completely soft. Based on natural structures like elephant trunks and slithering snakes, these designs give robots completely new functions, such as the ability to delicately pick fruit and assist with search and rescue operations after earthquakes. Finally, Alex is presented with the idea that, in the future, a robot could be made of materials that are so soft, no trace of machine would remain after its use... Image credit: Jack McBrams/Getty Images Producer: Roland Pease Assistant Producer: Sophie Ormiston

We meet experts at the Human Genome Editing Summit in London, seeking to cure genetic disease and ensure that it is safe and available to all. Roland Pease hears from Victoria Gray, the first person to be cured of the debilitating and life-shortening disease sickle cell anaemia by gene editing, and from the scientists making it possible. Also, the prospect of work to attempt gene rescue in fetuses before they are born. But the technology is expensive and complex. The question troubling the participants is to ensure people across the world can benefit from it, not just the rich and privileged. And what are the limitations of gene editing? Can it be made more effective, safer? And what of gene edits that will be inherited by future generations?

The long rains of East Africa are forecast to fail again, for the third year running, precipitating a food crisis affecting millions. Science In Action explores the science of the drought, hears about new methods improving forecasts, and what is unusual about the region that makes it so vulnerable. When we think of helium, for many of us balloons and squeaky voices come to mind. But the noble gas is critical for many aspects of modern life – and we’re facing a global shortage. Dr Annie Cheng and her colleagues at the University of Oxford are attempting to solve this by creating a model that has the potential to locate previously untapped reservoirs. CrowdScience listener Eric, in New Zealand, has noticed his wisteria growing towards a neighbouring tree. He thinks that it actually knows where it’s going. But how can a plant have a sense of direction? Plants don’t have the advantage of brains or eyes, but that doesn’t seem to stop them from being clever enough to find out from their environment where to move and how to get there – all while being rooted to the spot. Marnie Chesterton visits the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens in London, home to the largest collection of living plants in the world, to discover how plants make their manoeuvres, and talks to botanists and plant biologists for the latest findings on the mysterious life of climbing plants. Image by Gerald Anderson/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Producer: Roland Pease Assistant Producer: Sophie Ormiston

DNA has revealed potential animal COVID carriers at the Wuhan market, but what does that tell us about the start of the pandemic? Roland talks to two of the experts behind the new analysis: Dr Florence Débarre and Professor Eddie Holmes. Also, we look into Europe’s grand new space ambitions. ESA director general Josef Aschbacher gives Roland the details of the space agency’s out-of-this-world plans. And Beethoven's last DNA: a hairy story of his family and genetic afflictions. Dr Tristan Begg shares how the composer’s tresses unlocked new information about his life and death. Inside our gut lives an entire ecosystem of bacteria and microbes, called the microbiome. In fact, the human body contains trillions of microorganisms, which outnumber our cells by ten to one. This means that technically, we are more microbe than human. But not only do these microbes rely on us to survive, we also rely on them too for vital bodily functions. So what impact do these trillions of microbes have on our health? That’s the question that’s been bothering CrowdScience listener Russell, from Canada. Presenter Caroline Steel sets out to investigate. She visits the only museum dedicated to microbes in the world to explore what exactly these microbes inside us are, what they do and why we have so many of them inside our bodies. How important is our microbiome for our survival and what impact can it have on our physical health? Caroline finds out what impacts our microbiome, what we can do to improve our inner ecosystem, and how our microbes can take a disturbing turn on us after we die. Image credit: Eddie Holmes Producer: Roland Pease Assistant Producer: Sophie Ormiston

Cyclone Freddy has made landfall on Madagascar, leaving destruction in its wake. At the time this edition of Science In Action is going to air, Freddy is on course to reach Mozambique and South Africa. Freddy, which has been gaining strength since it originally formed on the 30th of January, is the most powerful southern hemisphere cyclone on record. Professor Francois Engelbrecht provides the science behind the storm system. In the centre of our galaxy, an enormous cloud is heading towards the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole. Dr Anna Ciurlo tells us that this is a unique opportunity to study the influence of the black hole on the cloud’s shape and properties. We’ve heard a lot about balloons floating above Earth recently… but what about sending balloons to Venus? That’s exactly what Dr Siddharth Krishnamoorthy is proposing in order to study Venus’s seismic activity. Recorders on a “floatilla” above the planet’s surface could listen into Venus-quakes and reveal Venus’s mysterious past. And closer to home, scientists have discovered a new layer in the Earth’s core. We journey into the very centre of the Earth with Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić, who tells Roland what the innermost inner core can teach us about our planet’s past. And, If, like this week’s Crowdscience listener Lili, you’re an avid gymgoer, you may well have wondered where your fat disappears to when you exercise? Well, the short answer is that we convert it to energy that powers a whole range of physical processes, from breathing to walking as well as lying down and doing nothing. But the science behind energy expenditure is a little more complicated than that. Presenter Anand Jagatia pops on an exercise bike to have his metabolism measured, and learns that he may be relying on an entirely different source of fuel as he works up a sweat. But is all that hard work worth the effort it involves? Recent research suggests there's a limit to the number of calories us humans can burn, and that doing physical activity isn’t a sure-fire way to keep trim. Even hunter-gatherers who walk 13,000 steps a day have the same metabolic rate as the average American. So if working out isn't the best way to lose weight, how about harnessing our own fat to tackle the complications of obesity? It used to be thought brown fat was exclusive to babies (and bears) but we now know adults have some of it too, and it seems to play a vital role in combatting a range of chronic diseases including hypertension and diabetes. Image: NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Producer: Roland Pease Assistant Producer: Sophie Ormiston

In the decade since the genome editing capabilities of CRISPR-Cas9 emerged, research into novel medicines has boomed – but alongside progress comes new ethical considerations. Controversy erupted in 2018, when Chinese scientist He Jiankui created the first babies with edited genomes. After leaving prison last year, he’s now back in the lab trying to raise support for new research but refuses to discuss the ethical implications of his work. Dr Joy Zhang recently arranged a bioethics seminar and invited He Jiankui, it was the first time he’d agreed to engage with a global cohort of CRISPR scientists since returning to his research. Going back in time from cutting-edge to ancient technology, some of the oldest stone tools ever used by human ancestors have been unearthed at a fossil site in Kenya. Professor Tom Plummer talks us through the findings and how important the tools were in our evolution. And we immerse ourselves in the mysterious sounds of the Arctic and Antarctic, from singing ice to the man-made noises of oil and gas drilling. These dramatic soundscapes, created for the Polar Soundscapes project, showcase just how busy our oceans are. Dr Geraint Rhys Whittaker, composer and project lead, believes a novel approach may be required to prompt climate action. Yoga benefits our health in many ways, say the yogis, but which claims are backed up by science? Can yoga actually alleviate depression, fix lower-back pain or even reduce cardiovascular disease? Presenter Marnie Chesterton gets into her Lotus (position) and finds out first-hand at a class. Whilst in warrior one, she discusses the potential physical and mental health benefits of this ancient art of stretching, balance and movement with her class teacher. Returning from mat to studio, Marnie puts some of those claims to experts around the globe. She investigates the evidence to find out whether health boosting properties are the key to yoga's enduring popularity. Image Credit: Anthony Wallace Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Harrison Lewis Assistant Producer: Sophie Ormiston

In the early hours of Monday, a powerful earthquake hit Kahramanmaras in Turkey. Nine hours later another struck. When this edition of Science in Action first aired, 19,000 people were reported to have died, but that number was expected to rise. Back in 2016, Professor Asli Garagon and her colleagues accurately predicted that an earthquake of this size was coming. Using GPS, they were monitoring the East Anatolian fault to calculate energy building between the plates. With such accurate insight could Turkey have been better prepared? Ross Stein, seismologist and founder of Temblor, a Californian consultancy that specialises in assessing hazard risk, estimates the plates moved at 5,000 mph. The movement of the plates may have built up pressure in other parts of the country. And finally, Tiziana Rossetto, a civil engineer at University College London, knows better than most that earthquakes do not kill, buildings do. She tells Roland how the combination of earthquakes and subsequent aftershocks appear to have even destroyed buildings that were purposely built to withstand them. Also, Why does the thought of giving a talk to an audience fill so many of us with sheer terror? Marnie Chesterton investigates for listener Nhial, who has seen his fellow students in Morocco become panic stricken at the prospect and wants to know the reason for our anxiety. According to one study, 77 per cent of us share that fear. Marnie finds out about the relationship between stress, our brains and our voices from research associate Dr Maria Dietrich at the University Hospital, Bonn University. She talks to Nhial’s tutor, Professor Taoufik Jaafari, at Hassan II University of Casablanca about the challenges facing his students. And she visits the National Theatre in London to get some expert training from Jeannette Nelson, head of voice, who works with some of the world’s leading actors. Could there be an evolutionary explanation for the purpose of public speaking? Is it something we actually need to be good at? Marnie asks evolutionary psychologist Professor Robin Dunbar at Oxford University and gets some surprising answers. She meets psychologist Dr Preethi Premkumar at London South Bank University, who has developed virtual reality therapy with colleagues at Nottingham Trent University, and tries out the treatment herself. Image: Aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Gaziantep Credit: REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya

Pull on an extra layer and stay toasty whilst Science in Action braces for a deep freeze. Whilst we know plenty about the ice on the Earth’s poles, Roland is on a chilling journey to see what can be found in deep space. Professor Christoph Salzmann and Professor Andrea Sella at University College London have produced a new phase of ice. Roland heads to the laboratory to see how the usual crystalline ice, found in ice cubes and icebergs, can be broken down and arranged into a new structure. The James Webb Space Telescope has detected the coldest ices to date, deep within a molecular cloud in outer space. Professor Melissa McClure describes how these clouds harbour a variety of different molecules potentially capable of forming the basic building blocks for life. From the edges of the universe to something a little closer to home, Professor Geoff Collins and colleagues have discovered odd tectonic plate activity on icy Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. We generate a huge amount of noise, whether it’s our rumbling roads, pumping parties, or talkative tourists. And the topic of noise also generates a lot of questions from our listeners. In this episode we explore three of them, with the help of acoustic scientist Kurt Fristrup and neuropsychologist Catherine Loveday. Listener Dominique finds it hard to experience even one minute of a natural soundscape without some intrusion of human-made noise. He wonders how noise pollution is affecting both the natural world and us humans. We discuss just how noisy our modern world is, and visit a National Park in California to hear how they’re encouraging more peace and quiet there. Meanwhile Michelle, having witnessed her husband wince in pain at the sound of squeaking takeaway boxes, asks why certain noises are particularly unpleasant or even painful to some people. And finally, Jennifer has a sonic mystery for us to solve: why does the time of day make such a difference to the distant noises reaching her remote home?

