World Service

A new bridge has just been opened between China and North Korea after a 12-year delay. And that got the Unexpected Elements team thinking about some bridge-related science. We start things off by finding out about the microscopic bridges connecting undersea bacteria. We then delve into bridge-editing, a next-generation gene-editing tool that could be better than CRISPR at altering DNA. Next up, mathematician Dr Kit Yates tells us about the Seven Bridges of Königsberg, a historic puzzle that launched a new type of maths. Also, suitcase malaria, how newborn babies identify their parents, and the creation of a new wildlife crossing. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Kai Kupferschmidt Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Dan Welsh, Lucy Davies and Robbie Wojciechowski