Europe has a new entry/exit system based on biometric data. But what exactly is the science behind biometric data, how can we ensure it’s used responsibly, and can it be cracked?We also look at how some animals use dung as biometric data with Dr. Adrian Shrader, how your walk can be used to ID you from Professor Mark Nixon, and why gold has its own special measurement. All that plus many more Unexpected Elements.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins with Lucy Davies and Robbie Wojciechowski
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Why are gold prices so high?
Record high gold prices have us looking at the science of inflation, why gold is leaking from volcanoes, and entomologist Katy Price explains why shiny gold can be a good color for camoflague. Plus the dark science going on in a gold mine, whether we can move at the speed of light, and the debate around golden rice. All that, plus more unexpected elements.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies.
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The strongest stuff in the Universe
Egyptian strongman Ashraf Mahrous recently pulled two ships totalling 1,150 tonnes with his teeth, setting his sights on the Guinness World Record. Inspired by this story, this week we’re tackling the science of all things strong. First, we find out about new research that could keep our muscles strong as we age. Next up, we discover why graphene is so strong and how it could help improve data storage. We're then joined down the line by Dr Matt Caplan, an astrophysicist from Illinois State University, who tells us about his search for a weird substance called ‘nuclear pasta’. And no, you won’t find it in your local Italian restaurant. Plus, find out how robo-exoskeletons can help you climb hills and why Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance was weaker than expected.
All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Andrada Fiscutean
Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies
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Science inspired by Taylor Swift
The launch of Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, has inspired this week’s episode of Unexpected Elements.First up, we hear how a Brazilian songbird courts its mate as part of a boyband. We then find out about the microbes that dance to survive in their extreme habitat. Next up, Professor Troy Magney, a forest ecophysiologist at the University of Montana, tells us about his TSWIFT machine and how it can assess the health of the planet’s forests. Also in the programme, we find out why migratory birds trick weather data, how fish sing, and how hackers used SWIFT bank payments to nearly pull off a billion-dollar heist.All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Godfred Boafo
Producers: Imaan Moin and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies
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Two-hundred years of trains
This week marks 200 years since the first steam train pulled passengers over 26 miles of north-east England’s countryside, and started a revolution. Jump on board for show filled with train tales.We explore Mumbai’s lunch delivery system – train based, of course, which has the sort of error rate that delivery firms arounds the world can only dream of. We ask what it takes to run a railway on time, and look at how the bullet train changed Japan, with history professor Jessamyn Abel.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Robbie Wojciechowski, Lucy Davies
The news you know, the science you don’t. Unexpected Elements looks beyond everyday narratives to discover a goldmine of scientific stories and connections from around the globe. From Afronauts, to why we argue, to a deep dive on animal lifespans: see the world in a new way.
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