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Unexpected Elements

The world's worst tourist

Unexpected Elements

BBC

Science

4.4566 Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2024

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Following anti-tourism protests across popular Spanish cities and towns, we are looking for the world's most unwelcome visitor. Our panellists (and producers) are pitching their terrible tourists to see who really is the worst of them all. Some of our contenders include...

The wild boars who's unanticipated vacay to Rome has gone on for so long and caused so much carnage that researchers are putting them on birth control.

The microbes potentially hitching a ride to the moon via space probes and astronauts' poo

The multi-destination parasite who wreaks havoc as it interrails through snails (castrating them on the way), frogs (making them spout multiple limbs) and birds.

But there are some instances when tourists can be a good thing - and this is especially the case in the human body when we want to grow a baby. How is in that we are able to protect what should be an 'unwelcome visitor' from a hyperalert, hostile immune system? Our expert Edward Chuong explains.

Plus, we uncover the DNA origins of the world's most popular coffee bean, hear the freeloading activities of the male angular fish, and read out a selection of your wonderful emails.

Presenter: Caroline Steel Panellists: Phillys Mwatee & Christine Yohannes Producer: Julia Ravey Production team: Emily Knight, Noa Dowling Studio manager: Emma Harth

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Can I just say?

0:01.5

You're about to listen to a BBC podcast.

0:04.0

It's such a wonderful listen.

0:05.6

So nice.

0:06.5

There are loads more like it on BBC sounds.

0:08.8

Different paces, different heights.

0:10.6

The roof is buckling.

0:11.9

Where you can also listen to live sports commentary.

0:14.2

It's right foot goes for goal.

0:16.7

And then enjoy even more podcasts full of analysis and reaction to the big stories.

0:21.6

The stat that is astonishing is they ended with the lowest amount of possession.

0:25.2

And she's had to live with that.

0:26.8

So if you love sport, a passion, it's almost like a religion.

0:29.7

Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:31.7

Sort of expecting that every week now.

0:43.2

This summer I've been endlessly irritated by flies circling round the middle of my kitchen. I often find myself staring at them, wondering what on earth they're doing. After years of

0:49.8

puzzling, I finally got a chance to solve the mystery when I met a scientist who did a whole PhD on this

0:56.1

behaviour. He filmed circling flies in slow motion, only to reveal that they aren't actually

1:02.4

flying in circles. They're flying in rectangles. And all the flies are male. They're fighting to be the only fly in the rectangle,

1:13.2

because at some point a female will fly in above

1:16.4

and the winner will swoop up and mate with her.

1:20.0

Mystery solved.

...

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