Top 10 ACCIDENTAL Discoveries in Chemistry!

[@Chemistorian]

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[@happyvirus6590]

21:36 wife: where's my apron?! This guy: gone, reduced to atoms 😂

[@michaelobrien9053]

If I recall correctly, LSD‘s unique properties were discovered by accident, when a chemist accidentally got a drop on the back of his hand. The substance can be absorbed through the skin, and so on his bicycle ride back home, he experienced world’s first LSD trip

[@felipejerez37]

not "a" chemist, it was the almighty Albert Hoffman

[@eebvos]

I dont believe it can actually be absorbed through the skin. I think that just may be one of those myths. I knew i had heard it somewhere, but I did more research and lsd25 is not liophilic. Which a substance needs to be to be absorbed through the skin. It needs to dissolve into the fatty tissue in order to be absorbed

[@2010RSHACKS]

Look up David Nichols presentation called Hypothesis on Albert Hofmann's Famous 1943 "Bicycle Day.” The text is on erowid. Nick sand put LSD in DMSO and painted it on his skin with no effect. DMSO greatly enhances the ability for chemicals to absorb through skin

[@rustyudder]

Other than the Bergamotte poisoning.

[@JimmyMatis-h9y]

I heard he was investigating compounds to cure the common cold when he stumbled upon LSD.

[@sean..L]

The etymologies of these accidental products are pretty interesting.

[@yetischwein]

silicone was a acciddental discovery as well. Richard Müller tried to make artifical fog to hide cities in a war. he didn't manage that, but found silicone while trying that.

[@hedgehog3180]

The discovery of Gram staining was also accidental and kickstarted a hunt for dyes that were antibacterial, in the end that didn't lead anywhere but it did result in synthetic dye manufacturers switching to medicine and essentially kickstarted the modern pharmaceutical industry. It's also why one of the biggest pharmaceutical manufacturers today is called I.G. Farben, Farben is just German for color.

[@Lembo101]

It's really cool to see these interesting narratives behind scientific discoveries. Science is more than a collection of facts and laws, it's a collection of stories and plot-lines if you look a bit deeper.

[@Chemistorian]

Couldn't agree more! The history and the human factor both make weird scientific concepts so much more approachable.

[@hedgehog3180]

The history of scientific discovery is also the history of the development of science itself since each discovery helped refine how we do science.

[@BrIndustries459]

Very cool video. Now we need 10 completely planned chemical discoveries

[@kanojo1969]

You invented a new word! Around 24:00 you say 'monumentous', which I believe is an event both monumental, and momentous. I think we can get this one in the dictionary.

[@Chemistorian]

Wow, I didn't even notice. You heard it here first! #monumentous

[@JimmyMatis-h9y]

Your post bemused me 😁 befuddled and amused (ok it didnt befuddled me...let's just call it artistic license lol)

[@AnotherPointOfView944]

Gunpowder (from Tang Dynasty in China) was an accidental discovery.

[@dubsdiditup]

Amazing vid again bro you've become one my fav channels lately

[@Apodeipnon]

Eating Vaseline for health is bound to be an Internet fad one day

[@zakolache4490]

So many examples in this video harkens back to Hank Green's video a couple days ago- we solve problems, but in doing so create new problems!

[@alexwang982]

this is so good

[@fraserbuilds]

great video! interestingly some of the earliest alchemical works we have from the ~1st or 2nd century CE contain recipes meant to produce purple dyes, as it was just as valuable as the gold and silver alchemists are more famous for trying to produce. I love those instances when chemists from modern times suceed at the much older goals of alchemists!

[@Chemistorian]

Glad you enjoyed it. Great work with your channel too! I watched your 'I Learned Alchemy from Medieval Manuscripts' video a while ago and thought it was great.

[@hedgehog3180]

One thing I really enjoy is that we kinda did end up proving some of the central ideas of Alchemists right. Like they believed that everything is made of the same elements just in different configurations and while that didn't pan out we did discover that basically all living things is just carbon in different configuration and that you can make almost anything out of carbon depending on it's chemistry. We even figured out how to turn relatively worthless graphite into diamonds. Alchemists would have loved organic chemistry if they had been able to witness it.

[@BillyBob-wh4sq]

I was expecting penicillin to be in this video but I learned something new today! (or rather 10 somethings)

[@JimmyMatis-h9y]

Ikr tho tbf, that's a microbiology discovery not chemistry.

[@Michel-wn9tr]

Vaseline oil is good for toilet problems, and tis inert. Vet even prescribed it for my cat so the vaseline dude wasn't wrong, kinda

[@kruksog]

Remember using it as a kid for the same problems. It worked.

[@Michel-wn9tr]

@kruksog also it did for my cat, here it's sold in human drugstores, as a laxative. Never had to use myself though

[@pseudolullus]

When I was studying chemical engineering, we always credited Solvay (and especially Leblanc) as the fathers of industrial large-scale chemistry, tbqh.

[@colinlusty2812]

Polyethylene ( Polythene) was discovered by accident in ICI laboratories in England

[@Khalrua]

I grew up in a Kodak family. My dad’s dad, my grandpa was vice president of Kodak, the film division. When the company died, he did too. There’s since been a renaissance in film. Thank God. When I was a kid everyone’s dad was getting pink slipped left and right

[@blob9573]

amazing video, usually it's all the same stories that one has already heard before but these ones are new to me

[@Chemistorian]

Glad you like them! When I was researching this video I actually came across loads of other examples, so if this video does well, I might make a sequel 🤔

[@CDCI3]

​@@Chemistorian There are thousands of accidental discoveries like these, but very few of them are recognized like the big ones. Probably because they're several steps back from end user, so the only people who know about them are the chemists because what average person cares that the first N-heterocyclic carbene was discovered by accident (hypothetically, I have no idea if NHCs were found by accident, but wouldn't be surprised!)?

