In the past decade, our cell phones have evolved into multi-functional, always online digital assistants and gaming devices. Nate Lewis, Professor of Chemistry at Caltech, is working on technology that may turn your next smartphone into a bomb-sniffing, disease-diagnosing "electronic nose."

Like a canary in a coal mine, chemical vapor sensors — or electronic noses — can sniff out chemicals that might be hazardous or undetectable by human noses. These e-noses have potential applications in public safety as bomb or toxin detectors. They could even sense diseases on a patient's breath, providing faster diagnosis for deadly illnesses like tuberculosis and lung cancer. Caltech grad student Heather McCaig showed us around Nate's lab to give us the inside scoop on this promising technology.

So in the future, don't be surprised when you step into the doctor's office for a diagnosis and they tell you, "Did you know there is an app for that?"

Just in time for Earth Day, check out our latest video that reveals the journey recyclable materials take beyond those blue curbside bins. Take a tour of a typical recycling center to see out how these facilities sort the mountains of recyclables they receive everyday.

 

The video shows how the Montgomery County Maryland Recycling Facility in suburban Washington, DC, serves as one of the first links in the recycle-reuse chain. It receives more than 80,000 tons of mixed plastic, aluminum and other recyclables every year, and uses staff and machinery to sort out the various materials.

Photovoltaics, otherwise known as solar cells, are an important source of energy around the world, converting solar radiation into electricity which we use every day to power our lights, computers, and appliances. But even the most advanced solar cells can only use a fraction of the sun's energy What if we could use the unused solar energy to also produce fuel? Matt Shaner, a graduate student in the Lewis Research group at Caltech, shows us a demo of an intriguing new technique in the production of hydrogen, a promising alternative fuel. Plants convert the sun's energy into sugar through photosynthesis. In this process, hydrogen is produced when the sun's rays hit a piece of silicon, a material often found in photovoltaic cells.

Produced by the American Chemical Society

 

 

Some people collect stamps. Wolfram Research co-founder and author Theo Gray collects elements. Step into his office, and you'll see a silicon disc engraved with Homer Simpson, a jar of mercury, uranium shells and hundreds of other chemical artifacts. But his real DIY masterpiece is the world's first "periodic table table." Within this masterfully constructed table-top lay samples of nearly every element known to man, minus the super-radioactive ones.

Theo Gray is 2011 winner of the ACS Grady Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public. The Periodic Table Table is a testament to Theo's love for chemistry -- as well as his Ebay buying habits -- and is full of fascinating stories. Come see for yourself in the latest episode of Bytesize Science.
 

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You could call digestion a disassembly line. Your body takes whatever morsel of food you give it, breaks it down, wrings out all the nutrients it can, and discards the waste. It's an amazing example of chemistry in action, and it happens 24/7.

Our body relies on three major types of food: carbohydrates, fats and proteins. In this latest episode of ChemMatters, find out how the body breaks down these big three food groups and puts their nutrients to use.

 

 

This Sunday, an estimated 58 percent of Americans will order pizza for Super Bowl parties around the country. To celebrate Game Day classics like pizza, cheese dips and nachos, we went to Wisconsin -- the American dairyland that produces 35 percent of the country's cheese -- to find out the chemistry behind cheesemaking.

 

Featured in the video is John Lucey, Ph.D., director of the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lucey explains how cheese makers leverage chemistry to transform milk into cheese. It involves special "starter cultures" of microbes that convert lactose, or "milk sugar;" into lactic acid; enzymes that "clot" milk proteins into a gel; separation of the solid curds from the watery whey and other steps.

 

Lucey explains how food scientists use analytical chemistry techniques to test the levels of fat, protein and flavor compounds in cheese to ensure a tasty, nutritious product. Like the New England Patriots and New York Giants teams on the TV screen, cheese also has to pass "performance tests" — not for its time on the 40-yard dash, but to ensure that cheese has the perfect amount of melt and stretch for those Super Bowl XLVI pizzas and other treats.

 

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Phytochemicals, or plant chemicals, are found in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, each one with an associated color. Did you know that blueberries get their blue hue from a chemical called delphinidin? Did you also know that that same chemical is a known cancer fighter? Find out more about why phytochemicals are so beneficial to your health in this video featuring Linda Van Horn, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and discover why it's a healthy decision to eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables!

 

 

Hydrogen peroxide is constantly breaking down into water and oxygen, though it isn’t the most exciting reaction to watch. But add a little dish soap and a catalyst called potassium iodide, and suddenly you get the eruptive, awesomely messy reaction known as Elephant’s Toothpaste!