All articles by Michael Freemantle

  • Variety of mineral pigments used in painting
    Podcast

    Ochre

    2020-12-04T16:37:00Z

    How one of mankind’s oldest pigments helped shepherds secure their sheep and inspired one of the most popular songs of the twentieth century

  • A surgeon dabs antiseptic onto a patient's skin before surgery
    Podcast

    Chlorhexidine

    2020-11-13T18:12:00Z

    An antimicrobial compound that kills bacteria and viruses quickly – found in some of the most colourful antiseptic solutions 

  • Gypsum crystals of the Naica cave
    Podcast

    Gypsum

    2020-08-07T14:33:00Z

    From Lavoisier’s experiments with plaster of paris to the the ‘Sistine Chapel of crystals’ in Mexico, Mike Freemantle explores the history of gypsum 

  • Pannage pigs in the New Forest
    Podcast

    Tannic acid

    2020-07-24T19:55:00Z

    Tannic acid in green acorns can kill wild animals and livestock, but you can prevent poisoning with pannage pigs

  • A bone china tea set painted with blue flowers
    Podcast

    Porcelain

    2020-06-19T14:00:00Z

    Mike Freemantle on the art, history and science of this delicate, translucent ceramic material

  • An artistic representation of a stomach ulcer
    Podcast

    Cimetidine

    2020-06-05T13:00:00Z

    Mike Freemantle introduces the peptic ulcer treatment cimetidine, which – as Tagamet – became the first blockbuster drug

  • Fisherman holds up a fish poisoned by cyanide on the Tisza river
    Podcast

    Sodium cyanide

    2020-01-31T10:00:00Z

    This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Baia Mare disaster, when toxic sodium cyanide spilled from a gold processing plant led to ecological damage on a huge scale.

  • An assortment of cobalt blue glass bottles
    Podcast

    Cobalt oxide

    2020-01-17T11:42:00Z

    From ancient Egyptian pottery to distinctive blue bottles, cobalt oxide has been providing ‘chemically and artistically perfect’ pigments for centuries

  • An angry black labrador
    Podcast

    Iminosugars

    2019-12-13T15:00:00Z

    After some promising results treating ill pets, some researchers think iminosugars could become treatments for infection and even cancer. Mike Freemantle explores the buzz around iminohoney

  • The Hindenburg airship
    Podcast

    Allicin

    2019-11-15T15:59:00Z

    It helps prevent garlic plants from marauding insects and should have prevented the Hindenburg disaster – Mike Freemantle on allicin and the smell of freshly crushed garlic

  • Bothrops jararaca
    Podcast

    Ramipril

    2019-10-04T13:47:00Z

    How a Brazilian scientist’s knowledge of viper venom led to the discovery of a whole class of medication for high blood pressure. With Mike Freemantle

  • Surgeons or doctor hands with protective glove hold sponge holding a sterilzed gauze with antiseptic liquid
    Podcast

    Boric acid

    2019-08-30T09:28:00Z

    Mike Freemantle revisits battlefield surgery to investigate boric acid, a key part of Dakin's antiseptic solution used extensively in the first world war

  • Hydrogen sulfide hot spring in Iceland
    Podcast

    Hydrogen sulfide

    2019-08-09T09:30:00Z

    Mike Freemantle finds the connection between Land of Hope and Glory and the noxious, corrosive, flammable gas that stinks of rotten eggs

  • Dental exam
    Podcast

    Zinc polycarboxylate

    2019-07-19T11:00:00Z

    Lay back in the chair and say 'Ahh', as Mike Freemantle introduces zinc polycarboxylate dental cement

  • amber resin tree sap
    Podcast

    Amber

    2019-05-23T13:58:00Z

    Mike Freemantle introduces amber – the valuable organic gemstone that invests unwary insects in a durable tomb

  • Arrowroot crop in Bermuda
    Podcast

    Starch

    2019-04-19T09:31:00Z

    Inspired by a mention of arrowroot in Jane Austen's Emma, Mike Freemantle investigates how subtle differences in composition mean starch can be resistant dietary fibre or easily-digested nourishment.

  • Sea buckthorn berries and oil
    Podcast

    Tocopherols

    2019-03-29T15:08:00Z

    Mike Freemantle discovers sea buckthorn fruits also called 'beauty berries' because of their high concentration of tocopherols and tocotrienols, collectively known as vitamin E

  • Feather pen, inkwell and letter
    Podcast

    Ferrous sulfate

    2019-03-01T14:38:00Z

    The iron compound that has been turning oak gall extract into indelible ink for centuries, but is now eating though our ancient manuscripts and musical scores

  • A UH- 1D helicopter from the 336th Aviation Company sprays a agent orange on a dense jungle area in the Mekong delta - Illustration
    Podcast

    Cacodyl

    2019-01-25T14:30:00Z

    It made Robert Bunsen seriously ill, Michael Faraday thought it 'barbaric' to use in battle and even Fritz Haber – the 'father of chemical warfare' – abandoned it after a fatal accident in his lab. This week, Mike Freemantle tells the story of tetramethyldiarsine, otherwise known as cacodyl.

  • Pile of rusty First World War One artillery grenade shells
    Feature

    The great war clean-up

    2018-11-11T09:29:00Z

    A century after the end of the first world war, the task of disposing of old chemical weapons continues. Michael Freemantle reports