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This animation explains how a material's chemical composition affects the wavelengths of light it absorbs and the color it displays.

Unlike its name, Bicycle Day is not a holiday honoring your favorite two-wheeled, environmentally friendly vehicle. This holiday celebrates the day chemist Albert Hofmann first discovered the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide,…

Is gluten good for you, or is gluten bad for you? This video breaks down the chemistry and science behind this controversial food ingredient. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

This animation explains the difference between the alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays emitted by various radioactive materials.

People have turned to “vaping” with electronic cigarettes as an alternative to puffing on the real thing. But is the vapor they’re inhaling any safer than smoking a cigarette? This video examines what we know, and what we don’t know, about…

Have you ever wished you could hide under an invisibility cloak, like Harry Potter did? This video explores the science behind light, sight, and invisibility. Though we can’t make ourselves invisible yet, some promising research may light the…

Helium has helped create revolutionary scientific innovations, and has industrial uses that simply cannot be replicated. Yet helium—a gas that defies gravity—is constantly being lost as it escapes Earth’s atmosphere into space. This video…

Neuroengineer Nima Mesgarani is using a form of artificial intelligence called neural network models to a develop improved hearing aids. If successful, hearing impaired individuals will be better able to identify and focus on a speaker of…

An estimated 133 billion pounds of food gets thrown away every year in the United States. Understanding when your food goes bad is important to help reduce waste. Unfortunately, consumers can’t just check the expiration date on the packaging,…

Every medicine we buy has an expiration date printed on it, but does that pill or tablet actually go bad? This video explains the chemistry of drug expiration dates. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society