Periodic Table of Death and Mystery

Platinum. “Rare, pure, eternal.” And expensive. A jeweler’s slogan that perfectly describes this periodic table element. Perfect for coins—or so you’d think. But platinum is actually too hard and rare. It is used for wedding rings because it doesn’t wear away as easily as silver and gold. Which brings us back to those jewelers and to a heist that netted everything but the kitchen sink—including a plethora of platinum bars.

What started out as the search for the origin of the police slang, “copper” (Copper badges?), ended up as a poignant reminder of historical pain and resilience of enslaved people during a Charleston, South Carolina archaeological dig.

Research about Titanium dioxide and a lawsuit over the candy Skittles turned out to be less than tongue-in-cheek cute. Instead, let’s stamp a disclaimer warning right up front: the information extracted from extensive reading on this topic is … concerning. Or is it?

This podcast will the introduce 4-inch-long cockroaches, giant millipedes up to 8 feet long, and dragonflies the size of pigeons of the Carboniferous era (323 to 299 million years ago) and ask the question: Why were bugs so BIG 300 million years ago? The answer in no small part is because of oxygen (O), the 8th element of the periodic table and one most life on earth can’t live without.

In Paris, at the Institut du Radium, Madame Marie Curie, looked over graduates of the class of 1929 and selected the top student, Marguerite Perey (who was only 19 years old), to come and work as her technician. Perey discovered and named Francium, and, like her mentor before her, became a beacon for women in science everywhere. 

In part one of the beryllium (Be) story, you learned that four atomic cores were created for the Manhattan Project, but only three were detonated. The fourth core, nicknamed Rufus, continued to be used in further research … until it killed two careless scientists who mishandled the beryllium tamper. That’s when its name was changed to the Demon Core. 

This podcast was initially inspired by the 2023 movie, Oppenheimer, and the Manhattan Project which means it has a New Mexico connection (Yay!). Because, while the use of a Beryllium tamper saved the lives of numerous scientists working with radioactive materials at Los Alamos, mistakes could be fatal (Boo!).

Sometimes the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery comes very close to home.

She was from a prominent family in her small, insular town, and he worked as the manager at a brothel. She was eighteen when they met and he was thirty-six and married. She became pregnant with his child before he was shot, dead from the lead of a bullet fired in anger.

His name was José Ramirez, but everyone called him Joe.

Some formsof chromium are incredibly toxic. Just ask Hinkley, California. Others are in your daily multivitamin because chromium plays an important role in sugar metabolism and mood improvement. So, what happens if a person doesn’t get enough chromium in their diet and does it really have a link to gummy bears?

In 1975, an obscure Iron ore ship disappeared under the waters of Lake Superior, but the tale of its last voyage became immortalized in 1976 by the singer Gordon Lightfoot as The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It’s a heartfelt ballad that transports the listener into the gales of November and leaves them aching for the Fitz’s lost crew.

Did you know Gallium is so safe, you can buy it online and let your kids play with it? So what does it kill? Infectious bacteria! Remember those face masks we all slapped on our faces a couple of years ago? Gallium-doped fabrics and regeneration matrices are powering up anti-infection, anti-viral mediums in medicine, and preventing anti-bacterial resistance.

Host Laura Haas steps into Studio B to talk with Carol Potenza, award-winning mystery author and creator of the Periodic Table of Death and Mystery podcast. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to peak into the mind that transformed the periodic table into a playground for murder and mayhem.

Arsenic? Really? Too easy since it’s one of the most toxic substances on earth. But when mixed properly arsenic creates some beautiful paint colors and dyes: rich lemon yellow, brilliant red-orange, and a gorgeous emerald green. And humans wouldn’t do anything stupid with those colors like dye cloth for clothes, decorate children’s toys, or use it in cloth book covers. Right?

Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter wore a top hat made of felt—but not the felt you find in craft stores and kindergartens. This felt was made of mercury-treated animal fur. For those who prepared the felt and created the hats, mercury had a devastating effect on the brain and neurological systems. And the actual history of how mercury became a part of the felting industry is, well, yuck.

Let’s introduce Cesium casually, nonthreateningly, so I don’t scare away non-conspiracy theorists, because it looks like Cesium is going to take a dive into UAPs and USOs. Don’t know what those are? Well, my friends, a little transmedium travel on Alien Spacecraft might be right up your alley.

Sapphires are made up of a mixture of aluminum and oxygen slightly contaminated with titanium and iron. Get rid of the contamination, and aluminum oxide is completely transparent. That’s right: Transparent aluminum. Now where have we heard that term before?