From Reactions. Watch Far Out ➡️ https://youtu.be/PjgMw4HQVcg and Why Am I Like This? ➡️ https://youtu.be/eWzBNfBnFys If we look at how the bark of the cinchona tree is used to treat malaria, we can see cutting edge chemistry showing quinine binding to an enzyme that is essential for the malaria parasite’s survival. But if we look…

From Reactions. Remember when Elon Musk launched a car into space? It’s not just peacefully drifting through a vacuum–it’s hurtling around the sun at 63,592 mph, being bombarded by solar radiation. It might be in pieces. But, not the same pieces it would be in if it was down here on Earth. The environment of…

From Reactions. Blood from a lamb, into a human – this sounds like a horror movie, but it’s actually the first recorded blood transfusion… four hundred years ago. In this video we look at how far we’ve come, and the century-long quest for the Holy Grail of transfusion medicine: synthetic blood. 00:00 Introduction 01:08 Why…

From Reactions. Have you ever wanted to make your own bourbon? Don’t! The process might be relatively simple- heat a fermented liquid and keep only the boiled alcohol – but it is dangerous and illegal without a license. This video discusses how to separate one type of liquid from a slurry of others through boiling…

From Reactions. Most people absolutely love their gas stoves and prefer them to electric. But these gas ranges are polluting our homes. #gasstove #pollution #cooking You might also like: … Catalytic Converter Stolen? Here’s Why. https://youtu.be/I1YLPfSuNXY Why They Don’t Make Grade B Maple Syrup Anymore: https://youtu.be/nSRCDiKMEJc What Actually Is Premium Gas? https://youtu.be/-R39-Tx2808 How Do Hydrogen…

From Reactions. Are you a grade B maple syrup fan? Well, you can’t get it anymore. To understand why, we have to look at the science behind the whole process, from sap to syrup. On the way, we’ll cover hydrometers, reverse osmosis, boiling point elevation, and George’s dislike of Maillard reaction diagrams. #maillard #foodscience #maplesyrup…

From Reactions. Sure, drinking toilet water *sounds* gross, but with the right cleaning methods we can turn the dirtiest water you can think of back into clean, safe, refreshing drinking water. In this video we’ll walk through how humans have cleaned water over centuries, and how we’ve managed to get so good at it that…

From Reactions. How do you demolish a massive building – in the middle of a populated city – in a matter of seconds… safely? Counterintuitively, you do it with explosives. We explore how chemistry, engineering, and more than a little artistry come together to safely bring down massive structures. #implosion #controlledDemolition #dynamite #nitroglycerine You might…

From Reactions. Water is weird… really weird. We’re gonna dive into the controversial chemistry and heated debates around the science of what gives water it’s super unusual properties, and maybe bust a popular water myth along the way. #H2O #hydrogenbonding #dinosaurpee You might also like: Extracting Gold from Seawater https://youtu.be/j5eomDz4Z0E Why is There Plastic in…

From Reactions. Anhydrous ammonia can cause headline-grabbing disasters, but it’s also responsible for 50% of the food on your table. It all boils down to nitrogen, and the process of turning the inert dinitrogen in our air into useful fertilizer. So what is this stuff, how is it used, and how is something so dangerous…

From Reactions. Is it worth it to put premium gas into your car? And what’s even the difference between the regular and premium gas? It all has to do with the octane rating, which we’ll explain with fire, ice-cream, and a bit of chemistry trivia. #octane #engine #premiumgas You might also like: Fuel Cell Cars:…

From Reactions. Think hibernation is just a nap bears take during the wintertime? It’s way more complicated–and climate based. With climate change happening, how will hibernating animals be affected and will animals who don’t hibernate now begin to? You might also like: We Made Pop Rocks at Home with Science: https://youtu.be/VKKltJy_vck Why Don’t Antarctic Fish…

From Reactions. You learned what an electron is in school… or DID YOU? You probably learned that it’s a “negatively charged particle” but there’s *so* much more to these weird, wild little particles than that. You might also like: How Can You See an Atom?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzFnGRfsfE&t=1s How Oxygen Masks Brought Down a Plane: https://youtu.be/KejaV70RWPk What…

From Reactions. Take the PBS Digital Studios audience survey: https://to.pbs.org/2021survey Pop Rocks are just sugar and high-pressure CO2, but making them at home is way harder than it looks. In this video, we use three different methods to try and capture carbon dioxide in sugar: a middle-school chemical reaction, a state transition, and biological production!…

From Reactions. Why are some heavy metals deadly while others keep us alive? Check out Tiny Matters, a new science podcast from the American Chemical Society, hosted and produced by former Reactions writer and host Sam Jones: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tiny-matters/id1599757941 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bfRJU0XPaGKJ7Os4vJQFk Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/tiny-matters Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Podcast/B08JJMYZ3Q And to help us get Tiny Matters on the…

From Reactions. Hydrogen fuel cell cars seem great: hydrogen and oxygen in, nothing but water out. But if that hydrogen comes from dirty, carbon-emission spewing power plants, your sustainable car might not be so green after all. #fuelcell #electriccars #emissions You might also like: Catalytic Converter Stolen? Here’s Why.: https://youtu.be/I1YLPfSuNXY How Do Airbags Work?: https://youtu.be/Y2sjYOGSV7E…

From Reactions. The same safety feature that gives you oxygen during an airplane emergency caused a plane to crash in 1996. How did something meant to keep you safe end up killing over 100 people? #planecrash #oxygenmask #oxygengenerator You might also like: How can fertilizer explode? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SeT3N3A19c Chemtrails https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZonPvpgcBc0 What could an explosion on the…

