Unexpected Elements

Unexpected elements on the sea bed


Listen Later

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

...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