00:00:28 It's great to be back for another TV season.

00:00:31 Yeah, the show should be even more fun than last year.

00:00:33 Fun? Yeah, but a lot of work, too.

00:00:36 I mean, I've got this killer schedule.

00:00:38 Look at this. I've got to take chemistry this year.

00:00:41 Oh, big deal. Chemistry's a breeze.

00:00:43 Maybe for you. I can't even imagine remembering all of those formulas.

00:00:47 Chemistry is a lot more than a bunch of formulas.

00:00:49 Have you ever done an experiment?

00:00:51 No, not really.

00:00:52 I've got a great idea. Come with me.

00:01:06 Hey, uh, Professor, OK if we use the lab for a few experiments?

00:01:10 Sure, as long as you wear your safety glasses.

00:01:13 And be sure to wear a lab apron.

00:01:16 I'll be here if you need me.

00:01:18 All right, thanks.

00:01:22 Are you sure about this?

00:01:24 Don't worry. I've had a lot of practice doing experiments.

00:01:27 Besides, the Professor's right here.

00:01:32 Why do we have to wear all this?

00:01:34 Wait, is it dangerous?

00:01:36 No, it's just for safety reasons.

00:01:38 We chemists like to take safety pretty serious, you know?

00:01:44 What are you doing?

00:01:46 Making slime.

00:01:47 You mean like the toy?

00:01:49 I didn't know you could make that stuff by yourself.

00:01:51 Ah, it's easy. I learned this when I was way, way back in high school.

00:01:54 Yeah, way, way back in ancient times.

00:01:58 Tetracycline, an antibiotic developed by 20th century scientists for fighting infection.

00:02:04 Anthropologists working with analytical chemists

00:02:07 found traces of this so-called modern drug

00:02:10 in the naturally mummified remains of Nubians,

00:02:13 a group of people that lived in the Sahara some 1,500 years ago.

00:02:18 They were taking the tetracycline, but it's unlikely they were taking it intentionally.

00:02:21 It's more likely that they were getting it by accident

00:02:23 when they were consuming soured grain or molded grain

00:02:26 that they'd been storing in the ground.

00:02:28 The bacteria molding the grain was producing tetracycline in the mold.

00:02:32 Dr. Van Gerven is among a group of scientists

00:02:34 analyzing the remains of these desert-preserved mummies,

00:02:37 many of them children.

00:02:39 They're hoping to learn how disease and malnutrition

00:02:42 affected the people of the northern Sudan.

00:02:45 It's one of the most difficult environments in the world.

00:02:47 We know they suffered from a variety of nutritional problems.

00:02:50 They were anemic and iron.

00:02:52 Their diet was low in protein.

00:02:54 They had protein malnutrition.

00:02:56 Their growth was being stunted during parts of their lives.

00:02:59 The children, as evidenced in their teeth and their bones,

00:03:02 had recurrent episodes of stress where their growth was being interrupted.

00:03:06 We see all this evidenced in the remains.

00:03:09 Through mechanical and chemical analyses of these mummies,

00:03:12 researchers are learning how to help the children of today's world

00:03:15 live healthier, longer lives.

00:03:18 For the American Chemical Society, I'm Randy Atkin.

00:03:21 Miami scientists investigating a mysterious epidemic

00:03:25 of cocaine-related deaths have uncovered a disturbing trend.

00:03:29 Medical examiners performing chemical analyses during autopsies

00:03:33 are finding more and more bodies with blood levels of cocaine

00:03:37 that should not kill,

00:03:39 along with evidence that an all-too-common practice does.

00:03:43 Researchers say those who drink alcohol to ease the pain

00:03:46 of a cocaine-related crash are tempting fate.

00:03:50 Some of the unpleasant sensations are somewhat moderated by the alcohol,

00:03:56 and the pleasurable sensations perhaps are intensified.

00:04:00 I think we're beginning to understand the mechanism,

00:04:03 and I think we're beginning also to recognize the hazardous nature

00:04:08 of the chemical reactions that are taking place in their body.

