Chhavi Sachdev

Monty the giant schnauzer won best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. And rather than thinking of all things canine, this week the Unexpected Elements team turn their attention to all things giant.
Presenters: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Camilla Mota.
First, we find out how a giant virus could help keep our planet cool.
Next up, we discover the origins of enormous Greek characters, such as the Titans and the Cyclops.We then find out how giant clams put solar panels to shame.
image:By Desaix83, d'après le travail de Kkrzysiu o2 CC

Celebrations for the Lunar New Year kicked off on 29th January, and this year is the Year of the Snake.
We start things off by discussing the purpose of some mysterious serpent markings on the banks of the Orinoco River.
Next, we find out about the origins of snake oil, before digging into the psychology of why we trust snake-like people
Plus, herpetologist Dr Mark O’Shea tells us all about his work identifying snakes, and what happened when he got bitten.
Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Christine Yohannes. image CC license

December is a time of celebration, family feuds, and now scientific rivalries. It's also one of the most wasteful months of the year, with festivities in full swing across the globe.

Unexpected Elements dives headfirst into the scientific bin to wallow in waste. Could worms be the unexpected heroes of our plastic pollution crisis? How much garbage have we jettisoned into space? And why is part of our very own genome called "junk DNA"?

Come waste an hour with us on Unexpected Elements!

Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Candice Bailey

It’s been 24 years since the release of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, which left audiences captivated by the story of Maximus the gladiator, played by Russell Crowe. Now, Gladiator II is hitting the cinemas, so this week the panel -chhavi sachdev & christine Yohannes- enter the arena to take a look at some gladiatorial science. We hear about an fish that fights in mouth-to-mouth combat, how humans have looked to nature to design better armour, and the perfume that Julius Caesar would have worn. We also talk to Chris Nowinski, a former WWE professional wrestler turned neuroscient about concussion

Chhavi Sachdev looks at two projects in India that turn plastic and cigarette butt waste into everyday products while providing jobs for women living in villages.

The world produces about 400 million tonnes of plastic waste annually. A lot of this waste, such as multi-layered plastic packaging and cigarette butts, is hard to recycle. Instead, it fills up landfills and contaminates the environment.

Two organizations are working on these problems in Pune and Noida - for a solutions journalism programme

After 31 years, a mammoth treasure hunt consisting of solving eleven cryptic clues has finally concluded. A replica of the final prize – a golden owl – was dug up in France, leaving fellow treasure hunters both disappointed and relieved.
Inspired by this pursuit, the Unexpected Elements team unearth some of science’s hidden gems. From the potential resurrection of ancient healing tree balm to the world’s rarest stone, and even how cats could help solve crimes. The team are also joined by astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol to speak about the potential treasures hiding on another moon in our solar

Join Marnie Chesterton and science journalists Chhavi Sachdev and Jes Burns, on their on their Oregon science mission. We investigate building materials of the future, from creative cement alternatives to buildings made of wood, and hear from forest scientist Sarah Jovan about how one humble plant has made huge changes to Portland's air quality.

Plus, we make waves with a new wave energy testing facility, uncover the benefits (or costs) of bamboo alternatives and our panellist fight against the clock to pitch what they think should take the crown of Oregon's Coolest Science.

18 is often considered the start of adulthood? CrowdScience listener Lynda didn't feel very mature back then; but can neuroscience or biology tell us when we’re truly grown up? Chhavi Sachdev contributes from the field in India with two interviews with women who had children quite young: 17 and 22

For the hundreds of people who live in a cluster of villages between India and Pakistan, a map drawn up long ago still causes daily struggles. For 72 years, communities who live by the Ravi on the Indian side have been asking for a permanent bridge, so they can access hospitals, schools, shops, banks. What they have got is a makeshift pontoon bridge, which has to be dismantled for the monsoon season. Journalist Chhavi Sachdev travels to the western part of India to meet the Indian people whose lives are shaped by the Ravi river.

We all know seawater is salty - but why? That's what listener Julie is wondering. She lives near the coast in New Zealand and wants to know how all that salt ended up in the water that washes up on her local beach.
From New Zealand to India, where salt became symbolic of much more than well-seasoned food. Host Chhavi Sachdev searches for answers in salt farms on India's coast, and in a research institute dedicated to all things saline.The team also ventures to a very briny lake on the other side of the globe to find out one way salt makes its way into bodies of water, while an expert in dee

From Olympic torches to zombie fires, we stoke the flames which do not go out
Presenter: Caroline Steel with Philistiah Mwatee and Chhavi Sachdev
You might expect snow to make a solid fire extinguisher, but in Canada, it is somehow keeping embers alight. These ‘Zombie fires’ keep burning through the winter, releasing huge amounts of carbon into the air and enhancing the tinderbox for summer wildfires.
We hear about when the first fires happened on Earth and how we can study ancient fires which have long since gone out. Plus, we unpick the key to monogamy (in mice), why cicadas love prime numbe

Beyonce's new album tops the charts with a reappraisal of who can do country music and the Unexpected Elements team has a hoedown. Panellist Christine Yohannes unearths new research that changes our understanding of the origins of cowboys. Chhavi Sachdev has a thing or two to teach Beyonce as she reveals why the banjo has it's characteristic twang and we meet a man with powerful chemistry - TikTok dance sensation Dr Andre Isaacs from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts tells presenter Marnie Chesterton how dancing in his lab helps explain click chemistry.

"When will we have an HIV vaccine?"

Claudia Hammond is joined by Matt Fox, Professor of Global Health Epidemiology at Boston University, to discuss the latest news about HIV vaccines, funding and treatment from around the world.

We also hear about Super 5, a home-grown nutritional supplement being made by rural women in Rajasthan, in India, to address the problem of child undernutrition and malnutrition reported by Chhavi Sachdev

In a week of headlines about water shortages slowing ships in the Panama Canal and drought in India's Silicon Valley, we look at unexpected ways to manage the world’s water.
Presenter Marnie Chesterton and panellists Chhavi Sachdev in Mumbai, India, and Meral Jamal in Nunavut, Canada, tell stories of innovative ideas being tried in their parts of the world.
Marnie meets water detective Barbara Sherwood Lollar, professor in earth sciences at the University of Toronto, to hear how ancient water can help us plan for the future. Plus, how submersible speakers can help corals, and stories of livi

Could geopolitical tensions around the Red Sea affect research into the region’s heat-resistant super corals? Also on the program, Chhavi Sachdev sheds light on what an ocean that used to lie under the Himalayas can tell us about evolution, the fruit chat continues with the latest chapter in the bananadine saga, and how looking to the past could help create the shipping of the future.