
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Boron is the mineral from the Wild West that stops glass from shattering and stops bullets in their tracks. Presenter Laurence Knight visits the Dixon Glass works to see why borosilicate glass is perfect for making chemistry equipment and much of the glassware we use in our day-to-day lives. Professor Andrea Sella demonstrates how this element puts the flub into flubber. Colin Roberson, founder of body armour firm Advanced Defence Materials, explains why being shot is like standing at the bottom of a volcano. And the BBC's Kim Gittleson travels to the deserts of California where the modern-day story of boron first began. (Photo: Boron, California, Credit: Kim Gittleson/BBC)
By BBC World Service4.7
134134 ratings
Boron is the mineral from the Wild West that stops glass from shattering and stops bullets in their tracks. Presenter Laurence Knight visits the Dixon Glass works to see why borosilicate glass is perfect for making chemistry equipment and much of the glassware we use in our day-to-day lives. Professor Andrea Sella demonstrates how this element puts the flub into flubber. Colin Roberson, founder of body armour firm Advanced Defence Materials, explains why being shot is like standing at the bottom of a volcano. And the BBC's Kim Gittleson travels to the deserts of California where the modern-day story of boron first began. (Photo: Boron, California, Credit: Kim Gittleson/BBC)

7,722 Listeners

884 Listeners

1,043 Listeners

5,462 Listeners

1,807 Listeners

3,190 Listeners

951 Listeners

1,805 Listeners

1,069 Listeners

1,930 Listeners

4,857 Listeners

519 Listeners

4,800 Listeners

434 Listeners

418 Listeners

832 Listeners

247 Listeners

351 Listeners

3,189 Listeners

753 Listeners

3,232 Listeners

14,594 Listeners

3,101 Listeners