An outbreak of pathogenic bird flu, H5N1, in a Spanish mink farm could be a cause for concern. Some experts fear the virus may now spill over to other mammals without strict surveillance. Marion Koopmans, professor of virology at Erasmus Medical Centre, talks Roland through the potential risks. India’s caste system affects all aspects of society, but how does the hierarchy influence representation of marginalised groups in academia? Science journalist Ankur Paliwal believes that, despite efforts to combat discrimination, not enough is being done, and he has the data to prove it. Imagine a robot... Is it hard, metallic and humanoid? Professor Carmel Majidi from Carnegie Mellon University and his colleagues are thinking outside the robotics box. Their new material, magnetic in nature, can shift between solid and liquid states. It’s even capable of breaking out of robotic jail... From Lawrence of Arabia to Star Wars via tales of intrepid adventurers traversing lonely sandswept landscapes, deserts have always had a powerful pull on the popular imagination. But if a desert is full of sand, where did all that sand come from in the first place? That’s what CrowdScience listener Andy wants to know, so presenter Caroline Steel heads off into the dunes to try and find out. Along the way she’ll be wondering what a desert is anyway and whether it’s always sandy, as well as tracing the flow of material across the huge, ever-shifting sand seas of the Sahara. From deserts fed by sand from mountains thousands of kilometres away, to dunes migrating across the entire continent of Africa, we’ll discover how sand has just the right properties to be carried along by the wind. We’ll also explore how the sand in every desert has a unique fingerprint, and find out how fish bones in the Sahara tell the story of its lush, green past. Image credit: Ole Jensen/Getty

Climate researcher, Rose Abramoff took to the stage at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meetings, not as a guest speaker but in protest. Whilst her demonstration only lasted 15 seconds, she found her employment terminated from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and research stripped from the AGU programme. She was attempting to persuade other climate scientists to ‘get out of the lab and into the street’. Whilst Rose’s protest hit the headlines in the media, potentially less attention was paid to the session that was taking place at the conference, hosted by Mika Tosca, climate scientist-turn-artist, Associate Professor of Liberal Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Ronald brings the two together to discuss the event and how climate scientists should approach activism. Although there is no one solution to the climate crisis, Roland loves a brainstorm on Science in Action. Climate activist Stuart Capstick, a Cardiff University psychologist specialising in public attitudes to environmental issues and environmental scientist Robert Young from Western Carolina University take the conversation one step further. Questioning how public perceptions of scientists change when they take evasive action and protest. And finally, we usually hear of seismology reports coming from dense, urban areas prone to earthquakes, delicately perched atop of tectonic plates. But this week, Roland speaks to Professor of Geophysics Zhongwen Zhan from the California Institute of Technology, who’s collecting data from a very unusual place... When CrowdScience listener Eric spotted a few gnats flying around on a milder day in mid-winter it really surprised him - Eric had assumed they just died out with the colder weather. It got him wondering where the insects had come from, how they had survived the previous cold snap and what the implications of climate change might be for insect over-wintering behaviour? So he asked CrowdScience to do some bug investigation. CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton takes up the challenge and heads out into the British countryside – currently teeming with buzzes and eight legged tiny beasties - to learn about the quite amazing array of tactics these small creatures use to survive the arduous days of cold. She hears how some insects change their chemical structure to enhance their frost resistance whist others hanker down in warmer microclimates or rely on their community and food stocks to keep them warm. But cold isn’t the only climatic change insects have to endure, in the tropics the seasons tend to fluctuate more around wet and dry so what happens then? Marnie talks with a Kenyan aquatic insect expert who describes how mosquitoes utilise the rains and shares his worry climate change could have a big impact on insect populations.

Flood warnings in parts of California have seen some of the state’s best known celebrities flee their homes. The current weather conditions are in part the result of ‘Atmospheric rivers’ – literally fast flowing rivers of water vapor in the atmosphere. Marty Ralph from the Scripps Institute has been studying this phenomenon for years, he explains what atmospheric rivers are, and tells us how a greater understanding of the phenomenon is now informing weather forecasting and evacuation plans. Over the past year several million people have fled Ukraine, amongst them many scientists. Nataliya Shulga from the Ukraine Science Club is working on a wide ranging initiative to attract them back. She tells us of plans not just to reconstruct Ukrainian science facilities after the war, but to offer a philosophical change which breaks with the Soviet past - a more global, collaborative environment for scientists returning to the Ukraine. Last December the Afghan Taliban banned women from attending university, its just one of the many moves denying education to women since the Taliban returned to power. Particle physicist Kate Shaw had been working with Afghan physicists in the years before the Taliban’s comeback, she is now developing an initiative with scientists and institutions around the world to offer places to Afghan women keen to study physics. She says institutions and individuals who may be able to help should contact Physics without Frontiers at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics. And Gibbons sing with synchronicity, a new study led by Teresa Raimondi, from the University of Turin shows the ability of couples to chorus together to be rather human like. When CrowdScience listener Eric spotted a few gnats flying around on a milder day in mid-winter it really surprised him - Eric had assumed they just died out with the colder weather. It got him wondering where the insects had come from, how they had survived the previous cold snap and what the implications of climate change might be for insect over-wintering behaviour? So he asked CrowdScience to do some bug investigation. CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton takes up the challenge and heads out into the British countryside – currently teeming with buzzes and eight legged tiny beasties - to learn about the quite amazing array of tactics these small creatures use to survive the arduous days of cold. She hears how some insects change their chemical structure to enhance their frost resistance whist others hanker down in warmer microclimates or rely on their community and food stocks to keep them warm. But cold isn’t the only climatic change insects have to endure, in the tropics the seasons tend to fluctuate more around wet and dry so what happens then? Marnie talks with a Kenyan aquatic insect expert who describes how mosquitoes utilise the rains and shares his worry climate change could have a big impact on insect populations. Image Credit: Josh Edelson Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Julian Siddle

We’re taking a look back at the January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, which literally sent shockwaves around the world. One year on, and we’re still uncovering what made the volcano so powerful, as well as unpacking its long lasting impacts. Roland is joined by Professor Shane Cronin from the University of Auckland and Dr Marta Ribó from the Auckland University of Technology to share their findings from their latest trip to survey the volcano. The impacts of the eruption weren’t just felt on Earth – they also reached all the way to space. Physicist Claire Gasque from the University of California, Berkeley, has been analysing how the eruption affected space weather. Amongst all the material ejected by Hunga Tonga was a huge amount of water. The massive water vapour cloud is still present in our atmosphere, as Professor Simon Carn from the Michigan Technological University tells us. The volcano also triggered tsunamis worldwide. Disaster sociologist Dr Sara McBride from the US Geological Survey has been using video footage of the event to analyse how people responded and how we can better prepare for future eruptions. How do we stay up when we ride a bicycle? Lots of us can do it without even thinking about it, but probably very few of us can say exactly HOW we do it. Well, CrowdScience listener Arif and his children Maryam and Mohammed from India want to understand what’s going on in our heads when go for a cycle, and how we learn to do it in the first place. Presenter Marnie Chesterton is on the case, tracking down a neuroscientist studying how our brains and bodies work together to keep us balanced whether we’re walking or trying to ride a bicycle. She learns about the quirks of bicycle engineering from researchers in the Netherlands who are part of a lab entirely devoted to answering this question. In the process falling off of some unusual bicycles and uncovering the surprising truth that physics might not yet have a proper answer. And we peer deeper into our brains to find out why some memories last longer than others, whether some people can learn quicker than others and the best way to learn a new skill. Image Credit: Tonga Geological Services

