Our Changing World

Thallium is most famous for some infamous poisoned family cases & its appearance in an Agatha Christie novel solved a medical mystery, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 84 of Elemental. Read more Audio

A discovery from the chemically prolific Swedish village of Ytterby, terbium produced the green on old TV sets & adds security to Euro notes, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 83 of Elemental. Read more Audio

By the end of this year Predator-Free Wellington hopes that the eastern suburbs on the Miramar Peninsula will be free from rat and stoats. Read more Audio

Tellurium is a metalloid often found with gold and the US town Telluride is named after it, says Prof Allan Blackman, in ep 82 of Elemental. Read more Audio

Technetium was the first element on the periodic table to be synthesised. It is rare, radioactive and has only a few uses, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 81 of Elemental. Read more Audio

Victoria University researchers are radio-tracking urban rats in Wellington city suburbs to find out how large their home ranges are, to help improve predator-free trapping efforts. Read more Audio

The metal tantalum is usually found with the element niobium, has a very high melting point but is a 'conflict mineral', says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 80 of Elemental. Read more Audio

Sulfur is responsible for some very bad smells, is the number one industrial chemical and is also an essential element, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 79 of Elemental. Read more Audio

Kākā and kea are well-known for being intelligent, and PhD student Daniel Donoghue is interested in how they learn new things. Read more Audio