Podcast Episodes

Horsey driverless cars and competitive cloning

The sight of horses running wild in a city leads panellist Tristan Ahtone in Helsinki to rethink how we rate horses' welfare, Chhavi Sachdev in Mumba…

1 year, 10 months ago

A scientific séance

Join the Unexpected team as they journey beyond the borders of reality to ask why we believe in the illogical.

After a fraudulent psychic dupes 1.3 …

1 year, 11 months ago

Computer memories and quantum futures

These days, over a trillion semiconductor microchips are made and shipped each year. The industry is worth eye-watering amounts, and since the 2020-2…

1 year, 11 months ago

Beyoncé, banjos and dancing chemistry

Beyonce's new album tops the charts with a reappraisal of who can do country music and the Unexpected Elements team has a hoedown. Panellist Christin…

1 year, 11 months ago

Unexpected elections

In a year when billions of people have been to the ballot box, what do stickleback fish have to do with it? Alex Lathbridge, Tristan Ahtone and Candi…

1 year, 11 months ago

G.O.A.T

Can you put a price on the perfect athlete? In baseball you can, and that’s a $700 million dollar contract. Shoehi Ohtani took to the field in Seoul …

1 year, 11 months ago

Ancient water, modern solutions

In a week of headlines about water shortages slowing ships in the Panama Canal and drought in India's Silicon Valley, we look at unexpected ways to m…

2 years ago

Fandom: The next generation

Passionate K-Pop fans send us on a journey into the science of fandom. Panellists Andrada Fiskutean in Bucharest, Romania and Tristan Ahtone in Helsi…

2 years ago

Unexpected Oscars

As award season reaches its climax in the US, Unexpected Elements holds its own glitzy ceremony.

Which bit of science will win Best Picture? Who will …

2 years ago

Leaping in Sync

As the leap year helps to keep us in sync with the sun, we turn our attention to the natural world. There is no simple solution to stop forces like c…

2 years ago