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Elemental

RNZ

A journey through the periodic table of elements with chemistry professor Allan Blackman, from AUT, and Alison Ballance

  • 12 minutes 34 seconds
    Zirconium - shape-shifting time capsule
    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 98 of Elemental.
    22 December 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 12 minutes 31 seconds
    Zinc - more useful than you realise
    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 97 of Elemental.
    19 December 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 8 minutes 28 seconds
    Yttrium - here's that village Ytterby again
    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 96 of Elemental.
    15 December 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 8 minutes 12 seconds
    Ytterbium - yet another element named after Ytterby
    Ytterbium is yet another lanthanoid named after the Swedish village of Ytterby, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 95 of Elemental.
    12 December 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 9 minutes 55 seconds
    Xenon - a stranger in search of strange particles
    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 94 of Elemental.
    10 December 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 9 minutes 33 seconds
    Vanadium - Model T Fords, big batteries & sea squirts
    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 93 of Elemental.
    8 December 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 8 minutes 28 seconds
    Uranium - first radioactive element to be discovered
    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 92 of Elemental.
    5 December 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 8 minutes 46 seconds
    Tungsten - highest melting point of any metal
    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 91 of Elemental.
    1 December 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 8 minutes 34 seconds
    Titanium - light, strong & quite pretty
    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 90 of Elemental.
    28 November 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 10 minutes 54 seconds
    Tin - from whistles to organ pipes & anti-fouling paint
    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 89 of Elemental.
    26 November 2019, 7:00 pm
  • 9 minutes 45 seconds
    Thulium - the most laborious of the lanthanoids
    Isolating the element thulium was a truly laborious process that took many years, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 88 of Elemental.
    24 November 2019, 7:00 pm
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