The Elemental podcast has inspired Prof Allan Blackman from AUT and Dr Rebecca Jelley from the University of Auckland, to publish a paper in the journal Nature Chemistry - here's a quick lowdown on 'The most boring chemical element.'

Inspired by the Elemental podcast series, Dr Rebecca Jelley, from the University of Auckland, and podcast host Professor Allan Blackman, from the Auckland University of Technology, have just had a paper published in the prestigious science journal Nature Chemistry.

In 'The most boring chemical element' Rebecca and Allan set out to mark the International Year of the Periodic Table by finding the most boring element.

The task turns out to more challenging - and interesting - than they anticipated.

And? Well, as they say in the 'abstract': "Could it be boron or bohrium that is the most boring? You'll need to read to the end to find out."

Or, you could listen to the podcast first for the spoiler, but then we highly recommend a read - the article is funny and enlightening (and open access). Enjoy!

The most boring chemical element - the podcast

You can subscribe to the Elemental podcast for free, at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and RadioPublic.

The Elemental podcast is celebrating 150 years since the periodic table was first published by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.

Find out more about events during the United Nation's International Year of the Periodic Table.

Professor Allan Blackman is at Auckland University of Technology.

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