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has produced amazing images in its first 5 months, but amazing science as well. Roland hears from one of the leading astronomers on the JWST programme, Dr Heidi Hammel, as well as other experts on what they are already learning about the first galaxies in the Universe, the birth places of stars, the strange behaviour of some other stars, and the first view of Neptune's rings in over 30 years. Over the past 12 months, CrowdScience has travelled the world, from arctic glacierscapes to equatorial deserts, to answer listeners’ science queries. Sometimes, the team come across tales that don’t quite fit with the quest in hand, but still draw a laugh, or a gasp. In this show, Marnie Chesterton revisits those stories, with members of the CrowdScience crew. Alex the Parrot was a smart bird, with an impressive vocabulary and the ability to count and do basic maths. He was also intimidating and mean to a younger parrot, Griffin, who didn’t have the same grasp of the English language. Scientist Irene Pepperberg shares the consequence of this work-place bullying.  Take a tour of the disaster room at ICPAC, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) based in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s a new building where scientists keep watch for weird new weather and passes that information to 11 East African countries. Viola Otieno is an Earth Observation (EO) Expert and she explained how they track everything from cyclones to clouds of desert locust. Malcolm MacCallum is curator of the Anatomical Museum at Edinburgh University in Scotland, which holds a collection of death masks and skull casts used by the Edinburgh Phrenological Society. Phrenology was a pseudoscience, popular in the 1820s, where individuals attempted to elucidate peoples’ proclivities and personalities by the shape of their heads. We see what the phrenologists had to say about Sir Isaac Newton and the “worst pirate” John Tardy. While recording on Greenland’s icesheet, the CrowdScience team were told by Professor Jason Box about “party ice.” 40,000 year old glacial ice is a superior garnish for your cocktail than normal freezer ice, apparently. This starts a quest for the perfect Arctic cocktail. Image: An image from the James Webb Space Telescope (Credit: Nasa via PA)

Mosquito pesticide failing - prevention of dengue fever and other diseases at risk. Dangerous bird flu evolving fast - researchers are learning why bird flu is persisting and spreading fast round the world, and assess the threat to humans. Drilling for ancient ice in the Antarctic - Roland talks to one of the team drilling kilometres into an ancient, frozen record of past climate. Martian rock store opens - NASA's Mars Perseverance rover is stashing rock samples future missions could bring back to Earth. Does your mum’s singing make you cringe with embarrassment? Do your dad’s jokes make you want to scream - and not with laughter? Or maybe you are the parent driving your offspring round the bend with rules and curfews? If so, you are not alone. CrowdScience listener Ilixo, age 11, has been wondering why it is that our parents become so annoying as we become teenagers. Is it something that is changing in his brain or are they actually becoming more annoying as they age? Presenter Marnie Chesterton consults our assembled panel of experts to discuss conflict between parents and their offspring. Developmental psychologist Liane Alampay, from the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines, describes how the teenage experience varies around the world. Child and educational psychologist Laverne Antrobus in London says the teenage quest for independence is a normal - and necessary - developmental stage for becoming an adult. And Jennifer Lansford, a Research Professor at Duke University who studies parenting and child development, offers insights into the role peers play. Do not despair! - the panel offers tips for how to keep the peace - whether you’re an argumentative adolescent or a provoking parent. Image credit: Shinji Kasai

Fusion milestone - the science behind the headlines. Laser fusion expert Kate Lancaster walks us through the technology that produced energy gain at the US's National Ignition Facility NIF Whirlwinds on Mars What the sounds of a dust devil passing over NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover tells us about the Martian atmosphere 75 years of the transistor electronics revolution - where next for Moore's Law? December 16th 1947 was the day the first ever transistor device passed an electrical current. Trillions are made every day these days, powering our interconnected world. Roland recalls meeting some of the pioneers for the 50th anniversary, including Gordon Moore, and hears from Berkeley Dean of engineering Tsu-Jae King Liu how the revolution will continue for another 25 years. CrowdScience listener David was sanding down a door frame when he began wondering: Why it was that a rough thing like sandpaper is used to make another thing smoother? And furthermore, why does the process produce so much heat? We try to reduce friction in some cases by using lubricants, whilst at other times like braking at a traffic junction we depend upon friction entirely. Anand Jagatia heads to Edinburgh in Scotland, UK, to meet some true masters of this mysterious force: Curling players. What exactly is friction, and does thinking about it tell us something deeper about the universe?

Two-million-year-old molecular fossils reveal flourishing woodlands and widespread animals in Greenland's pre-Ice-Age past, and give hints to the Arctic’s future under global warming. We hear from a molecular palaeontologist and a climate modeller. DNA also reveals the enduring genetic influence of our extinct Denisovan cousins on disease immunity in modern Island Southeast Asians. And the art and science of 3D-printing violins If your home is drafty, filling in holes and cracks can help tackle rising energy bills, and lower your carbon footprint. But is there a limit to how airtight we should make our homes? That’s what CrowdScience listeners Jeff and Angie wondered when weatherproofing their doors and sealing up cracks for the winter. Once every last gap is blocked, will enough air get in for them to breathe properly? How would they know if they’ve gone too far? With Covid-19 making us more aware than ever of the importance of good ventilation, CrowdScience investigates how to make your home cosy and energy-efficient without sacrificing fresh air in the process. And we find out how, in hotter climates, you can carefully tap into your drafts, to reduce energy-intensive air conditioning. With contributions from Kimble Smith, Professor Nicola Carslaw, Dr Iain Walker, Marion Baeli and Dr Yashkumar Shukla. (Image credit: Beth Zaiken/bethzaiken.com)

Hong Kong health expert Professor Malik Peiris relates the lessons from the devastation there earlier this year. UK virologist Dr Tom Peacock reveals the unusual origins and evolution of omicron, and explains the risks of dangerous new variants. New studies from China are revealing further SARS-like viruses in the wild; Professor Eddie Holmes says they underline the risk of further pandemics. What are the clouds like where you are? When you look upwards can you see great tufts of cotton wool, or do they stretch off into the distance, flat like sheets. Are they dark greys and purples, bringing the promise of rain or maybe there aren’t any at all. For listener John from Lincolnshire in the UK clouds looking up at the clouds is a favourite pastime and he wants to know why they look the way they do and why they are so different from one day to the next. Join Presenter Marnie Chesterton as we turn our gaze skyward to discover what gives clouds their shape. Join us for a cloud spotting mission with Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the cloud appreciation society as he helps us de-code the shapes across the sky to reveal what they can tell us about our atmosphere. Dr Claire Vincent at the University of Melbourne introduces us to one of the superstars of the cloud world, Hector the Convector to explain where thunderstorms come from. And we learn how people like you can help NASA to understand the clouds better with Marilé Colón Robles project scientist at the GLOBE programme. (Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A distant planet's atmosphere - NASA's JWST space telescope has unpicked the chemical contents and state of the atmosphere of planet WASP-39b 700 light years away. Astronomer Hannah Wakeford explains. Earth's atmospheric haze and global warming - meteorologist Laura Wilcox warns that atmospheric haze over China and South Asia is masking some of the effects of global warming. Pregnancy brain fog explained - loss of memory and other mental changes during pregnancy have been traced to structural changes in the brain, possibly due to hormone effects, neuroscientist Elseline Hoekszema speculates. Improving lab coats - every scientist has a lab coat, but how many have one actually fits? Founder of Genius Lab Gear Derek Miller explains the problem and how he's trying to fix it. As someone who dislikes crowds, listener Graham is curious about them. Crowds gather in all sorts of places, from train stations and football matches, to religious events and protest marches. Many of these events are celebratory, but occasionally – such as in Seoul this year – they can become horrific. Is there a science behind how crowds form, move and behave? To find out, CrowdScience presenter Anand Jagatia speaks to some actual crowd scientists. He learns about the psychology of social identity, which influences everything from how close we stand to others to how we react in emergencies. He hears about the algorithm behind the biggest marathons in the world, and how they ensure 50,000 runners move smoothly through a city on race day. And he explores how research into the spread of rioting can help to stop crowds from becoming a mob or a crush, helping us to navigate crowded spaces as safely as possible. Image credit: Melissa Weiss/Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, scientists studying the virus have become targets of online harassment, and more recently, death threats. Roland speaks to Dr Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan, about her experiences. Spyros Lytras, PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow, talks Roland through the evolutionary history of the virus that causes Covid-19 and how there isn’t just one ancestor, but several. Anti-Asian sentiment has seen a big increase since the pandemic. Dr Qian He, Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University, looked into how US-China relations have influenced how Americans view Chinese today. And we hear from scientists on board the RRS Discovery, which is currently located near St Helena and Ascension Island, surveying the health of the surrounding ocean. On board documentary filmmaker Lawrence Eagling talks to Shona Murray, pelagic ecologist from the University of Western Australia, and Gareth Flint, mechanical engineer at British Antarctic Survey, about their work and findings. Why don’t we fall out of bed when we’re asleep? That’s the question that’s been keeping CrowdScience listener Isaac in Ghana awake, and presenter Alex Lathbridge is determined to settle down with some experts and find an answer. Once our sleep experts are bedded in, we’ll also be wondering why some people laugh in their sleep, why others snore and how some people can remember their dreams. And Alex takes a trip to the zoo to meet some animals that have very different sleep patterns to humans. It’s his dream assignment. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Researchers have identified which neurons, when electrically stimulated, can restore the ability to walk in paralysed patients. Professor Jocelyne Bloch, Associate Professor at the Université de Lausanne, tells Roland how the technology works. Astronomers have discovered the closest black hole to Earth. Researchers led by Kareem El-Badry, astrophysicist at Harvard University, identified the celestial body when they spotted a Sun-like star orbiting a dark, dense object. The origins of eels have been mystifying scientists for centuries. Though the Sargasso Sea has been their presumed breeding place for 100 years, there has been no direct evidence of their migration – until now. Ros Wright, Senior Fisheries Technical Specialist at the Environment Agency, shares how researchers finally pinned down these slippery creatures. This week, a new report from the UN Environment Programme reveals that carbon dioxide emissions from building operations have reached an all-time high. Insaf Ben Othmane, architect and co-author of the report, talks through the risks and opportunities this poses for Africa and why there is still hope for the future. After learning how long it will take the Earth's ice sheets to melt in the previous episode, we continue our journey in Greenland. As world leaders gather in Egypt for the annual UN climate conference, listener Johan isn't too optimistic about governments' ability to curb greenhouse gas emissions and get a handle on climate change. So from his coastal perch in Denmark, he's asked where we should live when the poles have melted away and coastlines creep inland. Along with the help of BBC correspondents around the world, Marnie Chesterton scours the globe for the best option for listener Johan's new home. From high-up, cold desert regions to manmade islands, Marnie's on a mission to find a climate-proof destination. But as we hear from climate scientists, we might not be the only ones on the move, and waters aren't going to rise evenly around the world. Can Marnie find a place to go, away from the expanding seas? (Image: Patient with complete spinal cord injury (left) and incomplete spinal cord injury (right) walking in Lausanne. Credit: Jimmy Ravier/NeuroRestore)

