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Throughout the history of science, many major discoveries came accidentally. Sometimes they came from recognizing potential in an unexpected product or waste. Other times, discovery came out of pure desperation from a seemingly dead-end…

Chemistry research usually involves precise measurements and careful testing in order to get significant results. Sometimes, however, notable discoveries happen by accident. In this video on accidental discoveries, you will get to know the…

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,…

This animation explains how the control surfaces on an airplane's wing direct its flight and shows how movements of the ailerons, elevator, and rudder change the plane's flight path.

For decades, the U.S. government issued a chemical shark repellent to pilots, sailors, and even astronauts to fend off potential shark attacks. The problem was, that substance did not actually work. This video explains why developing an…

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…

Are you breathing air molecules that were once exhaled by Caesar, Joan of Arc, or Madame Curie? Why did Albert Einstein try to break into the refrigerator business? In this video, writer Sam Kean, author of science books "Caesar’s Last…

Vanilla is a flavor so common that some people use it as an adjective to describe something plain or ordinary. But watch out! This beloved, flavorful bean may soon become a rarity. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

This video explores a vocation that involves the blending of art and chemistry. Blacksmiths forge (heat and shape) metals or alloys to make objects—such as sculptures and cutlery—and then temper (cool) the heated metals to optimize their…

This animation explains the concept of biomes (major communities of organisms distributed over wide areas) and describes some of the biomes found around the world.

A figure skating performance often begins with a moment of quiet focus to mentally "upload" a routine, consisting of a linked series of complex movements—such as jumps and spins—that must be executed expertly and automatically. This video…

Thanksgiving is a holiday when many people look forward to a tasty home-cooked meal. According to neuroscientist Charles Zuker, not only is that sense of taste in the brain, but it is a matter of life and death. This video takes you on a…

This animation explains the function of cam mechanisms and shows how cams produce desired physical movements in engines and other machines.

Is there such a thing as love at first scent? Hundreds of spray-on pheromone products claim to put you on the fast track to romance, but can they really help humans land a mate? This video has the answers. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical…

Thanks to the demands of eco-conscious consumers, biodegradable and compostable plastics are cropping up everywhere. Are these green plastics the solution to our throwaway lifestyle? Well, it’s complicated, as this video explains. Credit:…

Some clothing makers try to harness the antibacterial power of silver to combat the smell of sweat from people's workouts. Now, some manufacturers are adding nanotechnology to the mix. This video asks: does it work? Credit:…

This animation shows how a cathode ray tube works and describes some of the basic science behind the control of electron beams.

What do chameleons have to do with nanotechnology? You'll find out when you watch this video. These color-changing lizards are some of nature’s most interesting animals, all because they are masters of pigment and light. Explore the chemistry…

This video explores the extraordinary efforts by some individuals to make gunpowder during the American Revolutionary War. It also reviews the chemistry involved in synthesizing and combusting this explosive mixture. Credit:…

Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech, helped prove that lead levels were dangerously high in Flint, Michigan tap water, even when government officials denied the problem. This…

It’s a sinister condition that affects millions of people: addiction. Whether it’s alcohol, drugs, food, or gambling, addiction can ruin lives. This video takes a look at the chemistry behind addiction. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical…

This video explores well-known antics in three cartoons and asks the question: Does the chemistry check out? Find out whether slipping on a banana peel, gaining superhuman strength from eating spinach, and dissolving a Toon in solvent, are…

Cats: they are the subject of millions of videos and hundreds of memes. This video has answers to some of the biggest cat-related questions out there: Why does catnip make most cats go crazy? How does kitty litter clump? And what does it mean…

This video uncovers the chemistry behind the spine-tingling sense of fear. Watch as Abigail Marsh, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University, highlights key brain chemicals and hormones involved in fear and the…

From the sizzle of the fuse to the boom and burst of colors, this video brings you all of the exciting sights and sounds of fireworks. The video features John A. Conkling, Ph.D., author of "The Chemistry of Pyrotechnics, Basic Principles and…

If you have ever tapped a phone screen to send a tweet, opted for bottled soda because it tastes better than plastic, or drooled over art glass in a gallery, then your life has been changed for the better by the transparent yet durable…

