The US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are currently stranded on the ISS. They arrived on the Boeing Starliner, which was meant to bring them home after eight days. Unfortunately, it has run into tech issues, meaning that the astronauts may be stuck up there for up to eight months. We started to ponder, what could an extended period of being stuck in space do to your body? Next we look to the world of psychedelics research, which has currently got itself a little bit stuck. We also find out more about the Haraldskær Woman, discovered preserved in a Danish bog in the 1800s. Mads Ravn, head of archaeology, research and collections at the Vejle Museums in Denmark, reveals the stories behind the bog bodies and explains how they ended up stuck in the mud. And staying with the theme of stickiness, we find out what Neanderthals used as glue. That, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Kai Kupferschmidt Producer: Harrison Lewis, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Noa Dowling. Sound engineer: Mike Mallen
At the weekend I was reading about a character described as the antihero of space.
Now astronauts are more your classic hero types, a bit like olympic athletes.
They have this optimism in humanity's potential and wonder at the joys of the universe.
That generally makes me want to be a better person.
Toyohiro Akiyama was not your typical astronaut.
In fact, he wasnt an astronaut at all.
The first civilian and first japanese person in space, journalist Akiyama spent a week aboard the russian Mir space station and hated it.
You know how some people get motion sick in cars.
Well, space is apparently worse.
His fellow cosmonauts said theyd never seen anyone be so sick.
To make matters worse, Akiyama had given up cigarettes for the trip and spent his time not so much wondering at the earth from afar, more desperately wishing he could have a path.
There's so much to love about his very human reactions to being stuck in space, even though he's labelled an antihero.
To me the emphasis is definitely on the hero.
I'm Marnie Chesterton from the BBC World Service.
This is unexpected elements and I'm not here alone.
I'm joined as ever by a team of journalists from around the world.
In Brazil we have Camilla Mota.
Welcome, Camilla.
Oy, Marnie.
Hello.