Skip to main content
Back to Show
Reactions

Chirality is Just Turtles All the Way Down

Season 10 Episode 8

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.

Support Provided By
Season
Making Citric Acid at Home is Easy (EMOTIONAL DAMAGE)
16:29
While it looks easy on paper to make citric acid at home, Chem Thug runs into some pitfalls.
I Used DNA to Fireproof Fabrics
8:34
We test if DNA from strawberries and salmon can really make fabric flame resistant.
Didn't Believe There Were Microplastics in Gum So I Tested My Spit
15:15
Are there really microplastics in chewing gum? George tries to find out.
Is Water Magnetic?
8:46
Is water bending real?
Liquid Marbles are the Coolest Scientific Breakthrough I've Made (So Far)
11:15
George tries to make a new discovery in a huge field of science... and he might have.
Exposing Fake Honey Using Carbon-13
12:00
This week Alex takes to the lab and investigates the stable isotopes in 20 different honeys.
George Figures Out Static Electricity
20:29
Rubbing two balloons together leads George to a shocking discovery.
The Performance Enhancing Drug They Can't Ban
11:25
Is baking soda a legal, performance enhancing drug?
Why Norway's Osmosis Power Plant Failed
8:10
George tries to make electricity using dialysis tubing, toilet parts, and a baby turbine.
Hot Water Freezes Either Faster or Slower Than Cold Water
13:59
Alex wonders what happens when hot water freezes quicker than room temperature water?
Why a Carbon Capture Breakthrough Will/Won't Save Us
9:56
Could a seemingly magical 300-year-old technology save us from climate change?
What the Research Actually Says About Fluoride in Drinking Water
14:50
Fluoride is everywhere in the discourse but here’s what the research actually says.
Active loading indicator