The Best of Unexpected Elements

Marnie Chesterton and Caroline Steel look back at some of the best bits of the show.

• 49 mins

Timing is everything

Can you visualize time? We don’t all see it the same way

• 50 mins

Super corals and science diplomacy

Could tensions around the Red Sea affect research into heat-resistant super corals?

• 50 mins

Rulers and the rules of ageing

Under the stress and strains of leadership, how might power affect youthfulness?

• 50 mins

Populations of people, frogs and microbes

With China’s population declining, would decreasing populations be better for the planet?

• 50 mins

How plankton made mountains

The world’s largest cruise ship has set sail – but what stowaways are hiding onboard?

• 50 mins

Deep in thought

News of a microchip implanted in a human brain sends our imagination running wild

• 50 mins

Not so random acts of kindness

Are African spiders behind the ultimate act of kindness in nature?

• 50 mins

Going the distance

A tribute to marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum and the science behind his record performances

• 50 mins

Leaping in Sync

As the leap year helps keep us in sync, we explore nature’s ways of staying in rhythm

• 50 mins

Unexpected Oscars

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

• 50 mins

Fandom: The next generation

K-Pop fans send us on a journey into fandom through Star Trek, football and physics

• 50 mins

Ancient water, modern solutions

With water shortages and melting ice caps making the news we look at unexpected solutions

• 50 mins

G.O.A.T

The greatest baseball player of all time and the greatest science to boot!

• 50 mins

Unexpected elections

What do stickleback fish have to do with millions of people’s voting intentions?

• 50 mins

Beyoncé, banjos and dancing chemistry

Beyonce's reappraisal of who can do country music spurs an Unexpected Elements hoedown

• 49 mins

Computer memories and quantum futures

From silicon chips behind the Iron Curtain to quantum computing in the cloud.

• 49 mins

A scientific séance

Conjuring, not spirits, but critical thinking to expose fradulent psychics

• 50 mins

Horsey driverless cars and competitive cloning

Rampaging horses lead us to horse cloning and what horseriding can teach driverless cars

• 49 mins

Unexpected birthday party

It's party time and we look to science for advice on clothes, cake and singing

• 49 mins

Winning Losers

Does the winner really always take it all?

• 49 mins

A world going on underground

In bunkers, basements and boreholes, we explore life going on underground

• 49 mins

Eternal flames

From Olympic torches to zombie fires, we stoke the flames which do not go out

• 49 mins

Balloon manoeuvres

Balloons in South Korea have us floating ideas about airships and helium.

• 49 mins

An unexpected burger

After McDonalds’ recent court case loss the team cook up a scientific culinary delight

• 49 mins

Seismic swift

A Taylor Swift gig in Scotland made us look at human earthquakes and animal seismographs

• 49 mins

Lights out

A power outage in Ecuador has us pondering the darkness of blackouts

• 49 mins

Mushroom magic

Hallucinatory, deadly or lifesaving? Your one-stop guide to everything fungi

• 49 mins

Political Jet Lag

Brace yourself for presidential fights and pointless flights

• 49 mins

Marriage madness

Ceremonies, rings and sleep divorce

• 49 mins