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Recent items from Elemental
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Zirconium - shape-shifting time capsule
8:00 AM.Zirconium is a shape-shifting tough cookie, that is a tale of gemstones, medical implants and nuclear reactors, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 96 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Zinc - more useful than you realise
8:00 AM.Zinc is a very useful metal that turns up in everything from sunscreen to paint, & galvanised metals to cereals, as well as brass instruments, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 95 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Yttrium - here's that village Ytterby again
8:00 AM.Yttrium is yet another element named after the village of Ytterby and is important in the development of high temperature superconductors, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 94 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Ytterbium - yet another element named after Ytterby
8:00 AM.Ytterbium is yet another lanthanoid named after the Swedish village of Ytterby, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 93 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Xenon - a stranger in search of strange particles
8:00 AM.Xenon is a noble gas that turns up in various lights, gets used in xenon ion propulsion systems for spacecraft & plays a key role in the search for dark matter, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep… Read more Audio
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Vanadium - Model T Fords, big batteries & sea squirts
8:00 AM.Vanadium makes steel stronger & lighter, is being used in what will be the world's largest battery, and sea squirts are full of it, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 91 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Uranium - first radioactive element to be discovered
8:00 AM.Named after the planet Uranus & associated with Hiroshima & nuclear bombs, uranium is the highest-numbered element found naturally in significant quantities on earth, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 90… Read more Audio
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Tungsten - highest melting point of any metal
8:00 AM.Tungsten's very high melting point made it an ideal filament for incandescent light bulbs, & as it is in some enzymes it is the heaviest element used in nature, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 89… Read more Audio
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Titanium - light, strong & quite pretty
8:00 AM.Titanium is light, strong, corrosion resistant & is used to repair broken limbs as it is able to get integrated into the bone, says Allan Blackman from AUT speaking from personal experience in ep 88… Read more Audio
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Tin - from whistles to organ pipes & anti-fouling paint
8:00 AM.The element tin turns up in all sorts of alloys, but tin cans are - mostly - not made from tin, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT, in ep 87 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Thulium - the most laborious of the lanthanoids
8:00 AM.Isolating the element thulium was a truly laborious process that took many years, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 86 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Thorium - potential source of cleaner nuclear energy
8:00 AM.Named after Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, thorium could provide a cleaner source of nuclear power in the future, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in episode 85 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Thallium - the poisoner's poison
8:00 AM.Thallium is most famous for some infamous poisoned family cases & its appearance in an Agatha Christie novel solved a medical mystery, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 84 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Terbium - turns up in old TVs & new Euro notes
8:00 AM.A discovery from the chemically prolific Swedish village of Ytterby, terbium produced the green on old TV sets & adds security to Euro notes, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 83 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Tellurium - usually associated with gold
8:00 AM.Tellurium is a metalloid often found with gold and the US town Telluride is named after it, says Prof Allan Blackman, in ep 82 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Technetium - the first synthetic element
8:00 AM.Technetium was the first element on the periodic table to be synthesised. It is rare, radioactive and has only a few uses, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 81 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Tantalum - a tantalising chemical element
8:00 AM.The metal tantalum is usually found with the element niobium, has a very high melting point but is a 'conflict mineral', says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 80 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Sulfur - king of bad smells
8:00 AM.Sulfur is responsible for some very bad smells, is the number one industrial chemical and is also an essential element, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 79 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Strontium - from sensitive teeth toothpaste to nuclear fission
8:00 AM.Named after a Scottish town, strontium can be highly radioactive & glow-in-the-dark, but also used in toothpaste, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT, in ep 78 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Sodium - a salt of the earth spectator
8:00 AM.Sodium is vital for life & usually found in combinaton with other more interesting elements, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 77 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Silver - a popular noble metal
8:00 AM.Silver is widely used in jewellery, has interesting light sensitive abilities and has antimicrobial properties, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 76 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Silicon - a ubiquitous part of modern life
8:00 AM.Silicon is a blockbuster metalloid with many uses, from glass to computer chips & bathroom sealants, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 75 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Selenium - good reason to eat seafood & Brazil nuts
8:00 AM.New Zealand soils lack the vital element selenium, which also used to be important in photocopiers and bathroom plumbing, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 74 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Scandium - the scandal of the scandium cricket bat
8:00 AM.Predicted by Mendeleev & useful for alloying with aluminium, scandium was involved in a famous cricket scandal, says AUT's Allan Blackman in ep 73 of Elemental. Read more Audio
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Samarium - magnets for making & listening to music
8:00 AM.Samarium magnets are used in headphones & guitar pickups, and samarium was the first element named after a real person, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 72 of Elemental. Read more Audio