The Congo Basin is home to the world’s largest peatland. Simon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science at UCL and the University of Leeds, tells Roland how peatlands all around the world are showing early alarm bells of change. From the boreal Arctic forests to the Amazon, Simon helps us understand how they could action huge change in the climate. Simon is joined by Dr Ifo Averti, Associate Professor in Forest Ecology at Universite Marien Ngouabi in the Congo who helps us understand what this landscape is like. Hurricane Ian, which recently caused devastating damage to Cuba and the United States, may signify a growing trend of increasingly powerful storms. Karthik Balaguru, climate and data scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, explains how climate change is causing hurricanes to rapidly intensify, making them faster and wetter. On Sunday 6th November, COP27 will begin in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Dr Debbie Rosen, Science and Policy Manager at CONSTRAIN, breaks down some of the jargon we might hear throughout the conference. We know the Earth's atmosphere is warming and it's thanks to us and our taste for fossil fuels. But how quickly is this melting the ice sheets, ice caps, and glaciers that remain on our planet? That's what listener David wants to know. With the help of a team of climate scientists in Greenland, Marnie Chesterton goes to find the answer, in an icy landscape that's ground zero in the story of thawing. She discovers how Greenland’s ice sheet is sliding faster off land, and sees that the tiniest of creatures are darkening the ice surface and accelerating its melt. CrowdScience explores what we're in store for when it comes to melting ice. In the lead-up to yet another UN climate conference, we unpack what is contributing to sea level rise – from ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, to melting mountain glaciers and warming oceans. There's a lot of ice at the poles. The question is: how much of it will still be there in the future? Research Professor and climate scientist Jason Box from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland shows us how much ice Greenland we've already committed ourselves to losing, even if we stopped burning all fossil fuels today. His team, including Jakob Jakobsen, show us how these scientists collect all this data that helps feed climate models and helps us all to understand how quickly the seas might rise. Professor Martyn Trantor from Aarhus University helps us understand why a darkening Greenland ice sheet would only add to the problem of melting. And climate scientist Ruth Mottram from the Danish Meteorological Institute breaks down how the ice is breaking down in Antarctica and other glaciers around the world. Image credit: Getty Images

The latest observations from Nasa’s InSight Mars Lander and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have revealed new information on Mars’ interior structure. Dr Anna Horleston, Senior Research Associate in Planetary Seismology at the University of Bristol, talks us through the mars-quakes that provided this data. On the 30th of October, Brazilians will head to the polls to elect their next president. Jeff Tollefson, Senior Reporter at Nature, tells Roland what approach the two candidates – Jair Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – might take towards science and the potential local and global impacts this could have. Humans aren’t the only animals to pick their noses… it turns out primates engage in this habit too. Anne-Claire Fabre, Curator of Mammals at the Duke Lemur Center, tells reporter Vic Gill about the long-fingered aye-ayes having a dig around their noses, and how more research is needed to unpick the reasons behind this behaviour. And producer Robbie Wojciechowski heads to the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton to capture the launch of the RRS Discovery mission to Ascension Island and St Helena. Science In Action will be following the mission over the next 6 weeks as it uncovers new specimens from the deep ocean, as well as surveying the overall health and wellbeing of the ocean around the British Overseas Territory. Record-breaking heatwaves swept across the Earth’s northern hemisphere this summer, with continental Europe, China, the UK and parts of the US all experiencing exceptional temperatures. Listener Geoff in Australia wants to know: Is climate change really responsible or could it just be weather? Marnie Chesterton goes to Kenya, where certain areas of Amboseli have experienced intense drought over the past 5 years. There she meets members of the Masai community who have been farmers for generations. They describe how seasonal rains have successively failed to appear when expected, and explain how this has affected their lives. Marnie asks local people, meteorologists and climate scientists for their take on the year’s hottest debate. (Image: Impression of a rover on the surface of Mars. Credit: Getty Images)

It’s been an unusual week for astronomers, with telescopes swivelled off course to observe GRB221009A, the brightest gamma ray burst ever recorded. Gamma ray bursts aren’t unusual, the by-product of some supernovae are recorded weekly. Whilst the afterglow of these bursts usually lasts hours or days, the aftermath of, what has been dubbed ‘BOAT’, brightest of all time, is expected to linger for years to come. Harvard University’s Edo Berger and Yvette Cendas believe there’s lots to be learnt in the coming months. Back in the primordial oceans, tiny, wriggling worms and shimmering jellyfish invented ever better ways to strip resources from their environment deep in the murky depths. The ability to efficiently take up oxygen from a marine environment acted as a gateway for a dramatic explosion in species diversity. But according to Michael Sackville, Postdoctoral Fellow University of Cambridge and Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, when the gills first appeared they may have carried out a rather different function. Plastics litter our oceans, and after time return to the shores. In order to predict and better understand where these plastic hotspots are, Professor Bhavani Narayanaswamy, Benthic Ecologist for Scottish Association for Marine Science, travels all over the globe to gather data and model these plastic hotspots. In the future, this plastic waste could be broken down by a biological organisms. Chemical biologist Dr Federica Bertocchini at the University of Cantabria has identified enzymes responsible for munching through resilient polymers in waxworms. Why do some people pick up accents without even trying, while others can live in another country for decades without ever losing the sound of their mother tongue? It’s a question that's been bothering CrowdScience listener Monica who, despite 45 years of living in the US, is still answering questions about where her accent is from. Presenter Marnie Chesterton sets off to discover why learning a new language is possible but perfecting the accent is so much harder. Marnie speaks to a linguist about how we learn language and develop our first accent, and what we can - and can't change - about our accents. A phonetician explains to Marnie the difficulty of even hearing sounds that are not from our mother tongue, let alone replicating them. And Marnie enlists some expert help to learn some of the pitch sounds of Japanese – with mixed success. Finally Marnie asks why people so dearly want to change their accents when doing so is such hard work. She hears from a sociolinguist about stereotypes and the impact of accent bias, and Shalu Yadav reports from the front line of Delhi call centres where workers experience prejudice about their accents regularly. (Image: Gamma Rays in Galactic Nuclei. Credit: Getty Images)

Sergiu Pasca, Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University has left the petri dish in the drawer and grown human neurons inside the brains of juvenile rats. Successful connectivity and brain function may allow for more rigorous testing and understanding of neurological conditions, that have until now remained difficult to localise and treat. It’s been a few weeks since NASA’s DART mission smashed into an asteroid in an attempt to budge it off course, kickstarting Earth’s first planetary defence system. Scientists are starting to pour through the data to determine whether or not it worked. Dr Toney Minter, Head of Operations at Green Bank Observatory has been using Green Bank’s radio telescope to keep us updated and track the celestial system. John Ryan, a Senior Research Specialist at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has spent the last three years studying the distinct vocal calls of blue whales. It’s part of a body of work that is unlocking the secretive existence of this endangered species, understanding how they react to the wind and search for food by navigating upwelling currents in the ocean. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live at the poles? Well, now you don’t have to imagine. Celas Marie-Sainte and Moreno Baricevic share their winterover experience, gathering data at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica. Hear what their work entails and ruminate on reflections of 6 months immersed in darkness. And, One in every eight people live with a mental health disorder, so if that’s not you, it’s likely to be a close friend or family member. Despite there being a variety of known treatments, globally the majority of people suffering do not receive any medical support. To see how the discussion around mental health is playing out across the African continent, CrowdScience visits Nairobi, Kenya. Presenter Marnie Chesterton is joined by a live audience and panel of experts - psychiatrist David Ndetei, psychotherapist Reson Sindiyo and mental health journalist Dannish Odongo - to get to the heart of what’s going on in our heads. They discuss issues from taboo and superstition around mental health, to the treatment methods being used in Kenya that the rest of the world should know about. (Image: Axial view of rat brain connectivity. Credit: Getty Images) Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Harry Lewis, Robbie Wojciechowski

