Unexpected Elements Episodes Episode guide
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16/01/2026 GMT
The news you know, the science you don't.
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09/01/2026 GMT
The news you know, the science you don't.
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Unexpected Elements
The news you know, the science you don't.
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Unexpected Elements
The news you know, the science you don't.
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![]()
Unexpected Elements
The news you know, the science you don't.
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Chicken, with a side order of science
Japan鈥檚 love for fried chicken at Christmas gets us digging into chicken鈥檚 origins.
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Some bear-y interesting space science
A teddy lost in space has got us seeking stories about space, bears and getting lost!
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The unexpected science behind Klimt's artwork
A record-breaking painting leads us to microbes, spiders, gold and cave art.
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Some Beautiful Science
The Miss Universe pageant final has us examining the science of beauty
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A keg of beer-based science
Inspired by the opening of a 150-year-old bottle of ale, we pore over beer-based stories
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A storm of science
Hurricane Melissa has us thinking about the science of storms
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A science heist
The Louvre jewel theft has us inspecting heists and crime scenes in science.
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How does biometric data work?
Europe鈥檚 new entry/exit system has us looking at the science behind biometric data.
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Why are gold prices so high?
Record-high gold prices have us searching for science nuggets
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The strongest stuff in the Universe
The Unexpected Elements team are flexing their muscles and tackling all things strong.
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Science inspired by Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift鈥檚 new album The Life of a Showgirl inspires this week鈥檚 episode.
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Two-hundred years of trains
The anniversary of the first passenger steam train has us examining the science of trains
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Pirate science ahoy!
For International Talk Like a Pirate Day, we set anchor on some swashbuckling science.
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Some dam awesome science
How do we decide when, where, and even whether to build dams?
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Punk rock science
A new, spiky dinosaur has us riffing through all things punk, rock and metal.
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Where do beaches come from?
With people visiting the seaside, we investigate bucketloads of beach-based science
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Mountains of overtourism
As Nepal makes 97 non-Everest peaks free to climb, we look at the science of overtourism.
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Why do we follow trends?
The fad for ugly-cute Labubu dolls has us playing around with the science of trends.
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Floods, mangroves and rampaging tractors
This week, the team discusses the causes of floods and possible solutions.
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Traffic science
A Shanghai robo-traffic-cop has the team contemplating the science of traffic.
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The science of ageing
The world鈥檚 oldest president presents us with the chance to explore some ageing science.
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How dust affects the world
A new report on the dangers of dust sends us storming off into dust-related science.
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Sharks, albatrosses, the Jaws theme and fishing
Shark Awareness Day sends us on a deep dive into marine biology.
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Cargo ships, chemical spills and caribou
The X-Press Pearl disaster takes us on a voyage through shipping-related science.
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A roarsome episode
This week, a brand-new dinosaur sent us on a palaeontological stomp.
