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Nothing kills snack time quite like staleness. This video offers some pro tips on how to revitalized stale snacks, based on solid chemistry. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

This video looks at the chemistry involved in making ice cream creamy and sweet. The creaminess of ice cream has little to do with cream. It's all about the ice crystals. This video shows how to make ice cream three different ways with…

This video examines some novel proposals for combating climate change—including space mirrors, seeding the ocean with iron, and feeding cows seaweed. In reality, these ideas may or may not be feasible, but they are all supported by valid…

It’s been around for decades, and it may be in your diet soda—for a little while longer, anyway. PepsiCo is removing the artificial sweetener aspartame from its Diet Pepsi products in the U.S. The company cited consumer concerns about the…

Few ingredients come with as much baggage as MSG. Otherwise known as monosodium glutamate, this compound has had a bad reputation for nearly 50 years. This video debunks MSG myths and explains why the scientific consensus is that this flavor…

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

White chocolate may lack the rich flavor of milk chocolate and the glossy brown color of dark chocolate. And many people argue that it is not really chocolate at all. So what is it about this creamy candy that sets it apart from the darker…

Do you need a slow cooker, rice cooker, sous vide immersion circulator, and a pressure cooker in your kitchen taking up counter space? The answer depends on how you intend to use these gadgets and on the chemistry of how food gets cooked.…

Why does warm toast have a more complex flavor than plain bread? Why does cooking raw food in general result in mouthwatering smells and rich tastes? The answer lies with the Maillard reaction, also known as the "browning reaction." By…

For all you chocolate lovers out there, this video puts dark and milk chocolate together in a faceoff. Which of these deliciously and potentially healthful treats will come out as the greatest? Watch them fight it out in four rounds.…

Some people talk all the time about how they need to “detox.” Plenty of companies want to sell you juices and smoothies that claim to cleanse your body of harmful toxins. But before you spend money on those expensive products, you should know…

Peanut allergies are some of the most dangerous food allergies in the human population, due to how commonly they are found in the food industry. For the past couple of decades, peanut allergies have been on the rise in the United States. This…

This animation explains how carbohydratesare loaded into the vascular tissue called phloem for distribution throughout living plants.

This animation shows root nodule formation, a complex process in leguminous plants that supports symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

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.…

The scent of freshly cut grass may actually be a chemical cry for help. This video explains how plants communicate, their chemical response to being damaged, and how insects play a role. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Food fraud often boils down to politics or semantics. An item labeled as parmesan cheese might not come from Parma, for instance. Sometimes, food producers try to feed us cheap fillers or other false ingredients. In this video, Sophia Cai…

If you've ever made a grilled-cheese sandwich, you may have learned the hard way that some cheeses simply don’t grill well. Why is it that some cheeses melt perfectly, while others crumble into a nasty, oily mess? This video answers that…

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…

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…

It seems like it's in just about every product on store shelves: high fructose corn syrup. What is it, and how is it different from table sugar? This video answers these sweet questions. [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…

This video investigates some sushi chemistry. Take a deep dive into the science of rice, fish, and seaweed. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Do you love a spicy wasabi kick to accompany your raw fish? Well, you’ve probably never tasted real wasabi. As Sarah Everts explains, unless you’ve had a sushi chef grate an expensive wasabi stem straight onto your plate, you’ve probably not…

Have you ever bitten into a cake donut when you were expecting the texture of a yeast donut? Did it matter? After all, it’s just fried dough, right? This video discusses how chemistry makes these two similar foods taste so very different.…