Tag Archives: Reactions video series

A biting attraction: mosquitos and me (and maybe you, too?)

No less an authority than the American Chemical Society (ACS) notes that some people are more attractive to mosquitos than others. If you’ve ever traveled with a group people, it becomes very apparent who’s attractive and who’s not (to mosquitos) as some members get covered in bites while others go virtually unscathed.

(sigh) I’m highly attractive to almost any insect that flies and bites so this July 17, 2023 ACS news release “Why are mosquitos so obsessed with me? (video)” on EurekAlert ‘attracted’ my attention,

Some people are more attractive to mosquitos than others, and new research is starting to show why. This Reactions episode dives into the chemistry of the molecules on our skin that make some of us so much more appealing to these pesky insects. It also reveals which products we can use to try to deter them. https://youtu.be/VYUug72GWB0
Reactions is a video series produced by the American Chemical Society and PBS Digital Studios. Subscribe to Reactions at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions and follow us on Twitter @ACSReactions.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

The video is a little over 9 mins. long and the host (Alex Dainis) speaks from personal experience as she is an ‘attractor’.

Milk chocolate or dark chocolate?

Leave a reply

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has invited people to vote on which chocolate, milk or dark, (h/t Feb. 7, 2017 ACS news release on EurekAlert) is the best. But first, here’s a video featuring the chocolate showdown,

You can go here to vote in the comments. Team Dark or Team Milk? The results will be announced on Valentine’s Day.

The science in Star Wars according to the American Chemical Society

Leave a reply

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has produced a video in its Reactions series, which focuses on Stars Wars science from the middle part of the series (episodes 4, 5, & 6) or what some might consider the classic, ‘first’ episodes. From a Dec. 15, 2015 news ACS news release on EurekAlert,

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens hits movie screens this week with its intense plot, edge-of-your-seat action scenes and, of course, lots of lightsabers. But is it actually possible to create a real-life lightsaber or build a functioning Death Star laser? To answer these questions and more, Reactions explores the science behind the Star Wars franchise.

Here’s the video,

You’ll notice the ‘parsec’ situation is not explained. In Star Wars they reference the term parsec as a unit of time (in the first episode produced which is now no. 4, Star Wars: A New Hope). But, a ‘parsec’ is a unit of distance. Here’s Kyle Hill writing about the ‘parsec’ situation in a Feb. 12, 2013 article for Wired (Note: A link has been removed),

You’ll hear any reputable Star Wars fan point it out eventually: Han Solo’s famous boast that the Millennium Falcon “made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs” may have sounded impressive, but from an astronomical perspective, it made no sense. A parsec is a unit of distance, not time, so why would Solo use it to explain how quickly his ship could travel?

There are two stories going on here. The first is that Solo’s famous line of dialog was simply a mistake of terminology. The second — the one I choose believe [sic] — is far more interesting, because it means that when Obi-Wan sat down across from the wryly smiling Han Solo in that cramped cantina, he met a time-traveling smuggler born at least 40 years before the events of The Phantom Menace [episode 1, which was produced after the classic episodes, effectively the ‘first’ episode is a prequel] ever took place.

I understand the new movie, episode 7 is quite good but haven’t had a chance to see it yet. If you get there before I do, please let me know if it’s as good as the reviews suggest and what you think of the science.

Nanobot video

Leave a reply

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has produced a short (4’45”) video about nanobots. Most people are familiar with nanobots as they have been featured many times in science fiction disaster scenarios. At this point, scientists appear to be rebranding nanobots as either nanorobots or molecular machines or nanomachines. Here’s more from an Oct. 12, 2015 ACS news release on EurekAlert,

Nanomachines – including nano-sized motors, rockets and even cars – are many orders of magnitude smaller than a human cell, but they have huge promise. In the future, they could deliver drugs anywhere in the body, clean up oil spills and might even be used as artificial muscle cells. Find out more about these molecular machines (and the challenges that nanobot researchers still face) in Reactions’ latest video, produced in collaboration with the University of Nebraska’s SciPop series: https://youtu.be/loaqIqKCmog.

I’ve embedded the video here,

I quite enjoyed the archival footage they included here along with the inventory of nanobots.

The science of chocolate chip cookies

Leave a reply

I’ve always thought baking and cooking have not been fully appreciated as applied science so it’s good to see the American Chemical Society (ACS) has addressed that shortsightedness, from a Sept. 26, 2015 ACS news release on EurekAlert,

Chocolate chip cookies are nearly universally adored. People like them in all sorts of textures, sizes and tastes. So how can you make your perfect cookie? Using science, of course. October 1 is National Homemade Cookies Day, so for this week’s Reactions episode, we partnered with Science News magazine’s Bethany Brookshire (@scicurious) to take a bite out of baking with the scientific method. …

We’re also celebrating the 10th anniversary of ACS ChemClubs. ChemClubs are high school clubs that provide students an opportunity to experience chemistry beyond the classroom. The ACS ChemClub program will be hosting a special live nationwide event on November 16 [2015] with the theme “Chemistry – Hacking Your Taste Buds.” For more information, visit http://www.acs.org/chemclub.

