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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

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…

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…

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…

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…

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 animation shows how a barometer measures atmospheric pressure.

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…

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.

Some ice burns because it’s actually methane trapped in water. This video discusses the chemistry of methane hydrates as a source of energy and a climate change threat. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Toxin-producing strains of C. difficile bacteria can be a source of aggravated diarrhea, and—if unchecked—may ultimately lead to kidney failure and death. What’s worse is that antibiotics can make the situation even more life-threatening.…

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,…

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:…

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

Cryogenic freezing of a dead body is possible, but reanimating that body in the future is a different story. As you will see in this video, cells themselves can be reanimated after freezing, but bringing a human back to life is not so…

This animation shows how a nuclear chain reaction works and explains how it is used in nuclear fission devices.

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 animation shows how chaotic systems are unpredictable because of their extreme sensitivity to their initial conditions.

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…

When temperatures fall along with snow, you know you're in the middle of winter. This video has seasonal advice on keeping your windshield fog-free, getting unstuck from the snow, and even how to make your own hand warmer. [Credit:…

People who shave share one concern—the threat of razor-sharp metal. Luckily, aerosol-based shaving cream packs the right chemistry to protect sensitive skin, thanks in part to surfactants. Watch this video to learn more about this fantastic…

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 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…

This video explores the chemistry of, and pain response to, pepper spray. Watch for some important tips on what to do if you accidentally spray yourself with this debilitating substance. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

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…

This video tracks the formation of snowflakes from their origins in bits of dust in clouds that become droplets of water falling to Earth. As each snowflake rises and falls through warmer and cooler air, it develops its own distinctive shape.…

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.…

When winter holidays come around, feasts and festivities cause many people to gain weight. But did you know that freezing-cold weather during those winter months can actually help people lose weight? This video talks about fat, and whether or…

This animation explains the phenomenon of collision and shows the difference between elastic and inelastic collisions.

This animation explains conservation of energy and shows how the total amount of kinetic and potential energy in an isolated system is constant.

This animation explains the phenomenon of conservation of momentum and shows how momentum is the product of mass and velocity and is conserved in collisions.

This animation describes several ways to make vaccines: with killed or inactivated pathogens, with live attentuated pathogens, with subunits of pathogens, and with recombinant DNA technology.

This animation explains continental drift and shows how continents on moving tectonic plates drift slowly across the Earth's surface.

On December 16, 1773, American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing "taxation without representation," dumped more than 340 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor in Massachusettes. Dubbed "the Boston Tea Party," this…

This video explores the chemistry behind whether using cannabidiol (CBD)—a non-psychoactive compound produced by the marijuana plant—could make you fail a drug test. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Some science-fiction fans have already caught a glimpse of a world with super-powered humans secretly living among us, capable of physical feats far beyond the norm. Now, with the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system, are we looking at a future…

This animation describes how a shock absorber minimizes the effect of shock on a mechanical system.

Yes, you read that correctly. Comets may have helped seed life on Earth. Far out, right? Sarah Everts of C&EN has the chemical clues that back up this out-of-this-world hypothesis. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

This video explores how diseases may have spawned the folklore of vampires as far back as the 18th century. Pale skin, sensitivity to light, weakness, and other vampire-like characteristics are symptoms mostly related to rare blood disorders.…

Would you like a younger, more perfect-looking you? Young skin is firm and stretchy because of protein fibers, called collagen and elastin, in the tissue beneath the surface. As we age, environmental factors, such as smoking or ultraviolet…

How do astronauts survive the deadly radiation of deep space? NASA is still figuring out how to protect astronauts from cosmic radiation using plastic shielding and magnetic deflectors. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

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

This video tackles the fad that never dies—low-carbohydrate diets. There's a lot of science that goes with the keto diet and cutting out carbs. Low-carb diets were a thing in the late 1990s and they are still a thing now. But why does this…

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.…

You may have seen them in late-night commercials or at your local pharmacy: little pills that claim to cure your cold, help you wake up, or maybe help you lose weight. Vitamin and mineral supplements are everywhere, generating billions of…

What do you do when you have a bad cough? If you reach for the cough syrup, you're not alone. Every year, people spend billions of dollars on cough medicines. But do any of them actually work? This video explains the chemistry behind those…

Homeopathic remedies have been used for nearly 200 years, but science has progressed much over that time. That progress has shown us that the foundations of homeopathy are bunk. Watch this video to find out more about this unscientific…

This animation explains the Doppler shift and shows how the movement of a sound source relative to a listener raises or lowers the pitch.

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 animation shows how currents of molten iron in the Earth's outer core generate the planet's magnetic field.

This animation shows how earthquakes radiate from focus points on fault lines.

This animation explains echoes and shows how echoes occur when soundwaves bounce off objects.

This animation shows how the El Niño weather pattern arises from changes in atmospheric and oceanic flows.

