73. Tantalum: Mystery Meat

Many episodes have incorporated geology, but this one is more about geography. (And amateur nuclear science.) 

Element 94 causes a bit of a crisis for our collections. 

To engage the ships of Byzantine Empire was to risk the horrors of Greek fire, a medieval weapons system that empowered ships to spew forth flaming liquid on enemy ships and crew members. The secrets of Greek fire are lost to history, but historians and scientists continue to the ...  Show more

To engage the ships of Byzantine Empire was to risk the horrors of Greek fire, a medieval weapons system that empowered ships to spew forth flaming liquid on enemy ships and crew members. The secrets of Greek fire are lost to history, but historians and scientists continue to ...

Did you know that Gandhi hated iodine? Or that Silicon Valley was almost called Germanium Valley? Our producer

Tantalus, one of the most gruesome myths of ancient Greece. A man famous for his punishment in the Underworld, but how did he get there? CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I w ...  Show more