Tiny Matters

In medieval Europe, people who worked with early cannons and gunpowder were viewed as untrustworthy, boorish outsiders. But just a few centuries later, as they began creating elaborate fireworks displays for royalty, they went from outcasts to artists. From black powder to modern low-smoke pyrotechnics, in this episode of Tiny Matters we look at the chemistry, engineering, and artistry behind one...

This week on Tiny Show and Tell Us, a listener introduces us to "FARTs" — a silly acronym for galactic gas outflows — and sends us down a rabbit hole of dying stars and recycled cosmic gas in the early universe. Then we discuss the decades-long search for broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) that can target many HIV strains at once. One bNAb that looks promising is in clinical trials right now!...

We tend to think of space as vast and mostly empty, yet the region just above Earth is far from it. In this episode, we explore the surprising congestion of low Earth orbit, where tens of thousands of satellites and millions of pieces of debris are hurtling around at incredible speeds. From a major satellite collision in 2009 to the looming threat of the Kessler Effect — where Earth’s orbit become...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we unpack a tragic NASA accident in 1981 when technicians, preparing for the maiden voyage of Space Shuttle Columbia, were accidentally poisoned by nitrogen gas. Then guest Mischa Stanton takes us deep inside the human ear. We talk about how vibrations turn into thoughts via the cochlea and basilar membrane and dive into the fascinating world of logarithmi...

When Artemis II lifted off this past April, marking humanity’s return to the Moon, people across the world were captivated. It was a triumph decades in the making, but also shaped by painful loss. In this episode of Tiny Matters, we trace the legacy of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on its 40th anniversary, unpacking what went wrong both scientifically and organizationally, and how the even...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we dive into the Plankton Manifesto and why these drifting, diverse organisms are so essential to life on Earth. Then we trace the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) roots of MRI, through a listener’s personal experience as a patient and chemist. Check out  This Guy Sucked here or wherever you get podcasts! We need your stories — they're what make these...

Did you know that over 75% of silent films have disappeared? The culprit: highly flammable film! We open this episode of Tiny Matters with a poker bet, a decades long grudge, and a garage full of film before we hop into the rise of nitrate (nitrocellulose) film and how it shaped film history. We chat with Robert Shanebrook, who literally wrote the book on Kodak film, and with collection manager De...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, a listener asks: Could we still be carrying air from our very first breath? Deboki unpacks residual lung volume, gas exchange, and a forensic technique used to determine whether or not someone drowned. Then, the conversation turns to women’s health and bleeding disorders after a listener shares their experience living with Von Willebrand disease — the most...

In the early 1930s, a “new and improved” eyelash dye called Lash Lure blinded more than a dozen women, ultimately forcing the FDA to pass new regulations on cosmetics. Nearly a century later, beauty remains far safer than it was in the past, but you could argue that beauty marketing has become far more insidious, with vague language and chemophobic claims to push consumers toward products. In this...

Have you checked out ACS' new podcast Chain Reaction? Today we're bringing Tiny Matters listeners one of our favorite episodes! Chemistry doesn’t just shape conflict — conflict shapes chemistry. And at no time in history is that more apparent than during the two world wars. Historian Alison McManus recounts how the race to weaponize toxic gases like chlorine and mustard gas transformed chemists in...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we welcome our first‑ever guest, podcast producer and dinosaur enthusiast Steven Ray Morris. Together, we dive into three wildly different stories. First, we explore a major advancement in HIV prevention: a newly approved twice‑yearly injectable drug called Lenacapavir. We chat about how it works, why it’s a huge shift from daily pills or monthly shots, an...

In this episode, we dive into the murky, high‑stakes world of deep-sea mining — the practice of extracting valuable metals from the ocean floor. Deep-sea mining has been “just around the corner” for decades. So what’s the holdup? With the help of deep-sea ecologist Andrew Thaler and oceanography researcher Michael Dowd, we discuss what makes the deep ocean such a challenging place to operate, and...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we trace the history of Turner Syndrome — from early clinical observations to the discovery of its chromosomal cause — highlighting how scientists began connecting symptoms to genetics long before DNA was fully understood. Then we follow up on a listener note about lab safety by explaining, at a molecular level, why dimethylmercury and prions are so danger...

