Better Than Gold: Critical Minerals – BBC Radio 4

Critical minerals have hit the headlines of almost every news outlet this week as US President Donald Trump made his desires to mine them in Ukraine clear.

These precious resources are a hot geopolitical bargaining chip thanks to our reliance on them in everything from mobile phones to wind turbines.

This week, Inside Science unearths everything you need to know about critical minerals; what they are, why they’re critical, and what we do when there’s no more left to mine.

Also this week, we come to the end of a laborious seven-year journey of collecting and identifying Scotland’s most valued Jurassic fossil. And Nature journalist Lizzie Gibney brings us her pick of the week’s science news, including moon landers and woolly mice.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Gerry Holt, Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.