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, otherwise known as LSD-25. This video explores the chemical history of LSD. [Correction at 0:09, 1:13, and 1:46: “Hoffman” should be spelled “Hofmann”]
The Accidental Discovery of LSD
Is gluten good for you, or is gluten bad for you? This video breaks down the chemistry and science behind this controversial food ingredient.
All About Gluten
This animation reviews ways in which certain medications function as treatments for specific viral infections.
Antiviral Agents
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 e-cigarettes. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society (www.youtube.com/acsreactions)]
Are E-cigs Safer Than Cigarettes?
In nature, living things die, decompose, and eventually become nutrients for other life. Yet humans use embalming, coffin-based burial, or cremation in typical after-death practices, which may interfere with this “circle of life.” This video explores the ecology of death and decomposition and provides some greener disposal alternatives.
Are Human Burial Practices Disturbing Earth's Ecosystems?
Neuroengineer Nima Mesgarani is using a form of artificial intelligence called neural network modeling to develop improved hearing aids. If successful, hearing-impaired individuals will be better able to identify and focus on a speaker of interest in a noisy environment, such as a crowded party. Credit: Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute
A Better Hearing Aid Using Artificial Intelligence
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. This video explores a potential solution: the use of fecal microbiota transplants to reintroduce “good” bacteria into an infected person's gut.
Can a Fecal Transplant Save You From a C. diff Infection?
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, because the listed date rarely coincides with when the food actually spoils. So how can you tell if your food is still safe to eat? This video explores food expiration-date misconceptions, and gives you some guidelines to answer that age-old question: Can I still eat this?
Can I Still Eat This?
Opioids are powerful, yet highly addictive, painkillers. This video explores whether we will ever have as strong painkillers as opioids without the risks of addiction and overdose.
Can We Make Opioids Less Addictive?
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.
Can You Take Expired Drugs?