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Our Changing World headlines with summaries.
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Rhenium - has a number of claims to chemical fame
2 Oct 2019Named after the Rhine river, rhenium is a metal with very high boiling and melting points, and it was the last naturally occuring, non-radioactive element to be discovered, says Prof Allan Blackman in…
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Radon - radioactive basement risk
30 Sep 2019The radioactive gas radon can be a risk in the basements of stone houses and used to, erroneously, be touted for its health benefits, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 67 of Elemental.
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Radium - famous but not very useful
27 Sep 2019Radium was famously found by the Curies, and was once widely used in face creams, drinks and luminous watch dials, despite being highly radioactive, says Allan Blackman in ep 66 of Elemental.
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Our Changing World for 26 September 2019
26 Sep 2019As the world considers taking more action to combat climate change we revisit Antarctica with the Voice of the Iceberg podcast & hear about protactinium.
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Protactinium - a very dull chemical element
23 Sep 2019Protactinium is a rare, radioactive element that has no uses and may be the most boring element, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 65 of Elemental.
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Promethium - rare and unremarkable
20 Sep 2019Despite its gruesome mythical name, the radioactive element promethium has no particular claim to fame, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 64 of Elemental.
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Kākāpō population hits new high of 213 birds
18 Sep 2019The youngest kākāpō chick has passed 150 days old, bringing the number of living juveniles to 71 and the overall kākāpō population to 213, in ep 24 of the Kākāpō Files.
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Shaped by the wind
19 Sep 2019The 20-metre long wind tunnel at the University of Auckland is used to test the aerodynamics of objects as varied as Olympic cyclists and buildings, as well as drones, ancient building designs & tiny…
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Praseodymium - a long name but not many uses
16 Sep 2019Praseodymium is a metal wirh the second longest name on the periodic table and not many uses, says Prof Alan Blackman from AUT in ep 63 of Elemental.
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Potassium - a matter of life and death
13 Sep 2019From levitating burnt buttocks, to excitable nerves and sure-to-rise baking, potassium is highly reactive and vital to life, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 62 of Elemental.
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Green cities of the future - what we can expect in 2050
12 Sep 2019Better solar panels and efficient carbon capture technology will help shape the impact and look of cities in the future, say MacDiarmid Institute scientists.
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Polonium - few redeeming features
9 Sep 2019Polonium will be forever linked with the names Curie and Litvinenko and has negligible desirable features, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 61 of Elemental.
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Plutonium - nuclear bombs & nuclear power
6 Sep 2019A radioactive heavyweight associated with nuclear bombs & power, which is powering the Voyager spacecraft, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 60 of Elemental.
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The science of toxic algal blooms
5 Sep 2019Toxic algae expert Jonathan Puddick has a Marsden Grant to find out if toxic cyanobacteria share their toxins with non-toxic species.
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Platinum - another pricey precious metal
2 Sep 2019Platinum is useful in catalytic convertors, is used to treat testicular cancer and will be useful in hydrogen fuel cells, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 59 of Elemental.
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Phosphorus - P was discovered in pee
30 Aug 2019Phosphorus, chemical symbol P, was first isolated as an element from thousands of litres of urine. Also found in guano, aka bird poo. Allan Blackman from AUT has the full story in ep 58 of Elemental.
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No escape: separating from an abusive partner
29 Aug 2019New Zealand has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the world, but sociology research shows life post- separation can still leave women feeling trapped.
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Palladium - cleaning up your car's exhaust
26 Aug 2019Palladium is a pricey precious metal most commonly used in catalytic convertors on car exhausts, says AUT's Allan Blackman in ep 57 of Elemental.
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Oxygen - the friendly element
23 Aug 2019Oxygen is very friendly with other chemical elements & very helpful for life on Earth, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 56 of Elemental.
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Using sound to brew better beer
What happens if you play a Viennese waltz or death metal to beer as it brews? Experimenting with musical ways of making better beer.
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Osmium - heavyweight champion of the elements
19 Aug 2019Osmium is extremely rare and expensive. It is the densest chemical element, rivals diamond as being the least compressible of all known substances & has a distinctive 'pong' according to Allan…
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Nitrogen - a vital powerhouse
16 Aug 2019Most important biological molecules contain nitrogen, even though it takes lots of energy to make or break its chemical bonds, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 54 of Elemental.
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Risky decisions & gambling addiction
Electronic gaming machines, or the pokies, are highly addictive. Sonia Sly investigates why problem gambling develops and how it is associated with other disorders.
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Niobium - useful at high & low temperatures
12 Aug 2019Niobium is a metal that is useful at both very high temperatures, as in jet engines, and very low temperatures as a superconductor, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 53 of Elemental.
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