Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

Carol Potenza's monthly podcast, hosted by Laura Haas

Take a coffee break with us--5 to 10 minutes--and explore historical and contemporary mysteries and death surrounding the universal periodic table of elements.

  1. Sep 25

    Xenon, Chernobyl, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

    Have you ever stupidly accepted a challenge, because in the back of your smug little mind you’re thinking, I’m pretty smart/strong/in shape/brave/unafraid/ and I can Google it? That’s how we got here today, folks, with the periodic table element, xenon, because this noble gas element played a significant role in the chain of events that led to a nuclear disaster—suckered by a physicist casually shelling and eating peanuts and talking about xenon poisoning and xenon pits.

    Xenon, Chernobyl, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

  2. Aug 25

    Manganese Part 2, Dark Oxygen Production, and the Periodic Table of DEATH and Mystery, Part 2

    The periodic table element Manganese helps power everything from photosynthesis to batteries. But now it’s at the center of a scientific curfuffle called “dark oxygen.” We’ll follow the backlash from abyssal polymetallic nodules, to a splashy Nature paper, to mining companies with billions on the line—and the microbes that might upend the whole story. Is manganese and dark oxygen a revolution in Earth’s oxygen story or the next cold fusion?

    Manganese Part 2, Dark Oxygen Production, and the Periodic Table of DEATH and Mystery, Part 2

  3. Jul 25

    Manganese, Dark Oxygen, and the Periodic Table of DEATH and Mystery, Part 1

    A metal that hardens steel and drives our batteries might also be powering “dark oxygen” in the abyssal depths of the ocean? Or is it …? Let’s dive into manganese, polymetallic nodules, and a paradigm-shifting claim that the seafloor is secretly making its own air, which could change everything we know about how life on Earth started and give us a glimpse into possible life on even the darkest planets in the Universe.

    Manganese, Dark Oxygen, and the Periodic Table of DEATH and Mystery, Part 1

  4. Jul 4 ·  Bonus

    Zirconium, False Teeth, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

    Zirconium is a silvery, heat‑resistant metal, first identified as an element in 1789 and later prized for use in nuclear reactors, turbines, and spacecraft. Today, its ceramic form—zirconium dioxide, or zirconia—is used to make strong, tooth‑colored dental implants instead of hippo ivory or human “Waterloo teeth,” a twist on this 250th Independence Day George Washington could never have imagined. So, from Washington’s dentures and battlefield tooth markets to modern zirconia implants, listen to how zirconium reshaped the story of false teeth on this episode of the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery.

    Zirconium, False Teeth, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

  5. Jun 25

    Tantalum, Trepanation, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

    Tantalum: In 1965, a Dutch medical student drilled a hole in his own skull chasing a “higher” consciousness. In World War II, neurosurgeons drilled into the already shattered heads of soldiers for a higher purpose—to make their lives worth living. Inside those wounded skulls, they slid in a strange, almost untouchable metal named for one of Zeus’s worst sons: Tantalus. In this episode, we follow the path from self‑trepanation cults to wartime cranioplasty and ask what it means to have Tantalus’s metal quietly guarding a living brain for a lifetime.

    Tantalum, Trepanation, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

  6. May 25

    Potassium, Killer Bananas, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

    Potassium is necessary for life because it’s necessary for cellular function. Our cells are literally built on the electric charge that occurs with the movement of potassium (+ charge) across cell membranes. Simplified, yes, but the ingestion of too much potassium can kill. We know that bananas contain excellent levels of potassium. Can you put yourself in danger by eating too many bananas? This podcast does the math!

    Potassium, Killer Bananas, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

  7. Apr 25

    Sodium, Triangulation, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

    In this episode, we’re going “back to the salt mines”—literally. From Roman salarium and Egyptian natron to a Louisiana lake that suddenly drained itself into a salt dome, we’re talking sodium, salt, and how one triangulation error nearly swallowed an entire drilling operation—and 55 miners—with it.

    Sodium, Triangulation, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

  8. Mar 25

    Scandium, Baseball, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

    If you played baseball or softball as a kid after the mid-1970s, you most likely swung an aluminum bat in the on-deck circle. And if you play now in an intramural city league trying to relive the glory days of your youth (don’t deny it), you will step up to the plate with a scandium-aluminum alloy bat. So, it’s not a mystery how you pulled a muscle hot-footing it to second on that very obvious single.

    Scandium, Baseball, and the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery
See All (46)

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About

Take a coffee break with us--5 to 10 minutes--and explore historical and contemporary mysteries and death surrounding the universal periodic table of elements.

Information

  • Creator
    Carol Potenza's monthly podcast, hosted by Laura Haas
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Carol Potenza's monthly podcast, hosted by Laura Haas
  • Show Website
    Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

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