Chemistry in its element podcast – compounds – Page 18

  • Smoked fish
    Podcast

    Guaiacol

    2013-12-04T00:00:00Z

    This week, Ben Valsler investigates the smoky compound that links whisky, kippers, bacon, hot dogs, coffee, creosote and cough syrup

  • Lawnmower
    Podcast

    Hexenal

    2013-11-27T00:00:00Z

    For many, it’s the smell of spring and summer. But hexenal - responsible for the aroma of freshly cut grass - makes Simon Cotton think of cricket.

  • Soldiers in the trenches. Reconstruction of World War 2
    Podcast

    Potassium bromide

    2013-11-20T00:00:00Z

    Did chemistry help control tension in the trenches? Brian Clegg investigates potassium bromide

  • Napalm
    Podcast

    Napalm

    2013-11-13T00:00:00Z

    A devastating weapon indelibly associated with Apocalypse Now and the Vietnam war, Simon Cotton introduces Napalm

  • Tamoxifen
    Podcast

    Tamoxifen

    2013-11-06T00:00:00Z

    Tamoxifen can treat and prevent one type of breast cancer, without the side effects of chemotherapy. Andrew Holding explains more

  • Tasting something bitter
    Podcast

    Phenylthiocarbamide

    2013-10-30T00:00:00Z

    By tasting fantastically bitter, but only to some, phenylthiocarbamide (or PTC) exposed the genetics of taste

  • Reading glasses
    Podcast

    Nitinol

    2013-10-23T00:00:00Z

    Sitting on your glasses is no longer a death sentence for spectacles, thanks to shape memory alloys like nitinol

  • Titin
    Podcast

    Titin

    2013-10-16T00:00:00Z

    It’s a massive molecular record breaker. Andrew Holding introduces Titin, the largest protein in the human body

  • Spanish fly
    Podcast

    Spanish fly

    2013-10-10T00:00:00Z

    Helen Scales looks at cantharidin, the active ingredient in this famous aphrodisiac

  • Happy person
    Podcast

    Serotonin

    2013-10-02T00:00:00Z

    Serotonin, the ‘happy molecule’, may be at the root of depression, but Hayley Birch finds we still have a lot to learn

  • absinthe
    Podcast

    Thujone

    2013-09-25T00:00:00Z

    Wrongly blamed for murders and hallucinations, Simon Cotton raises a glass of absinthe to this week’s compound: Thujone

  • Sperm whale
    Podcast

    Ambergris

    2013-09-18T00:00:00Z

    How can whale waste make you a fortune? This week, Helen Scales searches for Ambergris

  • Wilkinson's catalyst
    Podcast

    Wilkinson's catalyst

    2013-09-06T00:00:00Z

    Simon Cotton introduces the dynamic Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson, and the catalyst that carries his name

  • Deadly Nightshade
    Podcast

    Atropine

    2013-09-04T00:00:00Z

    The poison from deadly nightshade, used in a recent attempted murder - Dan Johnson introduces atropine

  • Suncream
    Podcast

    Zinc oxide

    2013-08-28T00:00:00Z

    Brian Clegg is taken back to his childhood by zinc oxide

  • Organic photovoltaic cell
    Podcast

    Polyacetylene

    2013-08-21T00:00:00Z

    David Lindsay explores the first of the conducting organic polymers, polyacetylene

  • Lobster
    Podcast

    Chitin

    2013-08-14T00:00:00Z

    It’s the compound that creates a lucrative market from leftover lobster. Emma Stoye introduces chitin

  • Cyclists
    Podcast

    Erythropoietin

    2013-08-08T00:00:00Z

    Developed to save lives, its potential to give cheats an edge was soon identified. David Lindsay explores erythropoietin

  • Curcumin
    Podcast

    Curcumin

    2013-07-31T00:00:00Z

    For an aromatic curry and, potentially, a healthier life, Simon Cotton recommends curcumin

  • Film roll
    Podcast

    Cellulose acetate

    2013-07-24T00:00:00Z

    It kept the explosions on the silver screen instead of in the projection booth - Brian Clegg on cellulose acetate