00:04:13 Scientists now know that in the liver,

00:04:15 cocaine and alcohol react to form cocaethylene,

00:04:19 a rarely studied drug Dr. Hearn had seen for years

00:04:22 in his chemical analyses of blood.

00:04:24 In animal studies, the drug is one and a half times more lethal

00:04:28 than cocaine itself.

00:04:30 And in humans...

00:04:31 We know that there is a correlation under some circumstances

00:04:35 with sudden death.

00:04:37 Biochemical studies suggest cocaethylene flips the brain's pleasure switches

00:04:41 even more efficiently than cocaine,

00:04:44 perhaps making addiction more likely and more difficult to break.

00:04:49 A man breathing liquid in the science fiction movie The Abyss.

00:04:53 The scene is fiction.

00:04:55 The science is real.

00:04:57 This mouse is actually breathing a liquid.

00:05:00 Called a perfluorochemical,

00:05:02 the liquid holds even more life-sustaining gases than air

00:05:06 and is harmless to the lungs.

00:05:08 The mouse lives.

00:05:10 In practice, this odorless chemical fills the delicate interior of the lungs

00:05:15 without any irritation.

00:05:17 Actually used as a therapy for several premature babies to date,

00:05:21 the liquid chemical has demonstrated the potential

00:05:25 of prolonging womb-like conditions in underdeveloped lungs.

00:05:29 By putting a fluid in the lung rather than a gas,

00:05:32 it's much easier to expand these lungs at lower pressure

00:05:35 and therefore is less likely to damage the lungs of these infants.

00:05:39 There are other applications for this fluid.

00:05:42 Dr. Schaefer says using a perfluorochemical

00:05:44 for target-specific delivery of cancer-killing agents

00:05:47 could improve lung cancer therapy.

00:05:50 Other adult applications would include a variety of respiratory diseases.

00:05:54 There are similar problems that occur in adults with respiratory distress

00:05:58 in which this fluid might be also very useful.

00:06:02 Also with smoke inhalation and other kinds of trauma which occur to the lungs,

00:06:07 the fluid could also be used for those patients as well as the babies.

00:06:11 Researchers are also exploring the use of liquid breathing

00:06:14 for fighting infections such as pneumonia.

00:06:17 They're considering its use as an imaging tool.

00:06:19 It may even prove useful in aiding the successful breeding of endangered species.

00:06:24 For the American Chemical Society, I'm Randy Atkins.

00:06:29 Chemistry in the movies?

00:06:30 What, you never saw Ghostbusters?

00:06:32 Well, of course I did.

00:06:33 You remember ectoplasm?

00:06:35 Just add a little bit of this food coloring and...

00:06:43 Voila, ectoplasm.

00:06:46 Prepare to be sly.

00:06:47 Hey, don't mess with me.

00:06:48 Why don't you lighten up? You always take things so seriously.

00:06:51 Hey, chemistry is serious.

00:06:53 Okay, it's fun too, but most of all it's important.

00:06:56 Like liquid breathing, chemistry saves lives.

00:07:01 Off the coast of the Bahamas, a search for treasure.

00:07:04 Treasure potentially hidden within the soft, exposed life clinging to ocean floors.

00:07:09 Here, many creatures survive thanks to complex chemical defenses.

00:07:14 Scientists are hoping some of these same chemicals

00:07:17 will one day help cure a variety of human diseases.

00:07:21 If it pays off, it's going to be extremely rewarding

00:07:24 because it means that we're going to find a cure for a disease

00:07:28 for which there was no treatment or cure.

00:07:31 So on ship, collected sea life and associated bacteria

00:07:34 are screened for biological activity.

00:07:37 Samples that show promise are subjected to much more elaborate analysis on shore.

00:07:42 We select the organisms that we want to work on chemically

00:07:45 based on the biological activity of the extracts

00:07:48 as opposed to searching for novel structures

00:07:52 and then trying to find a biological activity.

