Out of Our Elements

Why is water so crucial to us—and to all life on Earth? Out of Our Elements hosts Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez Esquivel examine their sweat to understand how the molecular structure of water makes it crucial for life as we know it. They also explore how the same molecular properties that make water essential for life come with a downside, helping to explain why we are facing a global water crisis.

Controlling methane leaks and emissions is crucial for controlling global climate change. Hosts Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez Esquivel investigate this tricky molecule by tracing it to its source, in nature and in the city. They investigate why this molecule is so efficient at heating both our homes and our planet—and how scientists are trying to stem the flow of the molecule into the atmosphere.

Caitlin and Arlo visit the Diablo Glass School to discover how chemistry plays an important role in glass’s versatility, and how its properties can be manipulated. Dr. Desiré Whitmore — also known as “LaserChick” — uses lasers to demonstrate how information can be transmitted through glass, and explains how that forms the basis of an ever-growing global fiber optic network.

The Earth is covered in plastic—and we keep making more of it. Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez Esquivel join chemist Malika Jeffries-EL in her Boston University lab to explore just what it takes to break down plastics. Berkeley scientist Ting Xu shows how her lab is innovating a truly biodegradable plastic that fully breaks down plastic into its constituent molecules—in nature—in a matter of WEEKS.

Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez Esquivel, joined by Alex Clark, investigate how the planet naturally turns CO2 into stone, and how scientists are trying to speed up this process. Cornell University Environmental Engineer Greeshma Gadikota illustrates how you can test out carbon sequestration at home. Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory’s Angela Slagle explores scaling up CO₂-to-stone transformation.

To understand the dawn of chemistry, scientists can’t use test tubes and flasks: They need a modified Boeing 747 jet. Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez Esquivel learn all about NASA’s unique SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission, and how it was used to detect the first type of molecule in the universe: helium hydride.

Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez Esquivel team up with fellow NOVA producer Alex Clark to investigate a chemistry problem that has been eating at Alex (or rather, at his classic S13 Nissan Silvia) — rust. But rust isn’t only a challenge for protecting Alex’s sweet ride. It’s also a chemistry problem that engineers must tackle in order to protect the United States’ aging infrastructure.

Arlo Pérez Esquivel and Caitlin Saks talk to Dr. Raven Baxter, AKA Raven the Science Maven, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Dr. Duane Wesemann to discover how the pandemic has advanced the scientific understanding of antibodies. Then, Dr. Katie Gray at Brigham and Women’s Hospital explains her research on COVID vaccine safety and efficacy in pregnant individuals and their babies.

To find out how science and art are intertwined, Arlo Pérez Esquivel talks to Harvard Art Museums’ Narayan Khandekar, about the tools he uses to scientifically analyze paintings. Then, art conservator Liza Leto-Fulton demonstrates how to make paint using pigment and a binding medium, and explains why the human touch is still an important part of conservation.