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Chirality is Just Turtles All the Way Down

Season 10 Episode 8 | 12m 02s

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.

Aired: 06/11/24
Extras
George visits chemists and discovers that Mexican Coke is doing something secretive.
We test if DNA from strawberries and salmon can really make fabric flame resistant.
Are there really microplastics in chewing gum? George tries to find out.
Is water bending real?
George tries to make a new discovery in a huge field of science... and he might have.
This week Alex takes to the lab and investigates the stable isotopes in 20 different honeys.
Rubbing two balloons together leads George to a shocking discovery.
Is baking soda a legal, performance enhancing drug?
George tries to make electricity using dialysis tubing, toilet parts, and a baby turbine.
Alex wonders what happens when hot water freezes quicker than room temperature water?
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George visits chemists and discovers that Mexican Coke is doing something secretive.
While it looks easy on paper to make citric acid at home, Chem Thug runs into some pitfalls.
We test if DNA from strawberries and salmon can really make fabric flame resistant.
Are there really microplastics in chewing gum? George tries to find out.
Is water bending real?
George tries to make a new discovery in a huge field of science... and he might have.
This week Alex takes to the lab and investigates the stable isotopes in 20 different honeys.
Rubbing two balloons together leads George to a shocking discovery.
Is baking soda a legal, performance enhancing drug?
George tries to make electricity using dialysis tubing, toilet parts, and a baby turbine.