This video explains how certain neurotransmitters fuel lifelong pair bonds in prairie voles, which—along with humans—are the mammalian kingdom's leading monogamists. In the video, Abigail Marsh, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at…

To fire up the grill or a gas stove, we often reach for a match. It turns out there’s a lot of chemistry going on to make those little wooden wonders work. The best way to find out about the chemistry of a burning match is to watch this…

Poisonous snakes are dangerous, but what exactly makes their venom so powerful? The answer is chemistry. This video sheds some light on the proteins in snake venom, as well as its potential medical uses. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical…

What’s that stuff that collects in the corners of your eyes when you sleep? This video explains the chemistry of the film that protects your eyes. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

This video explores how experts use fertilizer and other materials—including water—to fight forest fires. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

This video takes science to the skies and checks out the chemistry behind chemtrails, or—more accurately—contrails. It’s easy to look at the white trail behind a jet aircraft and imagine all manner of chemicals raining down from above.…

Joe DeSimone cofounded a company called Carbon (formerly Carbon3D) to bring chemistry to bear on 3D printing. This video shows how Joe enabled the company to print at unprecedented speeds, and churn out materials that have never been printed…

Lint from fleece and other synthetic fibers is getting washed down the drain and entering aquatic ecosystems. Washing your fleece and other favorite synthetic fabrics releases lint, which is no surprise to anyone who’s ever cleaned their…

April 22, 2015 was the 100th anniversary of the first large-scale use of chemical weapons in modern warfare. Some of the best minds in chemistry at that time, including a Nobel Prize winner, used their knowledge of science to build humanity’s…

Online entrepreneurs may try to sell bottled human pheromones, but do these even exist? It's doubtful, according to this video. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Best-selling author Sam Kean debunks the myth of the Megalodon, the 50-foot super shark that, despite what you may have read, is long extinct. In this video, Kean unravels the myth by explaining how the element manganese holds the key.…

It’s a legendary piece of playground lore: If you swallow a piece of gum, it stays stuck in your stomach for years and years. So was your elementary-school buddy right? This video looks at the mechanics and chemistry of digestion in order to…

Chemists have found potential drugs and other useful compounds in some truly bizarre places in nature. Who would have thought that blood from the Komodo dragon could have a secret inside of it that could possibly save your life? This video…

This video features five African-American chemists who changed the world. The video highlights the work of icons such as astronaut and chemical engineer Mae Jemison, the first woman of color to go into space, as well as Percy Julian, a…

With all the hard hits and tough tackles in the sport of football come concerns about safety. In the U.S., every professional player is required to wear a helmet, but the helmets of today are a far cry from the leather creations from decades…

This video presents four chemistry-rich facts about paper money. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society (www.youtube.com/acsreactions)]

This animation demonstrates how gears work and shows four different types.

In agriculture, grain grading is a mechanical process that sorts grain products, such as wheat or soybeans, by size and shape. This video demonstrates the use of sieving, or screening, techniques in grain grading. Credit: U.S. Department…

This video explains how graphene's remarkable properties come from the unique arrangement of its atoms. (Correction: The video's narration incorrectly states that Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov are chemists. Both Geim and Novoselov are…

Nerve agents have a surprising history, and it’s just as morbid as you might expect. Although they were not invented as chemical weapons, nerve agents such as sarin have been in use since World War I, and unfortunately are still in use…

Honey is great for drizzling over toast, stirring into tea, and many other uses. What most people don’t know is that during the trip from the flower in the field to the jar on your table, honey spends a lot of time in a bee’s gut. This video…

This animation shows what happens when air molecules inside a balloon are heated.

