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Unexpected Elements

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

The news you know, the science you don’t.

The news you know, the science you don’t. Unexpected Elements looks beyond everyday narratives to discover a goldmine of scientific stories and connections from around the globe. From Afronauts, to why we argue, to a deep dive on animal lifespans: see the world in a new way.

The Science Hour

Unexpected Elements: Orion Test Launch Successful

Orion Launch

06/12/2014

Orion Test Launch Successful

BBC World Service - Unexpected Elements, Orion Test Launch Successful

Nasa’s new Orion crew capsule took to the sky and completed its maiden, unmanned voyage

Nasa’s new Orion crew capsule took to the sky and completed its maiden, unmanned voyage.

Orion’s Test Launch
Nasa’s new Orion crew capsule took to the sky, orbited Earth twice and successfully completed its maiden, unmanned voyage with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico. Its brief 4.5-hour flight was intended to test its critical technologies, like the heat shield and those parachutes, but Orion has been built to eventually carry humans beyond the Space Station to destinations such as the Moon and Mars, marking the beginning of a new era in spaceflight.  

HIV Virulence
Could HIV one day be almost harmless? The HIV virus is becoming weaker and one day in the future might even become 'almost harmless'. New research shows that it is taking longer for HIV infections to cause AIDS. There is a difference between the strength of the virus in Botswana, where it has been present for a long time, and in South Africa where HIV arrived a decade later. Claudia speaks with research scientist Maximillian Muenchoff.

Painkiller Addictions
Painkillers are widely available over-the-counter, and combinations containing codeine, which is addictive, can be purchased from pharmacists and on the internet. Addictions researcher, Dr Sally Marlow, investigates fears that easy access to powerful painkillers could be creating a large, but hidden problem of addiction. She talks to University of London toxicologist, Dr John Ramsey, professor Fabrizio Shiffano, an expert on drugs on the web from the University of Hertfordshire in the UK, and a teenage girl, Alice, who suffered from a painkiller addiction.

Climate Defence Plans
Hundreds of United Nations-backed projects for the world's poorest countries to cope with the impacts of climate change have gathered dust for years and are at risk of never being completed, a BBC investigation has revealed. According to officials and experts in the affected countries, lack of funding is the main reason. Environment correspondent, Navin Singh Khadka, reports from Central Nepal where a failure to receive climate funds has been disastrous.

Airport Security
After the attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001, airport security was tightened up and ever since new measures have been introduced to try to keep passengers safe. But despite the checks, other would-be bombers have managed to evade security. Traditionally a 'suspicious signs' approach has been used but it has not ever been tested systematically in the field. Surprised by this, two psychology professors, Coral Dando from Wolverhampton University and Tom Ormerod from Sussex University in the UK, set out to design a new psychological questioning method to detect deception amongst airline passengers. They tried it in several major airports around the world and compared it to the 'suspicious signs' method.

Peek Vision
Peek Vision offers a new device that aims to enable cheap and affordable eye tests done with a special clip attached to a mobile phone. Diseases such as glaucoma can be detected with this enhanced mobile phone yielding results that are comparable to much more expensive high-end dedicated medical equipment. Trials have been going on in Kenya, and the Peek Vision kit can now be preordered. Gareth Mitchell talks to Peek Vision's Dr Andrew Bastawrous and Stewart Jordan - and from other members of the team.

Ebola Song 
In Sierra Leone, the fight against Ebola continues and one of the ways information about the disease has been disseminated to the public is through music. Musician and Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Mustapha Bai Attila has just released eight songs about Ebola, some of which have been translated into local dialects. He tells Health Check why he thinks music is an effective way of getting health messages across.

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