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
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?
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?
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.
The Chemistry of Pepper Spray
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 not the shivering cold can help you shed those extra pounds.
The Cold Truth About Fat
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.
Constructing Vaccines
Could lead toxicity have produced behavioral changes in Ancient Rome's population and caused the collapse of the Roman Empire? This video explores the use of lead by the ancient Romans, archaeological findings supporting high levels of lead consumption, and the bizarre behavior of some Roman emperors noted in history that may be indicators of lead poisoning.
Did Lead Cause the Downfall of the Roman Empire?
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. You be the judge as you watch this video.
Diseases Behind Vampire Lore