To beat the heat, many people turn to air conditioning. That sweet, cool relief isn’t magic, it’s the science of heat transfer and the chemistry of refrigerants. This video explains the science and chemistry of air conditioning. Credit:…

As the saying goes, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. But can you? This video explains the chemistry behind why fruit flies love vinegar so much that some entomologists call them “vinegar flies.” Credit:…

If you’re in an automobile accident, you want to be sure the vehicle's airbags protect you. Airbags work because of chemistry, with some physics thrown in. This video explores the science of airbags. And remember, airbags are meant to work in…

Blue jeans are among the most popular clothing items in the entire world. But how did Levi Strauss get his “workwear,” as he called it, so blue? Through chemistry, of course. This video looks at the chemistry of everyone’s favorite pair of…

Featuring Doane College Postdoctoral Fellow Raychelle Burks, Ph.D., this video looks at solid and liquid propellants and the “ride-able explosion” that is a rocket launch. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society…

Across the globe, people celebrate certain holidays with fireworks. In the U.S., the Fourth of July is an especially sparkly holiday. This video takes an up-close, slow-motion look at the chemistry of how sparklers work. Credit:…

More than 25 million people rely on Adderall™ and other similar drugs to help treat narcolepsy, depression and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But how does amphetamine, the active ingredient in Adderall™, work? This video…

Winter weather often brings treacherous driving conditions. Road crews may spread rock salt all over the highways and byways, but why? This video breaks down the chemistry that keeps the roads safe when severe winter weather hits. [Credit:…

Whether or not you have anxiety, you've probably heard of Xanax®. This video uncovers the chemistry behind this popular and widely prescribed drug, and answers the question of how Xanax works in the body. Credit: Reactions/American…

How does animal hide become leather? The chemistry of tanning is still not fully understood, but the basic steps are thousands of years old. Watch this video to learn how leather is made. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

What happens to plastic bottles when you recycle them? Do they get made into fresh bottles, or do they become something else? This video explains why it's easier to turn plastic bottles into T-shirts than it is to fully recycle the…

You may not realize it, but there's a lot of science in sports. In fact, sports balls owe their reliability to an unusual polymer found in rubber. This video explains the chemistry behind the football all-star’s best friend. Credit:…

Jellyfish seem serene, but the pain that comes from a run-in with their tentacles is anything but tranquil. You may have heard a certain rumor about how to treat a jellyfish sting to make the pain go away, but does that icky old-wives' tale…

Your smartphone addiction isn't helping you sleep. In fact, an obscure chemical reaction may be keeping you awake. This video looks at the process that connects your late-night texts to your lack of sleep. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical…

Thomas Edison is undoubtedly one of the greatest inventors in history. This video goes behind the scenes at Thomas Edison National Historical Park to see how Edison's love of chemistry fueled his world-changing inventions. [Credit:…

Cast-iron cookware is a favorite tool for many professional chefs, having certain advantages over everyday aluminum pans. This video looks at why cast iron is so effective in the kitchen. Play a game of fact-or-fiction while watching this…

This video reveals the chemical compounds that give skunk spray its horrendous odor and offers tips for what to do if you or your pet accidentally get sprayed. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

New smartphones are slimmer and faster than ever. But like most new generations of smartphones, their battery has pretty much stayed the same over the years. Short of carrying an external battery all the time, is there any way to extend the…

Stanford University’s Zhenan Bao and her research team are developing electronics that could revolutionize wearable devices and prosthetics. In this video, Matt Davenport and Noel Waghorn get a glimpse behind the scenes at Stanford, and learn…

Freshly caught fish is delicious. But after a day or two, that filet in your fridge smells a little fishier, thanks to a stinky molecule known as trimethylamine. Find out how to make fish taste and smell less fishy with this video. Learn…

If you’ve eaten food today that has at least one ingredient that was farmed, you probably owe some thanks to earthworms. How do these lowly invertebrates turn what humans find inedible into beloved compost? Earthworms have an extra enzyme…

Many people have done it, but few admit to it. This video explains why, from an environmental perspective, it is absolutely acceptable to urinate in the ocean. (Correction: At 1:50, the narration and text should read "250 gallons," not…

You may have heard that tossing rice at weddings will harm wild birds. This video explains why that myth is not backed up by science, and proves it with chemistry. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

This animation shows how an aircraft jet engine produces propulsive thrust.

