logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2025
49m 29s

Traffic science

Bbc World Service
About this episode

This week, a viral video of a robo-traffic-cop in Shanghai has the team contemplating the science of traffic. How do traffic jams with no discernible cause actually form? Does the weather experience traffic jams? And why do our cords also seem to get tangled in their own little cord-traffic-jams no matter how hard we try to keep them separate?

Christine Yohannes from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Tristan Ahtone in Helsinki, Finland, join Marnie Chesterton to discuss all this, plus many more Unexpected Elements.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Christine Yohannes and Tristan Ahtone Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Lucy Davies

Up next
Jul 3
Stuck in a cycle
Pakistan has recently announced that they plan to abolish the 18% sales tax on menstrual products like pads or tampons. UN Women has welcomed the decision, saying that when these products become more affordable it means more girls and women stay in school and the workforce. For t ... Show More
49m 30s
Jun 26
Dividing lines
This week South Korea announced they will be adjusting the Civilian Controlled Zone that borders the demilitarised area between North and South Korea. The reshuffle will allow thousands of civilians to be able to move with more freedoms, but for the Unexpected Elements team, it’s ... Show More
49m 29s
Jun 19
Anyone for chips?
The spiralling cost and short supply of microchips – something the tech journalists have dubbed ‘RAMageddon’ – has the Unexpected Elements team investigating all things chip-related. We start things off by finding out about a mini cervix-on-a-chip and how this could help us bette ... Show More
49m 30s
Recommended Episodes
May 2016
Episode 29: Traffic
<p>Traffic. You hate it, we hate it, the rest of the world hates it, and unfortunately, our best efforts to curb it usually only make it worse. This week on Hidden Brain, we visit a few of the world's most congested cities, and investigate a few options to make driving safer and ... Show More
15m 45s
Dec 2007
Traffic
Beep, Honk, Honk...Do you find yourself stuck in traffic more often than you would like to? Like it or not, traffic is a topic of conversation in our lives. In today's podcast and communication lesson, we will talk about traffic and learn useful vocabulary for such discussions. 
3m 32s
May 2025
935. Terrible Traffic Jams & Self-Driving Cars 🚗 (Topic & Vocabulary)
This episode is all about the exciting topic of driving, getting stuck in traffic jams, the future of our roads and how self-driving cars might be the solution. What is so annoying about traffic jams? Why do they even happen in the first place? Have you seen your first self-drivi ... Show More
1h 42m
Jul 2022
How Could Smart Traffic Lights Work?
What if traffic lights could adjust for the actual flow of traffic happening at any given moment? Learn how smart, networked technology could help drivers (and pedestrians) in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/s ... Show More
6m 55s
Sep 2022
The Future of Transport
A recent Newstalk survey on commuting has found that people are spending longer on their journeys to work since the pandemic. And so all week we’ve been speaking to transport experts, policymakers as well as commuters themselves to hear about the issues being faced on a daily ba ... Show More
34m 56s
Nov 2019
Real-Life English Situations
Let’s talk about traffic and traffic jams. 
3m 34s
Jan 2021
🚦 Traffic (S05E11) + Transcript
How do most people travel to work where you live? What traffic problems are there in your area? How would you reduce the traffic problems in your area? Tune in and have a great day! - IELTS Speaking for Success PREMIUM: https://linktr.ee/sfspremium Transcript: https://success ... Show More
17m 43s
May 2019
Naked Scientists - Roads and Travel
Join the Naked Scientists for a special hour all about roads and travel. 
49m 20s
Dec 2015
How does a traffic light detect cars?
<p>Traffic lights detect vehicles using a variety of methods. Check out this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com to find out how timers, inductive loops and other detectors keep traffic running smoothly.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcas ... Show More
3m 23s