For the scientific community, the Nobel Prize announcements are an important part of the yearly science calendar. The award is one of the most widely celebrated and gives us a moment to reflect on some of the leading scientific work taking place around the world. This year’s winners include Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum entanglement. Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless for their work on click chemistry. And Svante Pääbo for his work on sequencing Neanderthal DNA. To understand the science behind the award winners better, we’ve invited a variety of speakers to help us understand their work better. Award winner, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Professor of Chemistry at Stanford, explains the basics behind click chemistry, a practice that has helped us to study molecules and their interactions in living things without interfering with natural biological processes. Mateja Hajdinjak, Postdoctoral Training Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, celebrated alongside her former PhD. tutor, Svante Paabo in Germany this week. We talk to her about his significance in the development of DNA sequencing in ancient humans. And Professor Shohini Ghose of the Institute of Quantum Computing at Waterloo University in Canada joins us to explain the complicated world of quantum entanglement. Also this week, we meet Jessica Thompson, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Yale University, who’s been considering how new parents manage the tricky job of childcare while out on fieldwork. She’s behind a new survey encouraging fellow scientists to consider how to approach the challenge of parental duties differently in the future. Human sexuality comes in many forms, from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. But seeing as homosexuality creates apparent reproductive and evolutionary disadvantages, listener Ahmed from Oslo wants to know: why are some people gay? CrowdScience presenter Caroline Steel examines what science can - and can't - tell us about the role of nature, nurture and evolution in human sexual attraction. She asks a geneticist what we know of the oft-debated 'gay gene', as well as looking into why homosexual men on average have more older brothers than heterosexual men. Caroline looks into the role of nurture with a developmental psychologist to answer a question from a CrowdScience listener from Myanmar. He wonders if the distant relationship he has with his own father has impacted his own feelings of attraction. She also learns about research into a group of people in Samoa who may shed light on the benefits of traditionally non-reproductive relationships for communities as a whole. (Photo: A monument to Nobel Prize founder Alfred Nobel. Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NASA’s latest mission, DART hit the headlines this week after the space agency’s satellite successfully collided with a far off asteroid. The mission acts as a demonstration of Earth’s first planetary defence system. Jon Amos, one of BBC’s Science correspondents, talks Roland through the final moments of the DART satellite. Although the collision was a success, we may have to wait a little longer before we know if the asteroid’s trajectory has been altered… Simone Pirrotta, project manager at the Italian Space Agency, has more to add. His nifty camera system broke away 10 days before DART’s collision, ensuring its own survival. This celestial drive by is guaranteed to provide scientific data to get excited about. Also this week, we visit the China Kadoorie Biobank. Twenty years in the making, it houses a collection of over half a million genetic samples, which might help identify links between our own genetic compositions and illness. Roland Pease visited them in Oxford to find out more. Finally, a new review describes the use of mercury by ancient Mayans. The metal is famous for its use across a plethora of civilizations throughout history. Andrea Sella from University College London, tells Roland how his favourite element underpins industrialisation across the ages and the globe. There are over 30,000 species of fish – that’s more than all the species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals combined. But despite the sheer diversity of life on Earth, we still tend to think of all fish in roughly the same way: with an oblong scaly body, a tail and pairs of fins. Why? And is that really the case? Crowdscience listener and pet fish-owner Lauria asked us to dive into the depths of this aquatic world to investigate why fish are shaped the way they are. Featuring fossils, flippers and plenty of fish, presenter Anand Jagatia makes a splash exploring the fascinating story of fish evolution, how they came to be such a different shape from mammals and even how some mammals have evolved to be more like fish. Image: An illustration of the DART spacecraft headed toward its target Credit: NASA/John Hopkins APL

The first license of its kind has been granted for deep-sea mining. It will be used to run early tests to see whether the seabed could be good place to harvest rare earth materials in the future. These earth minerals are what powers much of our modern technology, and the demand is growing year on year. The license raises ethical questions about whether anyone has ownership over the seabed, and whether we could be disrupting ecosystems under the sea in doing so. We have two experts joining us to discuss the scientific implications. They are marine biologist, Dr Helen Scales and Bramley Murton from the National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton University. Also on the programme, we build on last week’s discussion about growing opportunities for researchers on the African continent. We look at how programmes of genomic sequencing are offering opportunities for Africa-based researchers, that haven’t been available before. We talk to Thilo Kreuger, a PhD student at Curtin University, Western Australia, who’s behind the discovery of a whole new species of carnivorous plants. We discuss what it’s like fulfilling a lifelong dream to discover more about these spectacular plant species. Crowdscience listener Alix has a burning question - what’s actually happening inside the flames of a campfire to make it glow? And why do some materials burn easily, while others refuse to light at all? Why don’t some things burn? Alex Lathbridge travels to the Fire Research Centre at the University of Edinburgh to (safely) set various things ablaze. He learns about the fundamentals of fire and why things react differently to heat. He then heads to archives of the Royal Institution of London, to see an invention from the 19th century that can stop a fireball in its tracks: the miner’s safety lamp, which saved countless lives. And he speaks to a chemist about the science of flame retardants, and how even though they can make products less flammable, they may also have unintended consequences. (Image: The Metals Company plans to mine the seafloor for these nodules containing nickel, cobalt, and manganese in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

A new report by the World Weather Attribution consortium demonstrates the impact of global warming on flooding in Pakistan. The consortium are helping to assess the link between humanitarian disasters and global change, faster than ever before. The work, conducted by a team of statisticians, climate experts, and local weather experts, is part of an emerging field in science called Extreme Event Attribution, and can reliably provide assessments in the immediate aftermath of an extreme weather event The report follows widescale flooding in Pakistan that has disrupted the lives of over 33 million people. Dr. Friederike Otto from the Grantham Institute for Climate Change explains some of the network’s conclusions as to the causes behind this devastating flood. Can it all be down to climate change? Also this week, we speak to Prof Oyewale Tomori of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, who writes in this week’s journal Science about what he believes African countries’ role should be in response to the Monkeypox pandemic, and how future academic work in the area should be more homegrown. Finally, psychologist Lynda Boothroyd talks us through a new study about how the arrival of television in people’s lives can help shape unhealthy and negative perceptions of body image. The study, conducted in Nicaragua, amongst communities only recently connected to electricity supplies, is helping to show how the media could play a part in contributing to conditions like eating disorders. Laugh and the world laughs with you, or so you might think. But watch any good comedian on TV by yourself and chances are you’ll laugh a lot less than if you were sitting in a lively comedy crowd watching the same comedian in the flesh. But why is that? Is there such a thing as herd laughter? And do people from different cultures and corners of the world all laugh at the same things and in the same way? These are questions raised by CrowdScience listener Samuel in Ghana who wonders why he’s always cracking up more easily than those around him. Presenter Caroline Steel digs into whether it’s our personality, the people around us, or the atmosphere of the room that determines how much we giggle, following neuroscience and ergonomics on a global trail in search of a good laugh. (Image: Pakistani people move to a safer place due to flooding. Credit: Jan Ali Laghari/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Early humans and Neanderthals had similar-sized brains but around 6 million years ago something happened that gave us the intellectual edge. The answer may lie in a tiny mutation in a single gene that meant more neurons could develop in a crucial part of the brain. Post-doctoral research scientist at the Max Plank Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Anneline Pinson, did the heavy lifting on the research under the supervision of Wieland Huttner. They discuss with Roland how this finding offers a major development in our understanding of the evolutionary expansion of the all-important neocortex area of the brain. A central aspect of what it is to be human and how we use our intelligence is to care for one another. A burial site in Borneo from tens of thousands of years ago gives us fresh insights into how advanced our capacity to care was, millennia before the establishment of stable communities and agricultural life. Remains uncovered by a team of archaeologists from Australia have found one of the first examples of complex medical surgery. Finally, moving to a carbon-neutral society will involve developing huge battery potential, but that comes with its own environmental and social problems. Could a solution be found in the exoskeleton of crabs? Mathematics and our ability to describe the world in terms of number, shape and measurement may feel like a uniquely human ability. But is it really? Listener Mamadu from Sierra Leone wants to know: can animals count too? CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton goes on a hunt to uncover the numerical abilities of the animal kingdom. Can wild lions compare different numbers? Can you teach bees to recognise and choose specific amounts? And if the answer is yes, how do they do it? Marnie tries to find out just how deep the numerical rabbit hole goes… and comes across a parrot named Alex who is perhaps the most impressive example of animal counting of them all. (Image: Getty Images)

Hot on the tail of China’s heatwave comes the other side of the extreme coin – tragic flooding. Also, a coming global shortage of sulfur, while scientists produce useful oxygen on Mars in the MOXIE experiment. Prof Chunzai Wang is the Director of the State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography in Guangzhou, China. He tells Roland about the surprising nature of the extreme temperatures and droughts much of China has been experiencing, and how they are connected to so many of the record-breaking weather events around the northern hemisphere this summer, including the tragic flooding in Pakistan. Some people of course saw this coming. Richard Betts of the UK Met Office talks of a paper by one of his predecessors published 50 years ago exactly that pretty much predicted the greenhouse gas-induced climate change more or less exactly. Clearly, the world needs to cut carbon emissions, and oil and coal would be sensible places to start. But as Prof Mark Maslin points out, this will come with its own consequences in terms of pressure on the industrial supply of sulfur and sulfuric acid, essential to so many other devices and processes. Can a shortage be averted? And scientists working on Nasa’s Mars Perseverance team report more results this week. Alongside all the sensitive instrumentation aboard, an experiment known as MOXIE was somehow squeezed in to demonstrate the principle of electrolyzing Martian carbon dioxide to produce usable oxygen gas. As Michael Hecht explains, the tech is scalable and would be more or less essential to any viable human trip to Mars in the future. (Image: The Jialing River bed at the confluence with the Yangtze River is exposed due to drought in August 2022 in Chongqing, China. The water level of the Jialing River, one of the tributaries of the Yangtze River, has dropped due to high temperature and drought. Credit: Zhong Guilin/VCG via Getty Images) Presenter: Roland Pease Assistant Producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Producer: Alex Mansfield