00:07:55 Some drugs might need chemical fine-tuning

00:07:58 to increase their effectiveness in humans.

00:08:00 And even if a perfect drug is found, in most cases...

00:08:04 The chemical synthesis will be required

00:08:07 to be able to produce larger quantities

00:08:11 because the resources, the source in the ocean is limited, is finite.

00:08:18 And while several promising chemicals are in various stages of testing,

00:08:22 the worldwide hunt for such underwater treasures goes on.

00:08:26 Illinois farmland in the dead of winter, rock hard and barren.

00:08:31 But inside this building, crops are thriving year-round.

00:08:35 Sun and soil aren't needed.

00:08:38 Pests are not a problem.

00:08:40 We do not use any insecticides.

00:08:42 We're able to get by with that

00:08:44 because we're going from seed to harvest in 28 days

00:08:47 and most insects cannot have a cycle time

00:08:50 from pupa to maturity in that period of time.

00:08:53 Plants can grow up to 100 times more efficiently here than they can outdoors.

00:08:58 It's a perfect spring day in here every day.

00:09:01 The world's only farming operation with a completely controlled environment.

00:09:06 From the chemistry of the air and water supply

00:09:09 to the amount of light and heat given off by these water-insulated lamps.

00:09:13 We start with the seeds, and we get them started.

00:09:17 Then we let them come out and establish small plants.

00:09:22 We take the best of those small plants and put them on these conveyors.

00:09:26 They spend 2 weeks in here on the conveyors, and they're done.

00:09:30 And they're harvested, packaged, and sent to market.

00:09:33 The products grown here are generally more expensive than traditional produce,

00:09:37 but many consumers think it's worth it.

00:09:39 There's never any dirt to wash off this spinach.

00:09:42 Not only that, but the leaf itself is much smoother.

00:09:45 It looks nicer, and since we serve the spinach,

00:09:48 it's very visible in the salads that we use and the sautés.

00:09:51 It has to be a good-looking leaf.

00:09:53 Leafy vegetables and herbs are currently the most practical products

00:09:56 grown using this new system,

00:09:58 but the potential exists for almost any plant imaginable.

00:10:02 Human beings walking on the moon.

00:10:05 Although first seen more than 20 years ago, the pictures still captivate us,

00:10:10 as do the more than 800 pounds of lunar rocks and soil brought to Earth.

00:10:15 Stored here in a specially constructed building at Johnson Space Center in Houston,

00:10:19 the samples are selectively distributed to laboratories throughout the world.

00:10:24 This chemistry lab is trying to determine

00:10:26 whether lunar material could support life on the moon.

00:10:30 Experts say constantly transporting life's essentials to a human colony

00:10:34 would not be practical.

00:10:36 Hydrogen is the key element in addition to oxygen.

00:10:40 With hydrogen and oxygen,

00:10:42 we can then combine those with chemical processes we know and produce water.

00:10:46 Hydrogen is in the lunar samples brought to the moon by solar winds,

00:10:50 atomic particles from the sun that never reach Earth because of its magnetic field.

00:10:55 To extract that hydrogen,

00:10:57 small amounts of the samples are exposed to extremely high temperatures.

00:11:01 The amount released is then recorded with highly sensitive detection techniques.

00:11:05 Early results suggest that mining the moon

00:11:08 should produce more than enough hydrogen for water.

00:11:11 In fact, researchers are hopeful there'll be enough left over for use in propulsion.

00:11:17 America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow.

00:11:24 A few parting words from the last man to walk on the moon.

00:11:28 Does the destiny he speaks of include a lunar base?

00:11:31 If so, scientists are confident the moon's soil holds enough hydrogen to support life.

00:11:38 Wouldn't it be cool to live on the moon?

00:11:40 Earth to Tatiana.

00:11:42 I thought we were going to do some experiments.

00:11:44 Oh, sure. What's next?

00:11:46 Oh, I've got a good one for you.