In the heart of The Hague, Netherlands, the museum Mauritshuis displays some of the world’s most iconic art in its Royal Cabinet of Paintings, including ones from Rembrandt and Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. But there’s another oil painting by Vermeer that is also quite famous, called View of Delft — it's of his hometown, created around 1660. The painting is a cityscape — the only one Vermee...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we explore the strange world of camelid antibodies—tiny, heavy-chain-only immune molecules that turned out to be incredibly useful for research and medicine. Then we chat about archaeochemistry and how pristine white Greco-Roman statues were once "garishly" painted. Using modern chemical techniques, scientists are revealing traces of vivid pigments like Eg...

Fertilizer… boring? Not on our watch! In this episode of Tiny Matters, we trace the history of fertilizer from the ‘Guano Wars’ to the invention of the Haber-Bosch process, one of the most impactful chemical breakthroughs in human history. Today, scientists and communities are rethinking how we handle nutrients, and asking: could our own urine help close the nutrient loop? We chat with chemist Lei...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we explore a listener's experience with peanut allergy immunotherapy — what it is, how the therapy works, and the odd and fascinating history of allergy treatments, including a 19th‑century scientist who shoved grass pollen up his own nose. Then we chat about “reef balls” made of oyster shells and concrete. These mini artificial reefs are being used to res...

In this special crossover episode, Tiny Matters welcomes Alexis Pedrick, host of Distillations from the Science History Institute. You’ll hear the Distillations episode “The Mothers of Gynecology” — a powerful investigation into the racist origins of gynecology and the ongoing maternal health care crisis that disproportionately affects Black mothers. Through interviews with historians, clinicians,...

Chain Reaction is a new podcast from the American Chemical Society that links chemistry’s past to its future, revealing how this ever‑evolving science shapes the world around us, from the materials we use every day to the environment that we depend on. Each episode brings fresh perspectives and personal stories from chemists, engineers, and other scientists, as well as historians who guide us thro...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we go from nerdy house-party physics to the brutal realities of morning sickness (can you say range!). First, we unpack what 5D data storage is and debate what we’d personally toss into the “Memory of Mankind” salt mine in Austria. Then we tackle a listener’s question about whether science has any updates on what causes severe morning sickness.  We ne...

In 2019, Nathan Hudson-Peacock was serving as an expedition doctor to a group hiking in the Indian Himalayas. At around 17,000 feet, a climber suddenly went from having a mild headache to a life‑threatening cerebral edema. On top of that, a storm was closing in. So, what did he do? How do expedition doctors keep people alive in the harshest places on Earth? Tune in to this week’s episode to find o...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we talk about the crafty corvids that steal anti‑bird spikes to build chaotic, spiky nests and “Mitochondrial Eve” — the most recent common maternal ancestor of modern humans. Get ready for stories of sandwich‑stealing gulls, Deboki being held hostage by a peacock, and the Mitochondrial Eve/Y Chromosomal Adam romcom no one asked for. We need your stories —...

For over a thousand years, humans have been harnessing wind energy. It may have begun with small, grain‑grinding windmills in ancient Persia, but today you might spot Hoover‑Dam‑sized offshore turbines as you drive along the east coast. How did we get here? In this episode of Tiny Matters, we explore the first electric wind turbines built in the late 1800s, how government policies in the 1970s and...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we explore a listener’s tip about a new source of tire rubber — the Russian dandelion — and the science behind what makes it such an incredible and sustainable source of natural latex rubber. Then we answer a listener’s question about a vaccine for fentanyl that will stop the drug from reaching the brain, preventing overdose. We need your stories — they're...

In 1599, a family in a small French town claimed that their daughter was possessed by a demon called Beelzebub and, despite daily exorcisms, the demon possessing this woman was staying put. So France’s Henri IV set up a royal commission that would try something a little different. The woman would still receive exorcisms, complete with the normal exorcism accoutrements, but with a catch. The priest...