Unexpected Elements

The phizz-whizzing science of Roald Dahl

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 c

The show must go on

The 80th birthday celebrations of the late, great Queen frontman Freddie Mercury have us marvelling at mercury at an elemental level: as a killer, a cure and more. First

A very dry episode

Vast swathes of Europe and Asia are experiencing drought conditions, thanks to relentless heatwaves and lack of rain. This week, we find out why drought conditions coul

Fashionably late

News of an Australian library book finally finding its way home 150 years after it was borrowed has the Unexpected Elements team thinking about things that get forgotten,

Light entertainment

As Europe experiences its first total solar eclipse in almost 30 years this week, Unexpected Elements investigates the surprising science that emerges when sunlight is bl

Someone's always watching

The UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has found that birdwatching is the second-fastest growing hobby amongst Gen Z with 750,000 of them regularly venturing

Down The Rabbit Hole

75 years ago, Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland hit our screens, welcoming us into a technicolour, topsy-turvy world of eccentric characters – including the Mad Hatter, t

Bald caps, sparrow raps and lightning claps

If you were lucky enough to be at rapper Pitbull's recent concert in Hyde Park in London, you would have been greeted by a sea of bald caps. A Guiness World record-breaki

A scientific odyssey

As the film adaptation of the Odyssey bursts onto screens around the world this week, here at Unexpected Elements we’re undertaking our own epic journey through science –

Everyone needs a hero

A mysterious vigilante in Mexico nicknamed “Batman” has inspired the Unexpected Elements team to investigate the science of superheroes. First up, we explore whether a B

Stuck in a cycle

Pakistan has recently announced that they plan to abolish the 18% sales tax on menstrual products like pads or tampons. UN Women has welcomed the decision, saying that wh

Dividing lines

This week South Korea announced they will be adjusting the Civilian Controlled Zone that borders the demilitarised area between North and South Korea. The reshuffle will

Anyone for chips?

The spiralling cost and short supply of microchips – something the tech journalists have dubbed ‘RAMageddon’ – has the Unexpected Elements team investigating all things c

The beautiful game

As the Fifa Men’s World Cup kicks off this week in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, football fever is everywhere – and this has the Unexpected Elements team explori

Science bears fruit

Long live the king – of mangoes! In India the famed ‘king of mangoes’, the Alphonso mango, is in drastically short supply after a particularly bad bout of adverse weather

Celebrating science on Africa Day

How do you translate the latest science work across the 2000 different languages spoken around the African continent? And have you heard of sky mountain? Africa Day has t

Unexpected enhancements

Have you ever wondered what happen to salmon when too much cocaine seeps into their rivers? Inspired by the Enhanced Games, we lookat unexpected areas of performance enha

Hantavirus outbreak and what’s in a name

An outbreak of hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship has us looking at the unexpected science around the disease. First up, why is this outbreak such an unusual occurr

One hundred years of Sir David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough is arguably the world’s favourite broadcaster, and this week he’s blowing out the candles on his 100th birthday cake. Inspired by his significant b

The soaring price of condoms

The blockade on the strait of Hormuz has led to an unexpected consequence – condom prices are set to increase by up to 30 percent! This has us delving into all things con