This video explores some of the many things you could do with your body after you die, including embalming and burial, cremation, composting, and donation to a medical school, among others. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Centuries after the discovery of the simple microscope, biomedical engineer Elizabeth Hillman has developed a cutting-edge microscope that can “see” inside the brains of living organisms and create 3D movies that answer fundamental questions…

This video explores what ringworm is, how to avoid contracting the infection, and—if you do—how to get rid of it. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Cute or not, these five venomous animals—slow loris, blue-ringed octopus, duck-billed platypus, box jellyfish, and pufferfish—could potentially kill you. This video explores the chemistry and physiological responses behind the toxins these…

From the dinner table to the human body, crystals are everywhere. This video highlights five scientific facts about this ubiquitous solid. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society (www.youtube.com/acsreactions)]

A bar of chocolate contains hundreds of compounds, many with beneficial properties. This video explores a list of five chemical facts about why chocolate, in moderation, may be good for you. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society…

We all want to be healthy, but some food myths can actually get in the way of good nutritional decisions. This video shatters one food myth that you may have heard: microwaving your food zaps its nutritional value. Watch to find out why that…

We all want to be healthy, but some food myths can actually get in the way of good nutritional decisions. Some people say that eating frozen vegetables means losing some nutritional value. But are those people right? [Credit:…

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 animation shows how volcanic islands form over hot spots arising from deep within Earth's mantle.

Battered and deep-fried chicken might be one of the world's most delicious foods. But what makes fried chicken so tasty? It all comes down to the chemistry of frying. In the video, learn how the delicate dance of fat at high temperatures…

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…

This animation shows how all objects fall at the same rate of accelleration due to the force of gravity.

This animation explains harmonic motion damping and shows how an applied force can decrease a simple harmonic motion.

Four elements were added to the periodic table in 2016, completing the seventh row. However, these new elements are not naturally occurring. Scientists had to create them and overcome a number of challenges to do so. This video explains some…

When used properly, household cleaners are perfectly safe. If mixed together, however, the chemicals in household cleaners can quickly lead to disaster. This video shows how being wise about chemistry can prevent potential hazards during…

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…

These days, more attention is being paid to the transgender community. A big part of gender transition is hormone replacement therapy, or HRT. This video talks about the chemistry of HRT, and what happens when the body undergoes major shifts…

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:…

Each October 16, World Anesthesia Day celebrates the anniversary of the first successful demonstration of surgical anesthesia. Prior to then, surgery was really unpleasant, to put it mildly. Surgeons turned to alcohol, narcotics and even…

Did you know that the ocean launches bacteria into the atmosphere? And that those bacteria can seed clouds and help make rain? Atmospheric chemist Kimberly Prather of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography drops some serious atmospheric…

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:…

Since ancient Greek times, philosophers and scientists have tried to figure out what an atom looks like. It wasn't until the 1980s that chemists could see individual atoms. In this video, bestselling author Sam Kean discusses the nearly…

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…

One thing everyone on Earth has in common is that we all stink sometimes. Fortunately, we have deodorants and antiperspirants to help us deal with that fact, but chemically speaking, how do these products actually work? This video looks at…

Hand-sanitizer labels may claim they kill 99.99 percent of germs, but does the science back this up? This video takes a closer look at the chemistry of what this goo is made of, and just how effective it really is against viruses and…

A large snowstorm could produce trillions of tiny snowflakes. Through advances in crystallography, scientists have learned much about the structure of this form of precipitation. Although snowflakes all start out similarly, once they begin…

What's the difference between fluorescence and bioluminescence? This video illuminates the biochemical distinctions. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

This video explains the chemistry and science behind how we know how old the Earth is. Geologists have deduced the age of the Earth thanks to a handful of radioactive elements. With radiometric dating, scientists can put an age on really old…

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…

This video looks at the the chemistry and science of how chemotherapy and other cancer treatments work on breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. Fortunately, the rate at which we are learning about…

Vegetables are full of essential vitamins and minerals, but how should you eat them to get the most nutritious value? Raw? Sauteed? Frozen? The answer is, it depends. Let this video help you navigate the ins and outs of cooking vegetables.…

The cold weather of winter can also mean dry, cracked skin. Many people reach for moisturizers to keep their skin soft, but how do these products actually work? This video has the answers. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society…

For people striving to build muscle, protein is essential. While this fact is obvious to many athletes and gym-goers, the biological and chemical processes between drinking a protein shake and getting "swole" may not be so clear. 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:…

Thanks to chemistry, the products we use to clean our hair have evolved over decades—even centuries. In this video, "Ms. Beautyphile" Trina Espinoza and Lex Fleming from "Made U Look" help explain the science behind shampooing. Credit:…

You use it every day, hopefully twice, but do you know how toothpaste works? This video talks about what gets your teeth clean. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol™, is one of the most popular pain relievers in the world, selling more than 27 billion doses in 2009 alone (the most recent year for which figures are publicly available). Acetaminophen can…

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…

Have you ever wondered what makes a fluorescent color stand out so brightly from other colors? This video digs into what makes those colors pop, and highlights some of the brilliant applications of fluorescence coming out of nanotechnology.…

Do you have a sweet spot for sweets? The next time you are tempted to stuff your face with candy, ask yourself how much is too much. This video explores how many pieces of candy can kill you if eaten in one sitting. Credit:…

This video explores the chemistry behind how clouds develop and how they stay aloft in the sky, despite their tremendous weight. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society