Neuroscientist Daphna Shohamy has found that teen brains are wired to learn. She thinks that studying teenagers can help us discover how everyone makes decisions based on experiences and memories. Shohamy’s research is showing that learning…

Songbirds have a finite time period in which they must learn to sing. Humans, too, have a limited period to learn to communicate. Neuroscientist Sara Woolley studies the brain science and learning pathways of finches—songbirds who mate for…

This animation shows how mechanical linkages work in machines.

If there’s one man in Hollywood who knows the value of chemistry, it’s Michael Bay. He’s taught society that, in the face of a half-baked plot and thin script, big-budget explosions can cause box office success. This video explains the…

This animation explains how motors convert electrical energy into mechanical energy.

Deep in the Amazon rainforest, scientists have uncovered a family of chemicals that the poison dart frog uses to defend itself. This video explains how this tiny amphibian uses chemistry to create some of the most powerful toxins in the…

This animation explains how a piston engine works and what a complete combustion cycle is.

This animation shows how light moving into a denser medium is both reflected and refracted.

This animation explains how a rotary engine works,

Most cats love catnip, but that’s not why this flowering plant produces its volatile oils. The scent of catnip is actually an application of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" strategy. Find out exactly what that means in this video.…

This video explores the chemistry and physics behind the disastrous explosion of the former Soviet Union’s Chernobyl Power Complex nuclear reactor 4 on April 26, 1986. The Chernobyl disaster was the only accident in the history of commercial…

This video explains how artificial snow is made to sustain the Winter Olympics. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society (www.youtube.com/acsreactions)]

When days get shorter, darker, and colder, some people become gloomier. For people with seasonal affective disorder, the changing seasons can make them sadder than most, to the point of depression. Why does this happen? What can someone with…

The ocean is a gigantic reservoir of water, but that water is not drinkable. As this video demonstrates, attaining freshwater from salty ocean water is more difficult than it might seem at first. The video also reviews potential negative…

This video looks at nanomachines such as nano-sized motors, rockets, and even cars. Though many orders of magnitude smaller than a human cell, nanomachines have huge promise. In the future, they could deliver drugs anywhere in the body, clean…

Durian is known as the king of fruits in southeast Asia, but it’s also banned from many public spaces due to its powerful odor. This video explains the unique chemistry behind durian, and catches some participants at PBS Digital Studios…

Art and cultural heritage conservators are getting an assist from chemistry. Some of our most valuable heritage objects—such as old books, early film, and vintage plastic jewelry—have their own unique odors, but there’s more to their scent…

Getting to Mars is on some people's minds here on Earth. When it comes to space travel, recycling is a space traveler's best friend, urine included. This video looks at a brilliant new potential use for urine in space. It flows a bit farther…

This animation explains how stereophonic sound results from recording and playing back multiple microphone tracks simultaneously.

Did you know that seashells are made of basically the same stuff as chalk? So why is chalk crumbly but seashells are durable? This video explains that the secret is in the shells' biochemistry. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Surströmming—Swedish for sour herring—is legendary for its powerful odor. That malodorous scent is a result of the chemistry of preserving food. This video explores what might just be the world's smelliest food, with help from the people who…

The humble tardigrade can be found practically anywhere there is enough water for it to live, and quite a few places there isn’t. It can survive drying out, extreme heat and cold, and even exposure to a vacuum. This odd, ugly-cute organism's…

Andy Klesh of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab welcomes you to the cleanroom to talk about how satellites smaller than a briefcase could one day explore the chemistry of alien moons and planets. But first, Andy and his team have to show that…

Did you know that thousands of precious paintings around the world are generating soap beneath their surfaces? Art conservators struggle with microscopic pockmarks in masterpieces. Find out more about delamination and other problematic…

There’s a new trend in agriculture called vertical farming. When humans first learned to farm, we arranged plants outside in horizontal fields, and then invented irrigation and fertilizers to grow crops. But with modern technology and…

We place a lot of trust in modern thermometers, but do you know how those instruments actually work? The answer involves thermodynamic principles. Physical chemists and engineers have taken temperature-measuring tools from the simple—but…

This video takes a close look at what happens chemically in the brain and body just before a person dies. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Go to any paint store, and you’ll see a dozen or so variations of the color black. But what is the darkest one available? This video looks for—and finds—the blackest black material. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society