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How Do Worms Turn Garbage into Compost?
Season 4
Episode 10
How is it that these detritivores – literally dirt eaters – turn what humans find inedible into beloved compost? After the biology and physics of swallowing and “chewing”, like us it’s all chemistry for digestion. But earthworms have an extra enzyme that allows them to munch through cellulose, the ultimate fiber of that makes tree bark a non-starter in human diets.
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Mosquitos really do prefer some people over others, and this Reactions ep explains why!
13:50
Discover the single most important chemical reaction on Earth, and why we need to kill it.
9:38
This week Reactions dives into something truly out-of-this-world: amorphous ice.
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Are we about to re-define meat? If so, what is meat?!
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Why has the European Union banned certain colors for tattoos?
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Can we solve electric vehicle fires before we fully understand what’s happening?
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Fluffy, delicious bread results when starch gelatinization and flour chemistry combine!
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Join George (and, occasionally, Andrew) as they chart corn’s epic chemical journey.
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For years it was used in homicidal poisonings. We learn what made it so dangerous.
12:40
We explore brining and whether or not it makes a different when cooking the turkey.