In a year when billions of people have been to the ballot box, what do stickleback fish have to do with it? Alex Lathbridge, Tristan Ahtone and Candice Bailey discuss some unexpected elements of electoral studies.Can ancient geology really map election outcomes? What has machine learning done for polling? Psychologist Sandra Obradović drops in to share some of her expertise in the psychology of voting with the team.Plus, what does a solar eclipse have to do with dragons?Presenter: Alex Lathbridge, with Tristan Ahtone and Candice Bailey Producer: Katie Tomsett, with Harrison Lewis, Alex Mansfield and Phil Sansom

Can you put a price on the perfect athlete? In baseball you can, and that’s a $700 million dollar contract. Shoehi Ohtani took to the field in Seoul for the LA Dodgers to prove that the big cheque was worth it. It has Marnie asking – can you predict if one of your kids will become the G.O.A.T – the Greatest of All Time in any sport? She’ll also be investigating the other kind of goat – I'd say ordinary, but these ones are fighting wildfires. We bring you the curious tale of a never-before-seen beach pebble washing up on the shores of a remote island. What are they? And get the lowdown on the most unpleasant sounding ultramarathons after a 40-year-old Scottish woman completes a race SO hard that only 20 people have finished . Plus, gravitational waves, home-grown antivenom, and listening on double speed. Can your brain take it? Presented by Marnie Chesterton, Phillys Mwatee and Camilla Mota.Produced by Harrison Lewis with Tom Bonnett, Jack Lee and Cath Mcghee.

In a week of headlines about water shortages slowing ships in the Panama Canal and drought in India's Silicon Valley, we look at unexpected ways to manage the world’s water. Presenter Marnie Chesterton and panellists Chhavi Sachdev in Mumbai, India, and Meral Jamal in Nunavut, Canada, tell stories of innovative ideas being tried in their parts of the world. Marnie meets water detective Barbara Sherwood Lollar, professor in earth sciences at the University of Toronto, to hear how ancient water can help us plan for the future. Plus, how submersible speakers can help corals, and stories of living underground. Producer: Dan Welsh with Tom Bonnett, Harrison Lewis, Jack Lee, Katie Tompsett and Emily Preston.

Passionate K-Pop fans send us on a journey into the science of fandom. Panellists Andrada Fiskutean in Bucharest, Romania and Tristan Ahtone in Helsinki, Finland bring us stories of Star Trek’s sci-fi utopias, why allegiances affect our behaviour and how a cunning sea creature chooses which side of itself to reveal. Presenter Marnie Chesterton meets one of her heroes - American theoretical cosmologist and particle physicist Dr Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who helps Marnie understand the universe with lyrical beauty.

As award season reaches its climax in the US, Unexpected Elements holds its own glitzy ceremony.Which bit of science will win Best Picture? Who will take home the Best Supporting Actor? And will Prof Elaine Chew play us out with her Best Original Music?The nominations include a particularly noisy tiny fish, a sweating mannequin, and a composition based on a misbehaving heartbeat. All this plus your correspondence and a discussion of how far science infuses the real Academy Awards.Presented by Marnie Chesterton with Godfred Boafo and Camilla Moto.Featuring pianist Elaine Chew, Professor of Engineering at Kings College London.Produced by Alex Mansfield, with Tom Bonnet, Harrison Lewis, Dan Welsh and Katie Tomsett.

As the leap year helps to keep us in sync with the sun, we turn our attention to the natural world. There is no simple solution to stop forces like climate change that are sending nature out of sync. We’re seeing flowers such as Japan’s famous cherry blossom blooming early because of warmer weather. Some pollinators are emerging only to find the plants they rely on have been and gone. But, within the natural world, there also incredible stories of animal synchrony that offer hope and that we could learn from. We meet the Cape Ground Squirrels who appear to be adapting to sweltering summers, fireflies who offer a model for understanding the relationships between objects and hear about a ‘perfect’ solar system in which all planets are in sync.Plus, the underwater mountain range discovered in Chile, a listener asks a question about keeping time and we hear what you’ve been getting in touch about over the past week.

Reflecting on Kelvin Kiptum's marathon success and East African dominance, the podcast delves into the secrets of running abilities and AI's future impact. From bipedal robots to mental endurance in sports, it explores the science behind athletic achievements and ecosystem disruptions caused by invasive species.

Ahead of international Random Acts of Kindness Day, Marnie Chesterton and an invited panel look at some of the science behind nature’s better nature.Are mother spiders in Africa behind the ultimate act of kindness? How are lightning and lava lamps involved in the quest for a truly random number? And the engineer trying to bring more compassion to the machines we use every day.We also hear about the technology helping archaeologists discover lost worlds in South America, the maths that might benefit your love life, and Marnie receives her very own random act of kindness - a surprise trip to a lab to meet some of the most extraordinary creatures on the planet.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Camilla Mota Producer: Dan Welsh, with Tom Bonnett, Katie Tomsett and Alex Mansfield

The podcast explores the future of brain implants and the potential risks and benefits they pose to privacy. They also discuss a study mapping the pathways of a small brain and the possibility of using tattoos to indicate health. Other topics include self-powered sensors, a correlation between smiling and losing in mixed martial arts fights, the nutritional benefits of fresh squeezed juice, and the history of animal spies.

This week, the world’s largest cruise ship set sail from Miami. Whilst a cruise holiday may be appealing to some, there is also a long history of disease spreading around the world via ships. Marnie and the panel take a look at the reasons why and the resulting impact on public health policies. It’s not just humans and microbes that are hitching a ride aboard sea vessels. Animals such as mussels can cling on to ship hulls, exposing previously pristine environments to potentially invasive species. We hear how scientists are tackling this problem with novel polymer lubricants. And we’re not done yet with marine creatures creating big issues. Professor John Parnell tells us the huge impact microscopic phytoplankton has had on Earth’s geology, and how the stuff in your pencils could actually be the bodies of long dead plankton... Plus, we explore the latest developments in rhino IVF, say ‘saluton’ to our Esperanto listeners and answer a question about going grey. And as Alabama uses nitrogen to execute a prisoner, we look at the science behind death penalty drugs. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Yangyang Cheng and Philistiah Mwatee Producer: Sophie Ormiston, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Alex Mansfield, Dan Welsh, Harrison Lewis, Katie Tomsett and Jack Lee Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris