Mining for Gold (GOLD!)
Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain go prospecting for answers about how much gold we've mined.
Curious Cases · BBC Radio 4
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Show Notes
From pharaohs' tombs in Ancient Egypt and medieval currency, to priceless royal jewellery and Spandau Ballet songs - gold has been prized for millennia. But it's only really in the last century or so that we've started uncovering its usefulness in less decorative applications.
Today, gold is used in masses of electricals; it's also revolutionised part of the manufacturing sector by stopping a dangerous reliance on mercury as a catalyst; and it's vital to space missions. Although there are also some more frivolous modern uses for gold, as Hannah and Dara discover. (Gold-leaf in your cocktail, anyone?)
Challenged to find out whether all the world's mined gold would really fit in an Olympic swimming pool, our science-savvy duo discover that this antisocial element might just be the best darn thing on the periodic table...
Contributors: - Graham Hutchings, Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cardiff - Frances Wall, Professor of Applied Mineralogy in the Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter - Tim Peake, Astronaut
Producer: Lucy Taylor Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem A BBC Studios Production