Episode 023

In the movie Back to the Future, George McFly was a little confused when he told his future wife I am your density....

Episode 022

When I'm at the grocery store, I always seem to be in the slowest checkout line. But it's faster than it used to be because products come with a barcode on the label...

Episode 021

The plastic items we know so well are made of polymers, materials consisting of simple repeating units of particular chemicals. As it turns out, nature is a brilliant polymer chemist...

Episode 020

Ever wonder how a solar cell works? When sunlight strikes a solar cell, its energy is transferred to electrons, which jump out of their original locations and move through the solar cell, creating an electrical current...

Episode 019

Remember when you were a kid, drawing all over your desk with your trusty number 2 pencil and then trying to rub off the black graphite marks with your hands? Well, if you had tried to clean your blackened fingers...

Episode 018

There are many reasons for getting a tattoo: personal expression, remembrance of a family member, or just for fun. But what if there could be a medical reason for getting a tattoo? People with diabetes must...

Episode 017

In the modern world, titania (also known by its chemical formula, TiO2) can be found in many products.This is because titania is great at absorbing UV light, making it ideal for use in protective coatings like paint or sunscreen...

Episode 016

The dark mag-stripe on your credit card is made of iron-containing particles, each of which is a magnet with a north and south pole. The information on your card is stored by making magnetic patterns, in which the poles...

Episode 015

How would you like to drive on a racetrack of solid gold or silver? Well, six teams of scientists recently did just that. However, it would take 100 of their racetracks, laid end-to-end, to equal the thickness of a piece of paper, and...

Episode 014

Feeling energetic?Well, sometimes molecules end up with excess energy too.This can happen in several ways, such as when molecules absorb light, are subjected to an electrical current, or undergo a chemical...