The Jezero Crater on Mars was targeted by Nasa’s Perseverence rover because from orbit, there was strong evidence it had at some point contained a lake. When the Mars 2020 mission landed, it didn’t take long to spot rocks protruding from the bottom that looked for all the world like sedimentary rocks – implying they were laid down from the liquid water and maybe perhaps even contain signs of past life. This week, the science team have published some of their analysis from the first 9 months of the mission. And, as Principal Scientist Kenneth Farley of Caltech tells Science In Action, the geology is clearly more complex, as it turns out they are igneous, perhaps resulting from subsequent volcanic activity. Back on earth, Shane Cronin of the University of Auckland has been digging into the legend of the Kuwea volcano in Vanuatu. Folk tales have long talked of an inhabited island that once disappeared beneath the sea. Over the years some have linked these and the submarine caldera with an eruption that occurred in 1452, yet the evidence has been debated. But the Hunga-Tonga eruption earlier this year has shifted Shane’s perception of the evidence. As he describes, he now suspects the 1452 eruption was as much as 5-7 times bigger in magnitude, and likely preceded by smaller eruptions that could fit with some of the legends surrounding the story. This type of evidence, interpreted from the testimony of those who live there, is increasingly being employed in conservation studies. Heidi Ma of ZSL in London and colleagues this week declared in Royal Society Open Science, the Dugong – a relative of the manatee - is now functionally extinct in Chinese waters, but they reached this conclusion from interviewing hundreds of individuals in fishing communities along that coast. And very few of them had ever seen one. When CrowdScience listener Eric spotted a few gnats flying around on a milder day in mid-winter, he was really surprised - as surely insects die off in the cold? It got him wondering where the gnats had come from and how they'd survived the previous cold snap. So he asked CrowdScience to do some bug investigation. Presenter Marnie Chesterton takes up the challenge and heads out into the British countryside – currently teeming with buzzes and tiny beasties - to learn about the quite amazing array of tactics these small creatures use to survive the arduous days of cold. She hears how some insects change their chemical structure to enhance their frost resistance whist others hunker down in warmer microclimates or rely on their community and food stocks to keep them warm. Marnie also asks how climate change might be affecting insect over-wintering behaviour - and its implications for the lives of these crucially important organisms. (Image: Jezero Crater. Credit: Getty Images)

East Africa has endured more than two years on continuous drought. The latest predictions suggest the drought is not likely to end any time soon. We look at why climate change and weather patterns in the Pacific and Indian oceans are largely to blame. Andrea Taschetto, chief investigator at the Centre on Climate Extremes at the University of New South Wales discusses the latest predictions Drought has also been an issue in Europe, comparable with events nearly 500 years ago. Chantal Camenisch at the Institute of History at Bern University in Switzerland has been delving into European drought history and says despite the vast differences in living conditions there are many parallels with today. When a dinosaur killing asteroid hit the earth did it have company? A suspected impact crater discovered off the coast of West Africa may have been caused at around the same time . Heriot Watt University geostratigrapher Uisdean Nicholson and University of Texas geologist Sean Gulick have been investigating. And we have some of the answers to why T Rex had such small eyes for the size of its skull, Stephan Lautenschlager at the University of Birmingham has the gruesome answer. Also, Have you ever wondered why waterfalls appear white when still water is transparent? Why clouds, or snow, appear white when they too are essentially just water molecules in different states? What makes something white, opaque or transparent? These are the questions CrowdScience listener Gerardo has been pondering ever since taking in the beauty of fallen water on a hiking trail in his home of Cantabria, Northern Spain. Presenter Marnie, sets off on a quest to find out the answers to all of those questions and more. What even is white? Is it a colour, the absence of colour or all the colours of the rainbow combined? Is black really the opposite of white? And what colours do we mix to make white or black paint? Image: Woman carrying water in drought, Kenya Credit: Getty Images

We talk to volcano scientist Ed Marshall in Iceland about working at the volcano which has burst into life spectacularly again after a year of quiet. Also in the programme, we'll be following migrating moths across Europe in light aircraft to discover the remarkable secrets of their powers of navigation, and hearing how synthetic biology promises to create smarter and more adaptable genetically engineered crops. Imagine waking up to the smell of freshly baked bread. Doesn’t it make your mouth water? Now imagine the smell of a fish market on a warm day… still feeling hungry? CrowdScience listener Thanh from Vietnam is intrigued by the effects of smell on our appetite, and wants to know whether certain aromas can make us feel more full than others. Never averse to a food-based challenge, presenter Anand Jagatia takes us on a journey from the nose to the brain, where we find out what exactly happens when we get a whiff of various foods. He discovers how the digestive system prepares for a meal and the extent to which our stomach has a say in whether or not we want to eat, based on how appetizing the smells are around us. Anand also explores our cultural differences. In some parts of the world a stinky Limburger cheese is considered a delicacy, while in other places it could make people lose their lunch. We’ll find out why some of us get triggered in different ways than others. (Image: Lava spews from the volcano in Fagradalsfjall. Credit: Getty Images)

This week two research groups announced that they have made synthetic mouse embryos that developed brains and beating hearts in the test tube, starting only with embryonic stem cells. No sperm and eggs were involved. Previously, embryos created this way have never got beyond the stage of being a tiny ball of cells. These embryos grew and developed organs through 8 days – more than a third of the way through the gestation period for a mouse. Roland Pease talks to the leader of one of the teams, developmental biologist Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz of Cambridge University and Caltech about how and why they did this, and the ethical issues around this research. Also in the programme: the latest research on how we spread the SARS-CoV-2 virus when we breathe. Infectious disease researcher Kristen Coleman of the University of Maryland tells us about her experiments that have measured the amounts of virus in the tiny aerosol particles emanating from the airways of recently infected people. The results underscore the value of mask-wearing and effective ventilation in buildings. We also hear about new approaches to vaccines against the virus – Kevin Ng of the Crick Institute in London talks about the possibility of a universal coronavirus vaccine based on his research, and immunologist Akiko Iwasaki of Yale University extolls the advantages of nasal vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. From dumping raw sewage into rivers to littering the streets with our trash, humans don’t have a great track record when it comes to dealing with our waste. It’s something that CrowdScience listener and civil engineer Marc has noticed: he wonders if humans are particularly prone to messing up our surroundings, while other species are instinctively more hygienic and well-organised. Are we, by nature, really less clean and tidy than other animals? Farming and technology have allowed us to live more densely and generate more rubbish - maybe our cleaning instincts just aren’t up to the vast quantities of waste we spew out? CrowdScience digs into the past to see if early human rubbish heaps can turn up any answers. We follow a sewer down to the River Thames to hear about The Great Stink of Victorian London; turn to ants for housekeeping inspiration; and find out how to raise hygiene standards by tapping into our feelings of disgust and our desire to follow rules. (Image: Stem cell built mouse embryo at 8 days. Credit: Zernicka-Goetz Lab)

In the last week, teams of astronomers have rushed to report ever deeper views of the universe thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. These are galaxies of stars more than 13.5 billion light years from us and we see them as they were when the universe was in its infancy, less than 300 million years after the Big Bang. As University of Texas astronomer Steve Finkelstein tell us, there are some real surprises in these glimpses of the cosmic dawn. The super-distant galaxy that Steve's group has identified is named after his daughter Maisie. Also in the programme: a 550 million year old fossil which is much the oldest representative of a large group of animals still with us today. The early jellyfish relative lived at a time known as the Ediacaran period when all other known complex organisms were weird, alien-looking lifeforms with no surviving descendants. Roland Pease talks palaeontologist Frankie Dunn at the University of Oxford who's led the study of Auroralumina attenboroughii. Did the cultural invention of romantic kissing five thousand years ago lead to the spread of today's dominant strain of the cold sore virus (Herpes simplex 1) across Europe and Asia? That's the hypothesis of a team of virologists and ancient DNA experts who've been studying viral DNA remnants extracted from four very old teeth. Cambridge University's Charlotte Houldcroft explains the reasoning. And, if a tree falls in a forest and no-one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? This is an age-old debate that listener Richard and his family have been arguing about for years. Can CrowdScience settle it once and for all? Caroline Steel speaks to experts in hearing, biology, philosophy, physics and sound design, which takes her to some unexpected places. Professor Stefan Bleek is an expert in psychoacoustics who says that sounds only exist in our heads. Dr Eleanor Knox and Dr Bryan Roberts are philosophers that make her question if anything exists outside our own perception. Professor Lilach Hadany wonders if it’s limited to humans and animals - could other plants hear the falling tree too? And Mat Eric Hart is a sound designer who says that sound is subjective – it’s always tangled up with our own interpretations. Things get truly weird as we delve into the strange implications of quantum physics. If there is such a thing as reality, doesn’t it change when we’re there to observe it? Does the tree even fall if we aren’t there? Image: Maisie's Galaxy aka CEERSJ141946.35-525632.8. Credit: CEERS Collaboration

