Silent science
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 566 Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2025
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sparked by a silent album released by 1,000 musicians in protest of the UK government’s planned changes to copyright law, Unexpected Elements hits the pause button... Is there any science to silence?
Fear not, this week’s show is packed full of chatter! You might think there’s only one type of silence, but supposedly exists in political science too. In fact, there are seven distinct types.
If you're a techy you probably have a pair of noise cancelling headphones. But have you ever wondered how they work? We’ll take them apart to figure out how they work. Plus, dive into the fascinating world of gene silencing, definitely one of the coolest areas of genetics. Learn how this cutting-edge technology could help protect our crops from pests in the future.
Later, Caroline is joined by her two wonderful panellists to contemplate and reflect on silence, when might it be harmful? And does true silence even exist?
All that and many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenters: Caroline Steel, Candice Bailey and Kai Kupferschmidt
Producers: Harrison Lewis, with William Hornbrook, Debbie Kilbride and Noa Dowling
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In 2019, we began investigating the disappearance of Dr. Ruzha Ignatva. |
| 0:08.0 | I believe we are a very special network. |
| 0:10.0 | A scammer who stole billions from investors around the world. |
| 0:15.0 | She's on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. |
| 0:18.0 | And now, we have some unmissable updates. She has money and when you have |
| 0:23.0 | money, you have power. Join me, Jamie Bartlett, as the hunt for the missing crypto queen continues. |
| 0:29.5 | Listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.2 | This week, I had to record myself cycling for a show I'm making about the science of exercise. |
| 0:42.7 | I jumped on my bike, microphone in one hand, handlebars in the other. And you can probably |
| 0:48.6 | guess how that went. Balancing, impossible. No problem, I thought. I have a clip on microphone, so I attached that to my coat and went for a ride around my local neighbourhood. |
| 1:00.0 | But when I listened back to the audio, all I could hear was the sound of my coat rubbing against my jeans. |
| 1:06.2 | Another fail. |
| 1:07.5 | Frustrated but determined I gave it one last shot. |
| 1:10.5 | This time attaching the microphone |
| 1:12.0 | directly to my bike. Genius. And after another neighbourhood cycle, I pressed play. Ready to hear the |
| 1:19.1 | rhythmic hum of peddling, the gentle click of spokes, but no. Silence. I'd forgotten to turn on |
| 1:26.9 | the microphone. So no usable audio, but hey, at least I did some exercise. I'm Caroline Steele from the BBC World Service. This is Unexpected Elements. On unexpected elements each week, we look at a new story that you might have heard of |
| 1:55.1 | and use that as a chance to talk about stories from the wonderful world of science that you've probably not heard of. |
| 2:01.4 | Basically, we start off masquerading as a new show and then things start to get really nerdy. |
| 2:07.6 | Here's a clip with a clue as to what's coming this week. |
| 2:12.1 | Did you catch that? Hold on a second. Here it is again. |
| 2:17.2 | Did you get it that time? I'll give you one more go. |
... |
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