00:11:47 Ever heard of chemiluminescence?

00:11:49 Chem what?

00:11:50 Watch this.

00:11:53 Mm-hmm.

00:11:55 Give it a good shaker like that.

00:11:59 And then...

00:12:03 Yes.

00:12:06 Wow! Is that getting hot?

00:12:08 Nope. Room temperature.

00:12:10 See, this stuff glows thanks to chemical reaction.

00:12:13 You ever catch any lightning bugs? Same thing.

00:12:15 Oh, kind of like those glow rings and light sticks.

00:12:17 You've got it.

00:12:18 So if chemistry's so serious, how come all we've done so far is make toys?

00:12:22 What, are you kidding?

00:12:24 They actually use this slime for babies' diapers.

00:12:27 It's super absorbent. It keeps babies dry.

00:12:30 See, this chemiluminescence, they use this in dark places like coal mines.

00:12:34 They even paint this stuff on spacecrafts.

00:12:37 Okay, okay, I believe you. Got any other experiments?

00:12:40 You're going to love this one. It's called the rope trick.

00:12:42 We did it last year in my chemistry class.

00:12:46 All righty.

00:12:48 Now, this takes a little bit of time, but when it's finished, it's worth it.

00:12:58 All right.

00:13:00 Now, this one, you've got to pour it in real smooth.

00:13:05 Make sure it hits the glass first, you know?

00:13:10 Feel slow.

00:13:13 As I said, once it's finished, you're going to love it.

00:13:21 All righty.

00:13:23 Let's put this down here like this.

00:13:29 And here we go.

00:13:38 What is that?

00:13:40 It's nylon.

00:13:42 Get out of here.

00:13:44 No, seriously, it's nylon. Well, actually, it's nylon 610.

00:13:47 It's a polymer. A what?

00:13:49 A polymer. It's really a big molecule made from lots of smaller molecules all hooked up together.

00:13:54 If you want, you can make a rope out of this.

00:13:57 Manufacturers use nylon to make clothes, shoes, plastic toys, you know, pantyhose, all kinds of things.

00:14:03 So what are we going to make?

00:14:05 Well, nothing really. I was just going to throw it away.

00:14:07 Are you crazy? You can recycle this plastic.

00:14:11 One of the great successes of modern times, plastic.

00:14:15 The packaging industry loves it, and it's easy to see why.

00:14:19 Chemical architects have made plastic versatile, lightweight, and virtually indestructible.

00:14:25 Trouble is that strength has become its greatest weakness.

00:14:29 There's no way of disposing of it. It's driving us crazy.

00:14:32 Look at the stuff we can't use on beaches.

00:14:35 What do you do with this stuff? You just keep building landfills?

00:14:38 Many agree that solving some of these problems is worth the extra money it'll cost to give plastic a degradable chemistry.

00:14:45 But the effects of current technologies are still largely unknown.

00:14:49 Degradable plastics are not a panacea to the plastic solid waste problem.

00:14:54 They're one potential solution, and when applied to particular articles, it can be a very useful solution.

00:15:01 Even as legislation forces degradable plastics into the marketplace, chemists are busy ironing out a few wrinkles.

00:15:08 They're addressing questions such as product quality and attempting to gain approval for its use in contact with food.

00:15:15 Meanwhile, new degradable plastics are being developed.

00:15:18 This one is produced by bacteria and is said to be totally biodegradable.

00:15:24 It's a renewable natural material, a plastic that comes from agriculture rather than from oil.

00:15:30 And it degrades completely and safely back into nature as carbon dioxide and water.

00:15:37 Although the pursuit of degradable plastics is a step in the right direction,

00:15:41 some feel we'd do better by simply cutting down on the amount of plastic trash we generate.

00:15:46 Of course, there is the option of recycling.

00:15:49 While the plastics industry has talked about recycling,

00:15:53 we haven't seen the kind of large-scale recycling that's necessary to really make a dent in that segment of our waste stream.