The extreme heat wave in western Europe over the last couple of weeks is just one of many in the Northern Hemisphere in 2022. How is global warming changing the atmosphere to make heat waves more frequent and more intense? We talk to climatologists Hannah Cloke, Friederike Otto and Efi Rousi. If we want to stabilise global warming to two degrees by the end of the century, how are we going to do that? One novel idea is to harness the world's vast railway infrastructure and equip freight and passenger trains with an additional special wagon or two. These extra cars would be designed to suck carbon dioxide out of the air, liquify it and transport it to sequestration sites. Critically all the energy to capture the carbon dioxide comes free from regenerative braking on the trains. University of Toronto chemist Geoff Ozin and Eric Bachman, founder of the start-up CO2 Rail, explain the vision. On the 40th anniversary of the International Whaling Commissions announcing an end to commercial whaling, we hear from Greenpeace co-founder Rex Weyler about the high seas campaign in the 1970s that helped prevent the extinction of the great whales. He talks about the contribution to the cause made by the discovery of whale song, and the release of humpback whale recordings as a commercial disc. And, you have probably experienced an ‘earworm’ - a catchy bit of music that plays round and round in your head and won’t go away – at least for a short while. But why did it pop up in the first place and how did it get stuck? CrowdScience listener Ryota in Japan wants us to dig into earworms, so presenter Datshiane Navanayagam bravely puts on her headphones to immerse herself in the world of sounds that stick. She meets with a composer of children’s songs as well as music psychologists to find out if there is a special formula to creating catchy songs and probes if this musical brain quirk serves any useful purpose. Datshiane then explores whether some people are more prone to catching earworms than others. Finally, for those who find this phenomenon disturbing - she asks is there a good way of getting rid of them? Come join us down the audio wormhole - disclaimer - the BBC is not responsible for any annoying earworms caused by this broadcast. (Image: Firefighter trucks burning during a wildfire on the Mont d'Arrees, outside Brasparts, western France, 19 July 2022. Credit: LOIC VENANCE/ AFP via Getty Images)

Roland Pease talks to two astronomers who began working on the James Webb Space Telescope more than two decades ago and have now seen the first spectacular results of their labours. Marcia Rieke of the University of Arizona and JWST's senior project scientist John Mather discuss the highlights of the first four images. Also in the programme, geologists discover precisely where on the Red Planet the most ancient Martian meteorite came from - we speak to Anthony Lagain whose detective work identified the crater from which the rock was ejected into space. And what causes vast areas of the Indian Ocean to glow with strange light - a rare and mysterious phenomenon known as 'milky seas'? The world is a step closer to understanding this centuries' old maritime enigma thanks to the crew of a yacht sailing south of Java, atmospheric scientist Steven Miller and marine microbiologist Kenneth Nealson. We are running out of ammunition against certain infections, as bacteria increasingly evade the antibiotics we’ve relied on for nearly a century. Could bacteriophages – viruses that hunt and kill bacteria – be part of the solution? In 2019, CrowdScience travelled to Georgia where bacteriophages, also known as phages, have been used for nearly a hundred years to treat illnesses ranging from a sore throat to cholera. Here we met the scientists who have kept rare phages safe for decades, and are constantly on the look-out for new ones. Phages are fussy eaters: a specific phage will happily chew on one bacteria but ignore another, so hunting down the right one for each infection is vital. Since then, we’ve lived through a pandemic, the medical landscape has been transformed, and interest in bacteriophages as a treatment option is growing throughout the world. We turn to microbiologist Professor Martha Clokie for updates, including the answer to listener Garry’s question: could phages help in the fight against Covid-19?

Following a bout of Covid-19, a significant number of people suffer with weeks or months of 'brain fog' - poor concentration, forgetfulness, and confusion. This is one of the manifestations of Long Covid. A team of scientists in the United States has now discovered that infection in the lung can trigger an inflammatory response which then causes patterns of abnormal brain cell activity. It’s the kind of brain cell dysregulation also seen in people who experience cognitive problems following chemotherapy for cancer. Also in the programme, the latest discoveries about the asteroid Bennu from the Osiris Rex mission, how Malayasian farmers led US researchers to a botanical discovery, and a new explanation for why dinosaurs took over the world 200 million years ago. Artists can conjure up people, cities, landscapes and entire worlds using just a pencil or a paintbrush. But some of us struggle to draw simple stick figures or a circle that’s actually round. CrowdScience listener Myck is a fine artist from Malawi, and he’s been wondering if there’s something special about his brain that has turned him into an artist. It’s a craft that combines visionary ideas with extraordinary technical skill, but where does that all come from? Do artists have different brains from non-artists? What is it that makes someone a creative person, while others are not? And is artistic ability innate, or is it something you can learn? Presenter Marnie Chesterton goes on a colourful journey into the mind to find out how artistic people see the world differently. (Image: System of neurons with glowing connections. Credit: Getty Images)

Audio for this episode was updated on 8th July. A new analysis of deaths in cities across Latin America suggests rising global temperatures could lead to large numbers of deaths in the region and elsewhere in the world. Even a 1-degree rise in extreme heat can add 6% to the risk of dying. Lead researcher Josiah Kephart at Drexel University tells Roland Pease the lessons from Latin America should apply to cities across the global south. Brazilian ecologist Andreas Meyer talks about the troubling prospects for the health of ecosystems, particularly in tropical regions, if the world does not cut its fossil fuel emissions hard and fast in the next few years. In the USA, a team of engineers and neurosurgeons are developing a radical new approach for targeted pain relief – in the first instance, for patients recovering from surgery. It’s a flexible implant that wraps around a nerve and cools it to prevent it from transmitting pain signals. What’s more, says bioengineer John Rogers, the implant is made of a material designed to have dissolved safely into the body by the time its pain-killing work is done. Geologist Bob Hazen has spent more than a decade producing a new classification system for the 5,700 minerals known to exist on the Earth. It improves on the pre-existing scheme by taking into account the myriad ways that many minerals have come into being. He tells Roland that this new way of categorising minerals lays bare a 4.5 billion-year history of remarkable chemical and biological creativity. And, Hair is an important part of our identities – straight, frizzy, long, not there at all – and our efforts to keep it styled and clean have created an $80 billion hair care industry. Many products offer to improve the life of the stuff on our heads, but isn't it all just dead protein? CrowdScience listener Toria wants to know what 'healthy' hair really means. To untangle the science behind hair, we zoom in to see how hair grows from the follicles in our scalp and explore how the hair growth process will change over our lifetimes. Changes in our hair and disorders affecting the scalp can often have emotional impacts on our lives, as presenter Marnie Chesterton learns from a dermatologist who specialises in hair issues. Having been on a journey with her own hair in recent years following chemotherapy, Marnie is ready for a new 'do and ventures to the hair salon to find out about the health of her own hair. Meanwhile, another CrowdScience listener, Lucy, wonders why humans lost hair (or fur) on most of our bodies when most other mammals are covered in the stuff. A biological anthropologist who studies not only why hair became concentrated on our heads, but also why there's so much diversity in hair types across humans, unpacks the evolutionary benefits. Does different hair need different care? And when it comes to shampoo, conditioner, washing, blowdrying and dyeing, what should we be doing to keep our hair structure sound? As we learn about this strange, non-living feature of our bodies, Marnie finds a new appreciation for the "dead strands of protein sticking out of our skin". And with listener Toria's help and advice, she also finds a new shade for her chemo-curled locks. (Image: Rio de Janeiro City. Credit: Pintai Suchachaisri/Getty Images)

Researchers have discovered a species of bacteria which dwarfs all others by thousands of times. Normally you need a microscope to see single-celled bacteria, but Thiomargarita magnifica is the length and width of an eyelash. It's been found growing in mangrove swamps in the Caribbean. Roland Pease talks to Jean Marie Volland about what makes this Godzilla of the microbial world extra-special. Also in the programme, a new study published in the journal Nature has discovered that women scientists are less likely than their male peers to be credited for their contributions to research projects. Roland discusses the findings with the study leader Julia Lane of New York University and nanoscientist Shobhana Narasimhan in Bangalore. We also find out about the oldest evidence for wildfires on the planet which raged across the land 430 million years ago, with palaeobotanist Ian Glasspool. And Edinburgh University vertebrate palaeontologist Steve Brusatte talks about some of the evolutionary wonders in his new book The Rise and Reign of the Mammals. Death is inevitable, though many of us would rather not dwell on it. For those with a terminal illness, however, the end of life is clearly a more pressing reality. CrowdScience listener Sam has known for a while that her illness is terminal, and by now she’s got used to the idea. But she finds many friends and family would rather avoid the subject at all costs; they don’t want to acknowledge what’s happening until it’s all over. She’s wondering if there’s a way to lighten up the topic of her approaching death, and create the openness she craves. If we could learn to be more accepting of illness and dying, the end of life could be a more positive experience for all involved. So how can we face up to the impending death of a loved one, and best support that person in the process? In search of answers, we talk a clinical psychologist about death anxiety, visit a death café, and learn about a scheme in India where whole communities are trained in caring for people at the end of life. (Image: Thiomargarita magnifica. © The Regents of the University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

