Unexpected Elements

Barbie in Space


Listen Later

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

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Unexpected ElementsBy BBC World Service

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

327 ratings


More shows like Unexpected Elements

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,390 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,832 Listeners

The Naked Scientists Podcast by The Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists Podcast

596 Listeners

Nature Podcast by Springer Nature Limited

Nature Podcast

764 Listeners

Science Magazine Podcast by Science Magazine

Science Magazine Podcast

808 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,678 Listeners

Science Weekly by The Guardian

Science Weekly

412 Listeners

5 Live Science Podcast by BBC Radio 5 Live

5 Live Science Podcast

109 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,812 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,076 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

345 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

896 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

956 Listeners

Ask the Naked Scientists by Dr Chris Smith

Ask the Naked Scientists

76 Listeners

Witness History by BBC World Service

Witness History

959 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,940 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,051 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

705 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

236 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

396 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

818 Listeners

CrowdScience by BBC World Service

CrowdScience

474 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

2,979 Listeners

The world, the universe and us by New Scientist

The world, the universe and us

116 Listeners