What comes to mind when you think of a chemistry lab? Maybe it’s smoke billowing out of glassware, or colorful test tubes, or vats of toxic substances. Chemistry and hazardous solvents just seem to go hand in hand. But chemists like James Mack think there’s a greener way: It’s called mechanochemistry, a kind of chemistry that uses physical force to grind materials instead of solvents. And it’s getting the attention of such huge corporations as Exxon Mobil. Still, some chemists are not ready to give up their traditional techniques. “I thought they were married to the molecules,” says Mack, who is pictured above placing vials into a machine that uses fast-spinning ball bearings to pulverize molecules. “Little did I know they were actually married to the flask.”
Host: Elisabeth Berry Drago
Reporter, Producer, and Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer
Senior Producer: Mariel Carr
Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Associate Producer: Padmini Raghunath
Episode 161: A Day in the Life - Morning
Episode 160: Teflon
Episode 159: Kean on Genes
Episode 158: The Alchemical Quest
Episode 157: Smoke and Mirrors
Episode 156: Hard to Stomach
Episode 155: Shipwrecks
Episode 154: Fast and Slow
Episode 153: Best Of Distillations #10
Episode 152: Best of Distillations #9
Episode 151: Tears
Episode 150: Sweat
Episode 149: Blood
Episode 148: Across the Pond
Episode 147: Babies
Episode 146: Something in the Air
Episode 145: Asbestos
Episode 144: Mystery of Mass (Spec)
Episode 143: Fairyland of Chemistry
Episode 142: Midcentury Mutants
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