00:16:01 And we have to.

00:16:02 We also have to be a little more careful how and where we dispose of our plastic trash,

00:16:07 because it can and does kill.

00:16:11 A plastic explosive downed Pan Am Flight 103 late in 1988, killing 270 people.

00:16:19 As the search continues for the terrorists responsible, airports throughout the world continue beefing up security.

00:16:26 While metal detectors and x-ray machines are useful for finding guns,

00:16:30 in most cases they're unable to detect plastic explosives.

00:16:35 The terrorist has unlimited flexibility in what he can use,

00:16:39 so we must build a machine that will detect the explosive, in this case,

00:16:45 in any configuration, in any presentation, any type of explosive, commercial or military.

00:16:51 Now being tested, this new walk-through chemical sensing device uses gentle puffs of air to ruffle clothing

00:16:57 and loosen the minute amounts of vapor given off by all objects, even plastics.

00:17:02 A more powerful suction system simultaneously draws air from around the person

00:17:07 and into the complex workings of the machine.

00:17:10 There, a series of sensitive chemical tests sort through the collected vapors,

00:17:15 looking for the specific chemical fingerprint of an explosive.

00:17:19 This is the strength of the technique that it cannot be fooled.

00:17:23 You can't put a surrogate compound in thinking it will detect it or mask it.

00:17:27 It doesn't see the mask.

00:17:29 A machine developed for examining checked baggage is now being used here in the U.S. for many international flights.

00:17:35 The device bombards passing baggage with neutrons, causing plastic explosives to emit gamma radiation.

00:17:42 A computer detects this emission and warns security personnel.

00:17:46 Officials say these and other new devices won't mean an end to current methods of security.

00:17:51 Taken together, they will make the work of the terrorist that much tougher.

00:17:56 March 1989.

00:17:58 Alaska's Prince William Sound is blanketed by almost 11 million gallons of oil

00:18:04 before a leak is plugged in the grounded Exxon Valdez.

00:18:07 It's the biggest spill in U.S. history,

00:18:10 and while courtroom battles and largely futile cleanup efforts dominated attention soon after the spill,

00:18:16 lower-profile work done in labs like this may prove more significant.

00:18:21 Here, biochemists are beginning to understand Mother Nature's own cleanup system,

00:18:26 an invisible workforce that can biochemically convert the hydrocarbons that make up oil into harmless atoms and molecules.

00:18:34 Bacteria are the things that in the end will consume almost all of the hydrocarbons.

00:18:39 When we last looked, they were working on the three-ring compounds and larger.

00:18:45 The smaller ones were gone.

00:18:47 Unfortunately, Mother Nature's system takes time.

00:18:51 Here, ten months after the spill, the effects are still visible.

00:18:55 Though all but invisible today, many large hydrocarbon compounds remain.

00:19:00 That's why chemists in this lab are studying the sediments of Prince William Sound.

00:19:05 They're hoping to learn how oil affects nature in the time it takes the bacteria to clean things up.

00:19:11 Chemistry is the link that lets us know exactly where the oil was

00:19:18 and then relate that to the prolonged impact that oil that enters the sediments can have

00:19:25 on the animals that live there and the other animals that eat those animals.

00:19:30 Important research considering humans sit atop of that food chain.

00:19:35 Turmoil in the Middle East has once again pointed to America's dependence on foreign oil.

00:19:41 Once again, the search is on for independent fuel sources.

00:19:45 In a project that began more than ten years ago,

00:19:48 America looked here to the miles of unused land in America's desert southwest,

00:19:54 not to pump fuel from below, but to make it above ground in ponds like these.

00:20:00 There's enough underground water here to fill acres of such ponds.

00:20:04 It's highly saline water, and there's relatively little opportunity,

00:20:08 even for genetically engineered plants, to be grown in areas like this.

00:20:11 Microalgae, on the other hand, are very tolerant to this kind of salinity.

