Skip to Main Content

Chirality is Just Turtles All the Way Down

L-DOPA is the best drug we have for Parkinson’s disease. If you take L-DOPA and reflect it in a mirror, you get a different molecule: D-DOPA, which does absolutely nothing for Parkinson’s and causes potentially deadly side effects. Making just L-DOPA without D-DOPA is surprisingly hard – so hard that the person who finally figured out how to do it won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Season 10 Episode 8 Length 12:02 Premiere: 06/12/24

Recent Episodes

Trying to Make Unbreakable Ice (Even Better Pykrete)

S12 E3 Length 13:34 Premiere Date 06/05/26

I Made Leather Out of Eggs Because of Dinosaurs

S12 E2 Length 09:21 Premiere Date 04/29/26

They Changed Coke and Didn't Tell Anyone

S12 E1 Length 14:19 Premiere Date 02/02/26

Making Citric Acid at Home is Easy (EMOTIONAL DAMAGE)

S11 E13 Length 16:29 Premiere Date 12/31/25

I Used DNA to Fireproof Fabrics

S11 E12 Length 08:34 Premiere Date 12/04/25

Didn't Believe There Were Microplastics in Gum So I Tested My Spit

S11 E11 Length 15:15 Premiere Date 10/22/25

Specials

Yule Log Chemistry Trivia - 4 Hours of Cozy Fireplace

Length 4:11:33 Premiere Date 12/19/19

Football Helmets: The Last Line of Defense?

Length 03:35 Premiere Date 11/21/19

The Chemistry of Fireworks

Length 06:07 Premiere Date 07/01/19

How to Fry a Thanksgiving Turkey Without Burning Your House

Length 02:57 Premiere Date 11/21/16

Season 10 Episodes

Show Episodes

Show Clips & Previews

Everyone is Wrong About Mexican Coke (Even Johnny Harris)

S10 E16 Length 09:36 Premiere Date 12/11/24

I Made Kidney Stones So I Could Destroy Them Forever

S10 E15 Length 11:57 Premiere Date 11/06/24

How Trees Pollute the Air (and Why Your Coworker's Scientific Citations Don't Mean They're Right)

S10 E14 Length 10:38 Premiere Date 10/23/24

Every other video about color is wrong.

S10 E13 Length 21:33 Premiere Date 10/11/24

Why is the US buying Canada's trash for $30,000 per gram?

S10 E12 Length 12:07 Premiere Date 09/11/24

Did fraud lead us to an Alzheimer's breakthrough?

S10 E11 Length 09:53 Premiere Date 08/21/24

Don't Drink Raw Milk. But What About Raw Milk Cheese?

S10 E10 Length 12:54 Premiere Date 07/31/24

This Video is About Electroadhesion

S10 E9 Length 14:04 Premiere Date 07/10/24

Chirality is Just Turtles All the Way Down

S10 E8 Length 12:02 Premiere Date 06/12/24

This (Edible) Mushroom Could Kill You

S10 E7 Length 17:23 Premiere Date 05/22/24

Science Doesn't Understand How Ice Forms

S10 E6 Length 10:31 Premiere Date 05/01/24

Is There a Quick Fix for Ocean Acidification?

S10 E5 Length 13:12 Premiere Date 04/10/24

I Reinvented a 300-Year Old Drink

S10 E4 Length 16:56 Premiere Date 03/27/24

We Are Made of Star Stuff

S10 E3 Length 10:13 Premiere Date 03/06/24

Does Toyota Know Something That We Don’t?

S10 E2 Length 12:00 Premiere Date 02/07/24

Can Science Beat Counterfeit Detector Pens?

S10 E1 Length 10:20 Premiere Date 01/24/24

See All Episodes

TV Schedules

Upcoming

No upcoming airdates

Recent

No recent airdates