Thirty years ago, world leaders met at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio and appeared to commit to action to tackle two of the world's greatest environmental threats. The Earth Summit launched the UN Climate Change Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Science in Action assesses their success by talking to atmospheric scientist Sir Bob Watson, a former chair of the International Panel of Climate Change, and to Tom Oliver, professor of applied ecology at the University of Reading. Arctic zoologist Kristin Laidre tells us about the identification of an unique population of polar bears in Southeast Greenland. The bears’ unusual habitat and means of survival may make them more resilient to the loss of sea ice as the Arctic region continues to warm. Finally, archaeo-geneticist Maria Spyrou talks about her team’s detective work which points to an area of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia as the likely source of the 14th Century Black Death pandemic. What is a quantum computer? Every year, new computers are being developed that are faster and smarter than ever before. But if you really want to take things to the next level, you have got to go quantum. CrowdScience listener Atikah in Hungary likes the sound of a quantum computer but wants to know what exactly is it, what can it do that a normal computer cannot, and how soon can he get hold of one? The digital devices in our everyday lives - from laptop computers to smartphones - are all based on 0s and 1s: so-called ‘bits’. But quantum computers are based on ‘qubits’ - the quantum 0s and 1s that are altogether stranger, but also more powerful. CrowdScience presenter Alex Lathbridge picks the brains of quantum scientists to find out how these ‘qubits’ allow computers to perform calculations millions of times faster than normal - and discovers how much of the theory is being used in reality. While quantum computers do exist, they are not yet big enough or stable enough to be really useful. Alex visits a working quantum computer to understand what they can do right now, and why it’s so incredibly difficult to scale them up. He hears from the engineers racing to overcome the obstacles and unlock the potential of these mega-powerful systems. But once the engineering problems are solved, what then? What should we do when the first really powerful quantum computer comes online? We explore the exciting range of possible applications - from helping create new drugs, to making electric batteries much more efficient and maybe even helping farmers fertilize their crops for a fraction of the price. Presenters: Roland Pease and Alex Lathbridge Producers: Andrew Luck-Baker and Cathy Edwards (Photo: Earth Summit In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, 2 June, 1992 Credit: Antonio Ribeiro/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images)

Researchers have developed a medical imaging technique which reveals where in the body HIV lies hidden, even when people have their infection well controlled by antiviral drugs. The team at the University of California, San Francisco hope this will lead to better treatments and even cures for HIV. As Timothy Henrich told us, they are also going to use the technique to investigate the notion that Long Covid is caused by the coronavirus persisting deep in the body's tissues. Also in the programme, Roland Pease reports from the vast particle accelerator in Switzerland where the famous Higgs particle was discovered ten years ago. The scientists there are preparing to begin experiments with an upgraded Large Hadron Collider to learn more about the particle and the fundamental nature of the Universe. Roland also talks to Frank Close, physicist and author of 'Elusive' - a new biography of Peter Higgs, a scientist as elusive as the particle named after him. Finally an international team of archaeologists have revised the ancient history of the chicken, with a new programme of radiocarbon dating and analysis of buried bird bones. Humanity's relationship with the bird began much more recently than some researchers have suggested. Naomi Sykes of Exeter University and Greger Larson of Oxford University tell Roland when, where and how the domestication began and how the birds spread from Southeast Asia to the rest of the world. And, Humans can walk for miles, solve problems and form complex relationships on the energy provided by three meals a day. That's a lot of output for a fairly modest input. Listener Charlotte from the UK wants to know: how are we so efficient? And how does human efficiency compare to that of machines? CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton pits her energetic wits against everything from cars to wheelchairs to find out how she shapes up. Cars can travel many hundreds of kilometres a day if you give them a couple of tanks of fuel. But the only fuel Marnie needs to walk to work is a cup of coffee. She gets experts to help her work out who does the most efficient job. Marnie also explores whether humans are born equal when it comes to fuel efficiency. Does the energy from one banana get converted into the same amount of movement from person to person? And how does she compare to an Olympic athlete? Marnie gets put through her paces to find out how efficient she really is. Image: VRCPET body scan reveals HIV's hideouts Credit: Timothy Henrich / University of California, San Francisco

Should we worry about the most recent Omicron subvariants, BA 4 and BA5? They are the subtypes of the Covid-19 virus now dominant in southern Africa and spreading elsewhere. New research suggests that they are better at evading our antibody defences than other forms of the virus. Columbia University virologist David Ho explains the findings and what they means for us. Also, reducing air pollution makes agricultural crops grow better, how large wildfires warm the upper atmosphere, and the dolphins in the Red Sea which use secretions from corals and sponges as preventative medicines. This week’s CrowdScience is dedicated to bodily fluids – and why humans spend so much time spraying them all over the place. From snot and vomit to sweat and sneezes, listeners have been positively drenching our inbox with queries. Now presenter Marnie Chesterton and a panel of unsqueamish expert guests prepare themselves to wade through… One listener has found that as he ages, bright light seems to make him sneeze more and more – with his current record sitting at 14 sneezes in a row. He’d like to know if light has the same effect on other people and why? Sticking with nasal fluids, another listener wants to know why she’s always reaching for a tissue to blow her endlessly dripping nose and yet her family seem to produce hardly any snot at all. Could it be because she moved from a hotter climate to a colder one? CrowdScience reveals the answers to these and other sticky questions… if you can find the stomach to listen. Image Description: Coronavirus COVID-19 virus Credit: Getty Images

This week Science in Action comes from a vast gathering of earth scientists in Vienna, at the general assembly of the European Geosciences Union. Roland Pease hears the latest insights into the cataclysmic eruption of Hunga Tonga in the Pacific ocean from volcanologist Shane Cronin of the University of Auckland. He also talks to NASA's Michael Way about how the planet Venus might have acquired its hellish super-greenhouse atmosphere, and how the same thing could happen to planet Earth. There’s intriguing research from geologist John Tarduno of the University of Rochester that hints of a link between the ups and downs of the Earth’s magnetic field and the evolutionary history of animals. Fraser Lott of the UK's Hadley Centre explains his ideas for calculating an individual person's responsibility for climate change-driven extreme weather events. And ... On Crowd Science, why can't I find gold in my back yard? If you go outside with a spade and start digging, the chances are you won't find any gold. You might get lucky or just happen to live in a place where people have been finding gold for centuries. But for the most part, there'll be none. But why is that? Why do metals and minerals show up in some places and not others? It's a question that's been bothering CrowdScience listener Martijn in the Netherlands, who has noticed the physical effects of mining in various different places while on his travels. It’s also a really important question for the future – specific elements are crucial to modern technology and renewable energy, and we need to find them somewhere. Marnie Chesterton heads off on a hunt for answers, starting in a Scottish river where gold can sometimes be found. But why is it there, and how did it get there? Marnie goes on a journey through the inner workings of Earth's geology and the upheaval that happens beneath our feet to produce a deposit that’s worth mining. On the way she discovers shimmering pools of lithium amongst the arid beauty of the Atacama Desert, meets researchers who are blasting rocks with lasers and melting them with a flame that’s hotter than the surface of the sun, and heads to the bottom of the ocean to encounter strange potato-sized lumps containing every single element on Earth. And maybe, just maybe, she’ll also find gold. Image: Multi-beam sonar map of Hunga Tonga volcano post-eruption Credit: Shane Cronin/Uni of Auckland/Tonga Geological Services Presented by Roland Pease and Marnie Chesterton Report by Jane Chambers Produced by Andrew Luck-Baker and Ben Motley

Tree mortality in tropical moist forests in Australia has been increasing since the mid 1980s. The death rate of trees appears to have doubled over that time period. According to an international team of researchers, the primary cause is drier air in these forests, the consequence of human-induced climate change. According to ecologist David Bauman, a similar process is likely underway in tropical forests on other continents. Also in the programme: the outbreaks of monkeypox in Europe and North America… Could SARS-CoV-2 infection lingering in the gut be a cause of Long Covid? News of a vaccine against Epstein Barr virus, the cause of mononucleosis, various cancers and multiple sclerosis. Digging and excavating are bywords for archaeology. But why does history end up deep under our feet? This question struck CrowdScience listener Sunil in an underground car park. Archaeological remains found during the car park’s construction were displayed in the subterranean stairwells, getting progressively older the deeper he went. How had these treasures become covered in so much soil over the centuries? CrowdScience visits Lisbon, the capital of Portugal – and home to the above-mentioned multi-storey car park. The city has evidence of human habitation stretching back into prehistory, with remnants of successive civilisations embedded and jumbled up below today’s street level. Why did it all end up like this? Human behaviour is one factor, but natural processes are at work too. Over at Butser Ancient Farm, an experimental archaeology site in the UK, we explore the myriad forces of nature that cover up – or expose - ancient buildings and artefacts over time. Image: Credit: Getty Images

The heaviest thing in the Galaxy has now been imaged by the biggest telescope on Earth. This is Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy – a gas and star-consuming object, a 4 million times the mass of the Sun. The Event Horizon Telescope is not one device but a consortium of radio telescopes ranging from the South Pole to the Arctic Circle. Their combined data allowed astronomers to focus in on this extreme object for the first time. Astronomer Ziri Younsi from University College London talks to Roland Pease about the orange doughnut image causing all the excitement. Also in the programme… Climatologist Chris Funk talks about the role of La Niña and climate change in the record-breaking two year drought that continues to threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in East Africa. Was a pig virus to blame for the death of the first patient to receive a pig heart transplant? We talk to the surgeon and scientist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who led the historic animal to human transplant operation this year. How easy will it be to grow plants in lunar soil on future moon bases? Plant biologist Anna Lisa Paul has been testing the question in her lab at the University of Florida, Gainesville, with cress seeds and lunar regolith collected by the Apollo missions. And…. Does photographic memory exist? Most people are great at remembering key points from important events in their lives, while the finer details - such as the colour of the table cloth in your favourite restaurant or the song playing on the radio while you brushed your teeth - are forgotten. But some people seem to have the power to remember events, documents or landscapes with almost perfect recall, which is widely referred to as having a photographic memory. CrowdScience listeners Tracy and Michael want to know if photographic memory actually exists and if not, what are the memory processes that allow people to remember certain details so much better than others? Putting her own memory skills to the test along the way, presenter Marnie Chesterton sets out to investigate just what’s happening inside our brains when we use our memories, the importance of being able to forget and why some people have better memories than others. Photo: First image of Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy Credit: EHT Collaboration, Southern European Observatory Presenter: Roland Pease and Marnie Chesterton Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker and Hannah Fisher