Zirconium is a shape-shifting tough cookie, that is a tale of gemstones, medical implants and nuclear reactors, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 98 of Elemental.

Zirconium is a metal that is a shape-shifting tough cookie.

It is found in gemstones - think zircons and cubic zirconia, often known as 'fake diamond.' Zirconia is nearly as hard as diamond and it is a refractory material that is pretty impervious to heat and pressure.

Zircons are tiny geological time capsules containing trace amounts of uranium and thorium that geologists can use to work out how old they are.

Zirconium alloyed with tin is used in nuclear reactors as it doesn't corrode and isn't itself radioactive, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 98 of Elemental.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Zinc is a very useful metal that turns up in everything from sunscreen to paint, & galvanised metals to cereals, as well as brass instruments, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 97 of Elemental.

The major use of zinc is to galvanise steel in order to stop it corroding. This is because zinc oxidises more readily than iron, meaning it loses electrons more easily; chemists describe zinc as acting as the sacrificial anode, as oxidation occurs at the anode.

The transition metal was well-known to the ancients who alloyed zinc and copper to make brass.

Zinc is also well-known as a UV protector and turns up in sunblock (think cricketers' noses) as well as paint.

You can also find zinc in car tyres, added to foods such as cereals and in anti-dandruff shampoo, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 97 of Elemental.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Yttrium is yet another element named after the village of Ytterby and is important in the development of high temperature superconductors, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 96 of Elemental.

Here we go again - yet another element named after the Swedish village of Ytterby with a suitably tortuous extraction process, although surprisingly it is actually not a lanthanoid; it is a transition metal.

It is used in camping gas mantles along with thorium, is added to cast iron to make it more ductile, and appears in alloys used in cutting tools, bearings and jet engines.

When used with ytterbium, barium, copper and oxygen, it creates a high-temperature superconductor that operates at much warmer temperatures than most superconductors.

Kiwi scientists Jeff Tallon and Bob Buckley are at the forefront of high temperature superconductor research, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 96 of Elemental.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details