The periodic table turns 150

When Slovakia was part of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the cars it made were noisy, thirsty and slow by western standards at the time. But when Volkswagen bought the car-maker Skoda, that was the beginning of a major change. Now, Slovakia makes almost a million cars a yea ...  Show more

In the second of two programmes, we look at Donald Trump's record on the economy one year into his second presidential term. Today, we are asking is the United States still facing a cost of living crunch?Its economy - the largest in the world - is still growing faster than most o ...  Show more

Helium is full of contradictions. It’s the second most abundant element in the universe, but is relatively rare on Earth. It’s non-reactive, totally inert—yet the most valuable helium isotope is sourced from thermonuclear warheads. And even though we treat it as a disposable gas, ...  Show more

Le californium est un élément chimique très rare et radioactif, portant le symbole Cf et le numéro atomique 98 dans le tableau périodique. Il a été découvert en 1950 par une équipe de chercheurs à l'Université de Californie, Berkeley, d'où il tire son nom. Le californium appar ...

In this week’s episode we pay tribute to the periodic table. We talk to Sam Kean, author of the best-selling book The Disappearing Spoon and hear an excerpt from Primo Levi’s book The Periodic Table.

SHOW CLOCK

00:00 Opening Credits

Russia has fined Google more than two undecillion rubles, which is more than 20 decillion dollars. How much you ask? 20 decillions is a 20 with 33 zeros behind it, more money than there is in the entire world!This unpayable fine inspired us to look at extremely large numbers, fro ...  Show more