Here’s the video,

Enjoy!

Did the Fantastic Four (comic book heroes) get their powers from radiation?

Leave a reply

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has gone old school regarding how the Fantastic Four comic book characters got their powers, radiation. (The latest movie version offers an alternate explanation.)

Here’s more about radiation and the possibility of developing super powers as a consequence of exposure from the ACS video podcast series, Reactions,

From the Aug. 4, 2015 ACS news release on EurekAlert,

The Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic are back this summer! In the new movie reboot, the team gets its powers while in an alternate dimension. Here at Reactions, though, we stick to comic-book canon. In this week’s video, we explain the original way the Fantastic Four got their power – radiation – with help from SciPop Talks. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/GbmSmgTIQ8s.

That’s all, folks!

The science of the Avengers: Age of Ultron

Leave a reply

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has produced a video (almost 4 mins.) in their Reactions Science Video Series of podcasts focusing on the Avengers, super heroes, as portrayed in Avengers: Age of Ultron and science. From an April 29, 2015 ACS news release on EurekAlert,

Science fans, assemble! On May 1, the world’s top superhero team is back to save the day in “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” This week, Reactions looks at the chemistry behind these iconic heroes’ gear and superpowers, including Tony Stark’s suit, Captain America’s shield and more.

Here’s the video,

While the chemists are interested in the metal alloys, there is more ‘super hero science’ writing out there. Given my interests, I found the ‘Captain America’s shield as supercapacitor theory’ as described in Matt Shipman’s April 15, 2014 post on The Abstract (North Carolina State University’s official newsroom blog quite interesting. I featured Shipman’s ‘super hero and science’ series of posts in my April 28, 2014 posting.

Seeing atoms, then and now

Leave a reply

According to an April 9, 2015 news release on EurekAlert, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has added a new video podcast (How Can You See an Atom) to its Reactions series,

Since ancient Greek times, philosophers and scientists have pondered the atom. For a couple thousand years, humans could only speculate on the structure and other properties of the smallest unit of matter. It wasn’t until the 1980s that chemists saw individual atoms. Bestselling author Sam Kean takes us through the nearly 2,400-year quest to see the atom in a new episode of the Reactions sub-series, “Legends of Chemistry.

Here’s Sam Kean and ‘How Can You See an Atom’,

Interestingly, it starts the journey with Democritus and not Leucippus who was either a myth or actually Democritus’ teacher and the first to dream up the atom. In order to achieve a clear and succinct description, someone made a choice to concentrate on points that are not up for debate and I am impressed with the judiciousness that was employed in the production of this video.

Chemistry jokes for April Fool’s Day 2015

Leave a reply

The American Chemistry Society (ACS) has released a follow up to its 2014 video of chemistry jokes according to an April 1, 2015 news release on EurekAlert,

Last year, Reactions shook up the comedy world with a video featuring nothing but chemistry jokes. After overwhelming public acclaim, we’re back for this April Fools’ Day with round two, featuring a number of fan submissions. If you’re looking for a laugh, or maybe a groan or two, check out the video here: https://youtu.be/QbxBsD_tDQw.

Subscribe to the series at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions, and follow us on Twitter @ACSreactions to be the first to see our latest videos.

You can also see the video here,

Happy April Fool’s Day 2015!

For those who can’t get enough chemistry jokes, here’s a link to my April 1, 2014 post featuring the first round.

A dog’s intimate understanding of chemical communication: sniffing butts

Leave a reply

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has made available a video which answers a question almost everyone has asked at one time or another, why do dogs sniff each other’s bottoms?

Here’s how a July 28, 2014 ACS news release describes this line of inquiry,

Here at Reactions, we ask the tough questions to get to the bottom of the biggest scientific quandaries. In that spirit, this week’s video explains why dogs sniff each other’s butts. It’s a somewhat silly question with a surprisingly complex answer. This behavior is just one of many interesting forms of chemical communication in the animal kingdom

Without more ado, the video,

You can find more videos in ACS’s Reactions series here. (This series was formerly known as Bitesize Science.)

FrogHeart

Commentary about nanotech, science policy and communication, society, and the arts

Tag Archives: Reactions video series

A biting attraction: mosquitos and me (and maybe you, too?)

Milk chocolate or dark chocolate?

The science in Star Wars according to the American Chemical Society

Nanobot video

The science of chocolate chip cookies

Did the Fantastic Four (comic book heroes) get their powers from radiation?

The science of the Avengers: Age of Ultron

Seeing atoms, then and now

Chemistry jokes for April Fool’s Day 2015

A dog’s intimate understanding of chemical communication: sniffing butts