[@anaamikaaa]

great video , loved the vulcanization of rubber one as i just read it in a book :)

[@thowata]

You can find lots of similar stories in Roystom M. Roberts' Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science.

[@mysock351C]

5:00 Rather painful that we’ve come full circle and now have exploding refrigerators again. But the environment! Or something.

[@RafaCB0987]

The power of an accindent should never be understimated

[@davidestabrook5367]

Not watched it yet, but I'm guessing discovery of PTFE that formed inside a tank of fluorine will be in here.

[@harrisdavid912]

Hey, it's me! (I go buy the moniker Ira Remsen's Ghost, since my account name doesn't show up, just the handle) I went to grad school at Johns Hopkins, researched in Remsen Hall, 40 feet from Remsen's ashes

[@Edge51]

Kevlar is another DuPont/Stephanie Kwolek discovery.

[@blob9573]

1500 GALLONS OF URINE?!

[@strategicbacon7349]

*Nilered wants to know your location*

[@solanaceae2069]

PTFE, what a _happy accident_

[@XanderDDS]

didn't artificial dyes lead to the discover of the first antibiotics? would be an interesting video....

[@hedgehog3180]

More indirectly. Gram staining lead to loads of companies starting the search for antibiotic chemicals, that in itself didn't lead anywhere but it did mean that suddenly people were actually looking for them and money was being poured into research and that eventually did mean that they were discovered.

[@XanderDDS]

@@hedgehog3180 fascinating stuff!

[@NottoriousGG]

HYPE

[@othmanekaidi8]

Wow, la traduction française est trop mauvaise. J’aurais préféré pouvoir regarder la video en anglais sur mon téléphone, mais c’est malheureusement pas possible. Un conseil pour le créateur de la vidéo: évitez d’utiliser les traducteurs automatiques bouseux, ils dévalorisent votre contenu. Merci pour cette chaîne que j’adore. Vivement de nouvelles vidéos.

[@Chemistorian]

Merci d'avoir regardé! That's weird about the inability to watch in English. I just checked on my phone, and if you go to the cog icon, you should be able to click on 'Audio track' to select a different language.

[@danieljohanides2625]

Lsd, fission ...

[@forbiddenera]

12:59 and here go the recycling myths.. unfortunately most plastic isn't recyclable or easily recyclable. I wish it was, cuz you're right that we don't need any more

[@louwclaassens4988]

Sucralose?

[@FriesOfTheDead]

Do you even proof read these AI scripts at all? You just said the guy used PTFE tape (plumbers tape) to insulate wires, then he was tasked with inventing a PTFE tape to make plumbers tape. I'm so sick of this AI slop.

[@Chemistorian]

Firstly, as I said in the video, the PTFE tape he was tasked with inventing specifically needed to be stretched 50x its length. Apologies if that was unclear, but it wasn’t a mistake. Secondly, I would never use AI to write my scripts. All of my scripts take me weeks to research and write. Any errors are my own. Thirdly, for the future mate, a slight issue in a video doesn’t automatically mean AI is at fault. Humans make mistakes too. Cheers for watching.

[@FriesOfTheDead]

@@ChemistorianMy apologies for coming on so strong. It's just that that is the exact kind of error that AI is likely to make, and with the flood of AI content already taking me to the limits of sanity I might have been over-sensitized and started seeing it where it isn't.

[@DaedricGamingHD]

when talking about Vaseline dont joke about eating it, its a by product from refining oil to fuel.

[@grantking4032]

So why exactly is that a bad thing? Or does it just sound scary?

[@davidmeyer3795]

What about the Neanderthals that discovered methane by lighting mastodon farts?

[@sunalwaysshinesonTVs]

10, sure. "TOP"? Come on.... Sweet 'n Low, hardly a game changer. As for Teflon, it's invention has done more to damage home cooking, sacrificing the flavour boosting Malliard reaction for (toxic) non-stick. Every pedestrian recipe now starts with "heat non-stick pan" for whatever. I use non stick pans for eggs, that's it. Sure, Teflon was a game changer for nukes, but like most "accidental" chemistry discoveries, chances are it's discovery did more to harm than benefit society.

[@BersekViking]

Sorry, but I really hate when channels have this kind of video when you have to wait for them. I like the videos to be available at the same as they show up on youtube.

[@eqwerewrqwerqre]

What do you mean? The video is here and we can watch it?

[@strategicbacon7349]

What are you on about

[@GigsTaggart]

If gore used Teflon plumbing tape to discover the wire insulation then why was his son trying to invent Teflon plumbing tape? You've explained something badly here.

[@Chemistorian]

Apologies if this was unclear but I think I mentioned it specifically needed to be stretched 50x its length.

[@limpid_runaway1879]

​@@Chemistorian You did. And by the way, amazing video!!!

[@limpid_runaway1879]

​@@ChemistorianI have an idea for your next video. Since you did a video on the noble gases, why not make a video on the noble metals? And if that doesn't work, why not a video on the discovery of the alkaline metals and the halogens?

[@Chemistorian]

@limpid_runaway1879 Thanks mate! Great suggestions. Some of them may or may not already be on my list for the future... 🤐

[@joshuab4586]

Yeah you explained it well, you said he was tasked with discovering a replacement for it