Unexpected Elements

Science stories and unexpected connections from global research AI summary

BBC World Service Visit website › Science · EN · 352 episodes · latest 2026-11-13

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What it is about

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.

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
(C) BBC 2026

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Latest episodes

Keeping it cool

2026-11-13 · 49 min

This week, hackers infiltrated supermarket fridges and freezers across Europe, sending their temperatures sky-high. Millions of euros worth of food had to be thrown away. Reports say the cyber attacks were a deliberate…
Maxxed out

2026-11-06 · 50 min

The Unexpected Elements team are science-maxxing, following the headline that “maxxing” has been named 2026’s word of the year by dictionary.com. Strap yourself in for tales of total commitment, including the longest…
Defrauded, defamed, delivered

2026-10-30 · 50 min

This week, the Unexpected Elements team have been glued to a story about a $126 million fraud caused by fake US postage labels. That inspires a show filled with lies, cheats and deception. We meet the flower that…
Building bridges

2026-10-23 · 50 min

A new bridge has just been opened between China and North Korea after a 12-year delay. And that got the Unexpected Elements team thinking about some bridge-related science. We start things off by finding out about the…
Taking a shortcut

2026-10-16 · 50 min

After a Chinese fitness influencer was caught hitching a lift on a bicycle during the Berlin Marathon, the Unexpected Elements team find themselves contemplating a range of scientific shortcuts. First up, we hear about…
Walk the line

2026-10-09 · 50 min

Estonian athlete Jaan Roose recently completed a jaw-dropping slackline display, performing daredevil tricks 120 metres above the streets of central Seoul, South Korea.This exciting event by a world champion slackliner…
Rogue Agents

2026-10-02 · 50 min

This week’s news of an AI agent managing to hack into an Australian government website has the Unexpected Elements team exploring the sneaky science of infiltration.Marnie Chesterton is joined by science journalists…
An identity crisis

2026-09-25 · 50 min

When a NATO fighter jet was sent to investigate what appeared to be a suspicious drone near Vilnius airport, the culprit turned out to be something rather less threatening: a flock of birds. Inspired by this case of…
A distorted view

2026-09-18 · 50 min

With the United Nations encouraging wider use of the Equal Earth map, a projection designed to better represent the true size of Earth's landmasses, the Unexpected Elements team have been thinking about distortion and…
The phizz-whizzing science of Roald Dahl

2026-09-11 · 50 min

Roald Dahl Day is celebrated each year on 13 September. Dahl gave us much-loved children’s books like Matilda, The BFG and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which have captivated kids for generations.Dahl is also a…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Owner: BBC
Oldest episode in feed: 05/2019 · over 7 years
Typical length: 56 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone

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