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
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 explores how figure skaters “rewire” their brains to accomplish such feats by practicing complex movements over and over. Credit: Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute
The Brain Science of Figure Skating
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 tasteful journey between the tongue and brain to explore our response to food. Credit: Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute
The Brain Science of Taste
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 Society (www.youtube.com/acsreactions)]
Can Pheromones Get You A Date?
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.
The Chemistry of Addiction
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 accompanying fight-or-flight response. (Correction: The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is the opposite, or the counterbalance, to the SNS (sympathetic nervous system), not the ANS or autonomic nervous system. The SNS and PNS represent the two branches of the ANS.) [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society (www.youtube.com/acsreactions)]
The Chemistry of Fear
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 Georgetown University, also explains that addictive drugs affect the brain in ways similar to love—which helps explain the painful, withdrawal-like symptoms of heartbreak. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society (www.youtube.com/acsreactions)]
The Chemistry of Love
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.
The Chemistry of Your Eyes During Sleep
Online entrepreneurs may try to sell bottled human pheromones, but do these even exist? It's doubtful, according to this video.
Do Humans Have Pheromones?
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 explains how amphetamine can help people focus. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society (www.youtube.com/acsreactions)]
How Does Adderall™ Work?