How rare are Greenland’s rare earth elements?

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

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Summary

President Trump has his sights set on Greenland. If he succeeds, what mineral wealth will he find there? Adrian Finch, Professor of Geology at St Andrews University has been visiting Greenland for more than 3 decades and explains what so called ‘rare earth elements’ are found in Greenland and why.

Professor Danny Altmann talks to Tom Whipple about a new project to understand the genetic and metabolic similarities between two illnesses; Long Covid and ME. And Lizzie Gibney, senior physics reporter at Nature brings her pick of the best new science this week.

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk, search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Presenter: Tom Whipple Producer: Clare Salisbury Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts.
0:05.7	Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, The Traitors Uncloaked.
0:12.7	But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's Saturday bonus episodes,
0:18.2	The Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Rylan, and comedy specials
0:22.2	from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffle and Rommashranganathan.
0:25.9	However, and maybe I'm biased, it's really all about the traitors uncoaked.
0:30.3	So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds.
0:35.0	Hello, welcome to Inside Science from the BBC World Service.
0:40.0	I'm Tom Whipple.
0:41.5	This week, if, hypothetically, you're a proud dealmaker who wants to invade a very large Arctic island and extract its resources,
0:51.0	how much money could you really make?
0:53.4	And is long COVID just a particular instance
0:56.7	of the disease M.E? And if so, can looking at both help us treat both? And our global
1:05.0	science guy, Roland P's, has been speaking with the astronomers keeping an eye on a very near-earth fly-by, or even collision, set for 2032.
1:17.2	Then, to go through the best of the studies from the science journals, I will also be joined by nature journalist Lizzie Gidney.
1:24.9	Lizzie, give us the tease.
1:26.8	We have some studies mimicking the way that octopus is
1:30.2	camouflage and the discovery of some of the first poison tip to arrows. Fabulous. We'll look forward to
1:36.8	that. But first, imagine the scenario. It's 2028. At last, the stars and stripes flutter in the icy breeze above the new capital of Greenland, Trump-Topia.
1:51.1	Visiting the 52nd state, Trump promises, in an unexpected nod to the days of Eric the Red, to make Greenland great again.
2:04.3	But as the great deal maker adds a lot of polar bears to the US census, will he find the continent to be a profitable endeavour in the business as well as
2:11.3	security sense? Does it really have the mineral riches some suggest? Let's leave Futurology behind and chat to Adrian Finch, Professor of Geology at St Andrews University.
	...

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