From Reactions. Take the PBS Digital Studios audience survey: https://to.pbs.org/2021survey The ocean has around 700 trillion dollars worth of gold in it and Sam’s going to try to get (some of) it. #gold #mining #OceanChemistry You might also like: I Created an Oil Spill in My House: https://youtu.be/n2761go6OYg Are We Standing on a Quadrillion Tons…

From Reactions. Bacteria are often painted as our adversaries, but when it comes to oil spills, toxic chemicals, and radioactive waste, they could be what save us from ourselves. #microbes #bacteria #oilspills You might also like: How Carbon Capture Works: https://youtu.be/wu3hoo3p4Kk Is There Plastic in My Rain?: https://youtu.be/HUAaurZKi6U Forever Chemicals: https://youtu.be/tqKEG5LxPiY How Do We Fight…

From Reactions. Are humans destroying the circle of life? #decomposition #death #burial #ecosystem Check out episode 1 of Vitals! https://youtu.be/xus08qnUxPE You might also like: The Top 5 Strangest Poisons That Can Kill You: https://youtu.be/4hQ0G0GaYR8 Can You Cryogenically Freeze Your Body and Come Back to Life? https://youtu.be/Wk2NxBYCe6s How to Dispose of a Dead Body: https://youtu.be/1C0AF_y_Ms8 We…

From Reactions. This week we show you how two simple changes can turn cardboard-y pizza into award winning pie (okay, award-winning might be a slight exaggeration, but we awarded ourselves a win, so deal with it). Here’s our simple recipe for making stellar pizza at home: Mix 1 package (0.25 oz) of dry yeast into…

From Reactions. Even earthquakes aren’t supposed to bring down concrete buildings. So how did the Surfside Condominium—a modern building built in 1981—fail? You might also like: How Can Fertilizer Explode? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SeT3N3A19c Are We Standing on a Quadrillion Tons of Diamonds?: https://youtu.be/JB-dOm2k6NY The Great MOLASSES Flood of 1919: https://youtu.be/iMPGm3OSvMg How Carbon Capture Works: https://youtu.be/wu3hoo3p4Kk Credits: Executive…

From Reactions. There might be a quadrillion tons of diamonds 100 miles below Earth’s surface. But the furthest we’ve traveled is 7 miles down, so how could we know that? #diamonds #seismicwaves #earth You might also like: The Chemical Origins of Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f44OWlsLeT0 How Do We Know How Old the Earth Is? https://youtu.be/7cFYPYaD4zQ Salt, Diamonds…

From Reactions. Every year more than 1,000 tons of plastic rains down onto national parks and wilderness in the western U.S. Where does that plastic come from? And is it also in rain that falls on Washington, DC? #microplastic #pollution #plasticrain You might also like: How Plastic Recycling Actually Works: https://youtu.be/zO3jFKiqmHo Can Plastic Be Composted?:…

From Reactions. To learn more about preservatives, check out George’s book http://www.rebrand.ly/Ingredients You’ve heard of the epoxy hot dog, but how about the epoxy strawberry? On this week’s episode we’re going to try to make a strawberry last forever. #preservatives #epoxyhotdog #epoxystrawberry You might also like: The Science of Kombucha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxARRckS9dA Are Food Calories Bulloney?…

From Reactions. To learn more about sunscreen, check out Ingredients at http://www.rebrand.ly/Ingredients Does slathering on sunscreen do anything beyond preventing a sunburn? Can it actually stop us from getting wrinkles or skin cancer? #sunscreen #skincancer #sunburn #wrinkles You might also like: The World’s Most Unavoidable Carcinogen: https://youtu.be/7ZXvngquyT4 How Do Anti-Wrinkle Creams Work?: https://youtu.be/2ueEEwg7bck What is…

From Reactions. Elon Musk is shelling out a hundred millions dollars to anyone who can come up with a way of removing CO2 from our atmosphere. Time to win that sweet, sweet carbon capture money. Here’s that very cool carbon dioxide removal and storage proposal we mentioned in the video: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c08561 #carboncapture #co2 #climatesolutions You…

From Reactions. Ancient Rome’s emperors did some pretty bizarre stuff—bursting into uncontrollable fits of laughter, appointing a horse as a priest, dressing in animal skins and attacking people… the list goes on. Why did they act this way? Possibly… lead poisoning. In this week’s episode, we unwrap the possibility that lead caused the Roman Empire’s…

From Reactions. Excited to get back out in the world but worried you’ve forgotten how to talk to other humans? We have some chemistry trivia to help ease you back in. #trivia #chemistry ++ Note: A viewer pointed out (thank you Ryan Herold!) that we said pickle fermentation produces vinegar (acetic acid) but it actually…

From Reactions. If you have diabetes, you have way too much sugar in your bloodstream. So does eating a lot of sugar cause it? #diabetes #bloodsugar #insulin You might also like: Are Food Calories Bull-oney?: https://youtu.be/ahvE5kuWcps How Much Candy Would Kill You?: https://youtu.be/RNOycTzN-fg What’s the Difference Between Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup?: https://youtu.be/fXMvregmU1g Do…

From Reactions. Did you know that a calorie label only has to be accurate within twenty percent? It’s a wide margin, but it exists for a reason: calories are complicated. You might also like: Why Doesn’t Banana Candy Taste Like Banana?: https://youtu.be/zECg-21dYLI Will It Kombucha?: https://youtu.be/YxARRckS9dA Is Milk Really the Best Solution to Hot Pepper…