Elements
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Elements
A close look at chemical elements, the basic building blocks of the universe. Where do we get them, what do we use them for and how do they fit into our economy?
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65 эпизод
Obscure Elements
In the final programme in our Elements series, Justin Rowlatt looks at the rarest and oddest members of the periodic table.
Selenium, bismuth,...
Gold (Au)
Why do we value this practically useless metal so highly? And does it bring out the worst in human nature?
In a second look at this most covete...
Thorium (Th)
This radioactive metal holds the promise of thousands of years of energy for the world. But is it really any cleaner or safer than traditional uranium...
Platinum group (Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, Os, Ir)
Six extremely rare metals that clean your car exhaust and turbocharge industrial chemistry, but which are also the focus of a violent power struggle i...
Arsenic (As)
The macabre poison we know from crime novels and history books has some surprising modern uses.
Justin Rowlatt travels the Subcontinent - first...
Silver (Ag)
The shiniest and showiest of metals is still mainly used in silverware. But it also has some surprisingly modern applications.
Justin Rowlatt he...
Iodine (I)
Why does iodine deficiency still blight children in developing countries like India?
Justin Rowlatt travels to Dehradun in the Himalayas with wo...
Hydrogen (H) - fusion
Could we finally be about to crack this source of potentially unlimited clean energy - thanks in part to a plethora of private sector tech startups? <...
Cadmium (Cd)
This toxic metal is slowly being phased out of our lives. But as presenter Justin Rowlatt discovers, while nickel-cadmium batteries may have disappear...
Potassium (K)
Potash plumps up fruit, vegetables and grains, and the potassium it contains is an essential nutrient. Yet India is completely dependent on imports of...
Hydrogen (H) - energy
Is the dream of a hydrogen-fuelled zero-carbon economy achievable? Presenters Justin Rowlatt and Laurence Knight ask where the hydrogen will come from...
Zinc (Zn)
The metal that brings shelter and good health to India's poorest. Presenter Laurence Knight travels to a bustling Delhi where Rahul Sharma of the Inte...
Hydrogen (H) - water (part 2)
As climate change threatens to play havoc with the rain, could we instead draw our water directly from the ocean?
In his second gulp of H2O, pr...
Hydrogen (H) - water (part 1)
Northwest India is fast running out of groundwater. As much of the world faces growing water scarcity, will mass migration and water conflicts become...
Noble Gases (Ar, Ne, Kr, Xe)
Neon, argon, krypton and xenon: Laurence Knight investigates their uses, from the blinding light of the arc welder's torch to the dying trade of the n...
Germanium (Ge)
Nanotech, virtual reality, Moore's Law - we look at germanium, the substance that could oust the silicon from Silicon Valley, and one day help compute...
Radioactives (Po, Ra, Rn)
Radium, polonium and radon may be names to make your hair stand on end, but are they actually useful for anything? And is our fear of them overbaked?...
Tantalum & Niobium (Ta, Nb)
Is coltan - the notorious conflict mineral from which these two metals are derived - still being smuggled from DR Congo into Rwanda, to evade taxes an...
Beryllium (Be)
Rare and toxic, beryllium can do serious damage to your lungs. Presenter Laurence Knight explores whether and how we can make use of this metal safely...
Magnesium (Mg)
This metal played a part in the worst car crash in history, the 1955 Le Mans disaster, helping to make the resulting inferno explosively dangerous. Ye...
Titanium (Ti) - catalysts
Titanium is the magic metal that made possible the mass production of plastics and paints, as well as buildings that clean both themselves and the air...
Hydrogen (H) - acids
These powerful chemicals are essential to obtain the minerals that build our world, the fertilisers that feed the planet, and the fuels that propel ou...
Oxygen (O) - industrial uses
Why is oxygen essential to steelmaking, how do you extract it from the air, and can you inhale too much of it? Answering these questions leaves presen...
Titanium (Ti) - materials
Stronger and more durable than steel, this glamorous metal crops up in sportscars, hip replacements and jewellery - but a new chemical process hopes o...
Oxygen (O) - oxidation
The “element of life” also makes the air that we breathe a perilous and costly atmosphere in which to operate.
Prof Andrea Sella of University C...
Cobalt (Co)
Cobalt, the metal in magnets and phone batteries, is synonymous with the colour blue. But what exactly are magnets, how do they work and where are the...
Copper (Cu) - electricity
Copper has long been the metal of electricity generators and wiring. But presenter Justin Rowlatt asks whether new technologies herald the death of th...
Copper (Cu) - materials
Copper is the distinctive red metal in pots, pans and water pipes, and also plays a central role in whisky distillation. Presenter Laurence Knight and...
Boron (B)
Boron is the mineral from the Wild West that stops glass from shattering and stops bullets in their tracks. Presenter Laurence Knight visits the Dixon...
Gallium & Indium (Ga, In)
LED lighting, solar power and lasers are just some of the electronics revolutionised by two obscure chemical elements - gallium and indium. Laurence K...
Iron (Fe) - industrialisation
Iron is the chemical element at the heart of steel, and by extension of industrialisation, so what does the collapse in iron ore prices say about the...
Iron & Manganese (Fe, Mn) - steel-making
The two key ingredients that enabled the mass production of steel. We travel to Sheffield - the birthplace of modern steelmaking - to get up close to...
Iron (Fe) - the Industrial Revolution
In the first of three programmes about iron, Justin Rowlatt explores two moments in industrial history that transformed this most abundant of metal el...
Technetium (Tc)
Technetium is essential for medical imaging, yet supplies of this short-lived manmade element are far from guaranteed. We see a technetium scan in pro...
Fluorine (F)
Itself a ferocious yellow gas, fluorine is also the key building block for a string of other gases that pose a threat to mankind - from the ozone-depl...
Chromium (Cr)
Chromium is the metal of modernity - spawning icons from the Chrysler Building to the Harley Davidson. This colourful element is the key ingredient in...
Nickel & Rhenium (Ni, Re)
Nickel is the metal that made the jet age possible, not to mention margarine and bicycle sprockets. We visit Rolls Royce to discover the incredible ma...
Uranium (U)
Uranium is the fuel for nuclear power stations, which generate carbon-free electricity, but also radioactive waste that lasts a millennium. In the lat...
Lead (Pb)
Lead is the sweetest of poisons, blamed for everything from mad Roman emperors to modern-day crime waves. Yet a lead-acid battery is still what gets y...
Caesium (Cs)
The atomic clock runs on caesium, and has redefined the very meaning of time. But it has also introduced a bug into timekeeping that affects everythin...