00:20:15 Microalgae are microscopic plants that can biochemically produce high levels of lipid oil,

00:20:21 oil that can be converted into gasoline, and in the process provide an environmental benefit.

00:20:27 Turns out that to make oil, the microalgae readily gobble up carbon dioxide, or CO2,

00:20:33 a major gas contributing to global warming and the enhanced greenhouse effect.

00:20:39 We plan to use directly the CO2 which is emitted from power plants to feed these ponds.

00:20:48 The ponds recreate the chemical and physical conditions found in the shallow seas of ancient times,

00:20:54 where prehistoric microalgae produced the petroleum we use today.

00:20:58 Experts at the Solar Energy Research Institute predict that in the 21st century,

00:21:03 3% of all U.S. energy could come from ponds like these.

00:21:08 For the American Chemical Society, I'm Randy Atkins.

00:21:12 Unbelievable! Tiny plants that make fuel for cars. At the same time, they're cleaning the air.

00:21:17 Yeah, let's hope they figure out how to do that in a big way.

00:21:19 Who knows, maybe we can give up shipping oil in big tankers.

00:21:22 Well, so what's next?

00:21:24 Actually, I've got to get going. I still have to find my English class.

00:21:26 Oh, come on, just one more.

00:21:28 Okay, but we've got to be quick. Here, hold on to this wire.

00:21:32 No way.

00:21:33 Go on, it's safe.

00:21:34 You sure?

00:21:35 Yeah.

00:21:36 Alright, now let me light this here.

00:21:45 Alright, now put in the flame.

00:21:49 So what's so big about that?

00:21:50 Alright, hold on, hold on, let's try this one.

00:21:56 Wow, green.

00:21:58 Alright, now you pick this one and put it in there.

00:22:02 Okay.

00:22:07 Cool, looks like fireworks.

00:22:09 Did you say fireworks?

00:22:13 Fireworks just wouldn't have the same zip, bang and sparkle were it not for the inventive artistry of professional pyrotechnicians.

00:22:21 Artists at Zambelli Internationale in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, not only manufacture the fireworks, but also run the shows.

00:22:29 And while fireworks are fundamentally gunpowder explosions, the artistry involves choreographing spectacular displays built around a variety of chemical reactions.

00:22:39 It's this combination that produces the oohs and ahhs from an appreciative audience.

00:22:45 Once the fireworks maker chooses the colors he wants, the appropriate chemical powders are compressed into small pellets called stars.

00:22:52 A Roman candle will contain several of these stars, which are shot one at a time.

00:22:56 While a large aerial shell may contain hundreds of these stars, which leave trails of brilliant color in the sky when the shell explodes.

00:23:03 The display fireworks maker uses various combinations of stars and what we call salutes, or large firecrackers, to produce his different effects.

00:23:12 Today's most elaborate fireworks displays are produced by licensed professionals.

00:23:16 Theirs is a field that successfully combines both science and showbiz.

00:23:21 Not only must they understand chemistry and physics, but must also possess the aesthetic sense necessary to create what in effect amounts to a full symphony of sight and sound.

00:23:34 For the American Chemical Society, I'm Randy Atkins.

00:23:38 So what is chemistry?

00:23:40 Chemistry is everything.

00:23:42 Professor, we cleaned up, so thanks for letting us use the lab.

00:23:47 Great.

00:23:48 I had no idea chemistry could be so much fun.

00:23:51 Fun, but important too. In fact, a lot of people make a living doing chemistry.

00:23:55 You mean they actually get paid to do experiments?

00:23:57 All the time.

00:23:58 Wow, what a cool job.

00:24:00 Talk about jobs. We better get back to ours or we're not going to lose it. Let's get to the studio.

00:24:19 H, E, Helium, L, I, Lithium, N, A, Sodium, Zn, Zinc.

00:24:35 Uncle Phil, please, do you mind turning the music back on? I'm trying to study.

00:25:38 H-E-Helium-L-I-Lithium-N-A-Sodium-Z-N-Zinc