Beyond the Periodic Table

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You interact with about two-thirds of the elements of the periodic table every day. Some, like carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, make up our bodies and the air we breathe. Yet there is also a class of elements so unstable they can only be made in a lab. These superheavy elements are the purview of a small group stretching the boundaries of chemistry. Can they extend the periodic table beyond the 118 in it now? Find out scientists are using particle accelerators to create element 120 and why they’ve skipped over element 119. Plus, if an element exists for only a fraction of a second in the lab, can we still say that counts as existing? Guests: Mark Miodownik – professor of materials and society at the University of College London and the author of “It’s a Gas: The Sublime and Elusive Elements That Expand Our World.” Kit Chapman – Science historian at Falmouth University, author of “Superheavy; Making and Breaking the Periodic Table.” Jennifer Pore – Research Scientist of Heavy Elements at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:05.1	This episode is brought to you by Shopify.
0:08.0	With Shopify, 2026 is the year you make it happen.
0:11.7	It gives you the tools to build your dream store, online and in person.
0:16.0	Plus, with marketing built-in, it'll help you reach exactly who you need to.
0:20.4	Join the millions who've already made the leap,
0:22.8	like Jim Shark and all birds, and ring in the new year with Shopify. Sign up for your £1 per
0:29.8	month trial at Shopify.com.uk.combe. Spotify. Seth here, as Einstein told us, time is relative. Of course, he was talking about moving clocks,
0:43.3	but when it comes to fundraising, time is absolute.
0:46.3	As you know, in 2025, big picture science went independent. Now we've launched our first fundraising campaign,
0:53.3	and as NASA will tell you, there's no such thing as a free launch.
0:57.7	Well, technically, our launch is free. It's the program production that isn't.
1:02.5	One thing that hasn't changed about our program, your donations remain tax deductible.
1:07.6	So check out our new fundraising platform on givebutter.com and show your support for
1:13.3	big picture science and independent journalism. That's give butter.com slash bi-P-P-S-I-S-C-I. The clock is ticking,
1:25.3	and we hope you'll speedily head over to the Give Butter page at
1:29.1	givebutter.com slash Pai Psi. Thank you. Thank you.
1:39.2	For every branch of science, there is usually an idea so fundamental, so revolutionary,
1:50.0	that it reorganizes the way we think about things.
1:53.0	In chemistry, that idea is the periodic table, the simple yet ingenious way,
1:58.0	in which we organize elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon.
2:01.6	And for chemists, it is our big icon.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Big Picture Science, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Big Picture Science and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.