Made by cosmic rays and supernovae, used in ovenproof cookware, and a key ingredient in the strongest acid ever made. Allan Blackman from AUT explores boron in ep 13 of Elemental.

Boron is made by cosmic rays and supernovae.

It is vital for life - and ovenproof cookware.

Boron is also the basis of the world's strongest acid, created by Kiwi scientist Chris Reed, according to Professor Allan Blackman from AUT.

Boron is atomic number 5, has the symbol B, and is a metalloid that is found in lots of minerals.

It is used as boron nitride and boron carbide in drill tips, which are nearly as hard as diamonds.

We are exploring the periodic table alphabetically and so far we have looked at all the As: actinium, aluminium, americium, antimony, argon, arsenic and astatine.

We are making inroads into the Bs with barium, berkelium and the heavyweights, beryllium and bismuth.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details