Our Changing World for 4 June 2020

This week – Our Changing World has made it to Scott Base in Antarctica and plays one of the world's southern-most pianos.

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Coming up on Our Changing World

Thursday 4 June 2020

Voices from Antarctica 2 - Scott Base

Alison Ballance hears some tips on how to sleep warmly and go to the toilet out in the field, and gets a tour of Hillary Hut with Antarctic Heritage Trust conservator Al Fastier.

Voices from Antarctica – Ep 1 Ice Flight

Our Changing World producer Alison Ballance dons her extreme cold weather clothing for an audio adventure to Antarctica – but as she soon discovers, it’s all very well to be dressed and ready to go, but there are a lot of factors that can get in the way of a visit to the frozen continent.

Our Changing World's Antarctic collection

Our Antarctic collection contains a treasure-trove of stories recorded in and about Antarctica.

From past climates to future climate scenarios, from microbes to marine megafauna, as well as ice and historic huts.

Check it out if you're in the mood for frozen science.

Scientific backgrounders to the coronavirus pandemic

The science of soap

Virus 101 - the science of viruses

Our immune system versus coronavirus: 'I think of it as an orchestra'

Maths. models & insights into the coronavirus pandemic

Voice of the Kākāpō

Voice of the Kākāpō - an audio adventure through the bumpy bumper 2019 breeding season of NZ's rare flightless parrot

Voice of the Iceberg

The award-winning Voice of the Iceberg podcast - another audio adventure, but with icebergs.

Elemental

An alphabetical jaunt around the periodic table of chemical elements.

Actinium - rare and radioactive
Aluminium - light and versatile
Americium - a radioactive domestic do-gooder
Antimony - takes lives, saves lives
Argon - every breath you take.
Arsenic - the well-known poison
Astatine - awfully rare

Barium - never found on its own
Berkelium and the synthetic heavyweights
Beryllium - sweet and precious, but deadly
Bismuth - an unusual heavy metal
Boron - made by cosmic rays, useful in the kitchen
Bromine - the colour purple and poison gas

Cadmium - colour and quantum dots
Caesium - the time-keeper
Calcium - strength and beauty
Carbon - life and times of the King of Elements
Cerium - combustible and confusing
Chlorine - good for health, bad for health
Chromium - colourful and shiny
Cobalt - goblin of the periodic table
Copper - essential, in moderation
Curium & Meitnerium - in honour of two pioneering women

Dysprosium - hard to get

Erbium - through rose-tinted glasses
Europium - putting the security in the Euro

Fluorine - the non-stick element
Francium - final naturally-occurring element to be discovered

Gadolinium - plays a key role in MRI scans
Gallium - mysterious case of the disappearing spoon
Germanium - important in the first transistors
Gold - a most desirable noble metal

Hafnium - helped land the first astronauts on the moon
Helium - rare on earth but universally abundant
Holmium - obscure, but an important surgical laser
Hydrogen - number 1 in the universe

Indium- Queen of the touchscreen
Iodine - a vital trace element
Iridium and the end of the dinosaurs
Iron - creator of the modern world

Krypton - its name means 'hidden' but it's a real thing

Lanthanum - curious case of a 'lost' element
Lead - sweet-tasting but deadly
Lithium - a mood-enhancing element
Lutetium – an obscure Parisian

Magnesium – loved by everyone and everything
Manganese – the ‘essential’ essential element
Mercury – mesmerising quicksilver
Molybdenum – a catalyst at bacterial to industrial scales

Neodymium – the secret behind supermagnets
Neon – the red of neon lights
Nickel – more than just a 5 cent coin
Niobium – useful at high and low temperatures
Nitrogen – a vital powerhouse

Osmium – heavyweight champion of the elements
Oxygen – the friendly element

Palladium – cleaning up your car’s exhaust
Phosphorus – P was discovered in pee
Platinum – another pricey precious metal
Plutonium – nuclear bombs & nuclear power
Polonium – few redeeming features
Potassium – a matter of life and death
Praseodymium – a long name but not many uses
Promethium – rare and unremarkable
Protactinium – a very dull chemical element

Radium – famous but not very useful
Radon – radioactive basement risk
Rhenium - has a number of claims to chemical fame
Rhodium – used in cars, drugs … & aftershave
Rubidium – expensive and not very useful
Ruthenium – a ‘sort’ of precious metal

Samarium – magnets for making & listening to music
Scandium – the scandal of the scandium cricket bat
Selenium – good reason to eat seafood & Brazil nuts
Silicon – a ubiquitous part of modern life
Silver – a popular noble metal
Sodium – a salt of the earth spectator
Strontium – from sensitive teeth toothpaste to nuclear fission
Sulfur – king of bad smells

Tantalum – a tantalising chemical element
Technetium – the first synthetic element
Tellurium – usually associated with gold
Terbium - turns up in old TVs & new Euro notes
Thallium - the poisoner's poison
Thorium - potential source of cleaner nuclear energy
Thulium - the most laborious of the lanthanoids
Tin – from whistles to organ pipes & anti-fouling paint
Titanium – light, strong & quite pretty
Tungsten – highest melting point of any metal

Uranium - first radioactive element to be discovered

Vanadium - Model T Fords, big batteries & sea squirts

Xenon - a stranger in search of strange particles

Ytterbium - yet another element named after Ytterby
Yttrium - here's that village Ytterby again

Zinc - more useful than you realise

Zirconium - shape-shifting time capsule

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Artist Joseph Michael and his team record the characters and sounds of icebergs in Antarctica

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