Shows / Chat with Greg Fridman
Chat with Greg Fridman
I'm Greg Fridman, a PhD in Bioengineering and an expert in non-equilibrium plasmas. This channel is a space for direct chats about the things that actually matter: the future of biotech, the fascinating physics of plasmas, and the unfiltered reality of the scientific life. No jargon, no gatekeeping—just the science. Subscribe to join the conversation as we explore how bioengineering is reshaping our world and what it’s really like to work at the edge of discovery.
Episodes
Chat with Greg FridmanWhy Bones Heal Worse as You Age (And 2 Other Sneaky AI Questions)
The last round of Gloriously Dumb. I asked Claude to analyze this channel, pretend to be a YouTuber, and ask me the dumbest plasma questions it could invent…
Chat with Greg FridmanWhat Would It Take to Build a Sun on Earth? (We Make Something Hotter Instead)
What would it take to create a sun on Earth? Can we even do it? Not really, despite what the headlines suggest. Fusion reactors on Earth get hotter than the…
Chat with Greg FridmanHow Did Life Start on Earth? One Theory Says Lightning
Did you know plasma may be responsible for the very existence of life on Earth? A viewer asked where reactive oxygen and nitrogen species actually show up in…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Damage the Materials It Treats? Yes. That's the Point.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: does plasma damage the material you're treating? Yes. And most of the time, that's exactly what you want. Targeted…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Run in Plain Air? Yes. Dirty, Stinky Hospital Air Works Best.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can you make plasma in plain air, the air we breathe? Yes, it's that simple. And a funny PhD story: I spent half a year…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Work Without Chemicals? Not Really. It Makes Its Own.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma work without chemicals? I keep talking about reactive this and reactive that, so it's a fair question. Short…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Weld Metal? More Than You Know (Especially in Space)
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma weld metal? More than you know. Most welding you've seen is already plasma. The interesting part is what happens…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Make Water Safe to Drink? Yes. So Why Isn't It Under Your Sink?
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: if plasma can make water safer to drink, why isn't it under your sink right now? Short answer: plasma does things almost…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Fix the Economy? Make Me Funnier? (Gloriously Dumb, Round 5)
Round 5 of the Gloriously Dumb series. I asked AI to pretend it's a YouTuber and ask me the dumbest "Can Plasma?" questions it could think of. Today's…
Chat with Greg FridmanShould You Get a PhD in 2026? If You're Asking, the Answer Is No.
The question I get constantly on LinkedIn and from high school and undergrad students: should I get a PhD? It's 2026. If you're asking me, my answer is no…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Stop Metal From Rusting? Yes. It Can Also Make It Rust Faster.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma stop metal from rusting? Yes, in a few ways. But air plasma is a strong oxidizer, so it can also make rust worse…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Disinfect Without Damage? Why Bacteria Die and Your Skin Doesn't
Episode 150. Thanks for sticking with the channel. Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can cold plasma kill bacteria on your skin without burning you? Yes. Three…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Cool a Datacenter? LinkedIn Told Me I'm Wrong. I'm Not Convinced.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: in a recent episode I said plasma datacenter cooling isn't practical. LinkedIn picked up on it. Comments, messages, emails…
Chat with Greg FridmanWhat Jobs Exist in Plasma? Every Layer of Chip Manufacturing (All 9 of Them)
The #1 question I get from students, high schoolers, and undergrads: "What kind of job can I get in plasma? Isn't plasma just welding?" Short answer: no. And…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Be Invisible? EUV Lithography Says Yes.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma be invisible? Yes. In fact, some of the most important industrial plasmas are. Time to walk back my own "see it…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Replace Bleach? I Just Got a Hot Tub and I'm Wondering the Same Thing.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: I just got a hot tub and it smells like bleach. Can plasma replace it? Same job, different chemistry. Let's talk about where…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Work Without Heat? Yes. Timing Is the Whole Trick.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma work without any heat? Yes. And it's the whole business case for most modern industrial plasma. The trick is…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Kill Only Bad Cells and Leave the Good Ones Alone? A 25-Year-Old Discovery
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma only kill the bad cells and leave the good ones alone? Selective toxicity is one of the holy grails in medicine…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Sterilize a Whole Room? Yes. We Once Proposed It for Obama's Gym.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma sterilize a whole room? Yes, we've designed the systems. But there are three stories in this episode that will…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Make You Young and Beautiful? Superficially, Yes. Deep Down, Only Wisdom Can.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma make you young and beautiful again? Yes, superficially. And I'll share why deeper down, I don't want it to. ⏱️…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Make Plants Grow Faster? The Magic Water Story That Changed My Research
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma make plants grow faster? Yes. I don't believe in magic. But I stumbled into plasma agriculture through a story…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Heal Wounds Faster? A DARPA Cartoon, an FDA Story, and Why Korea Has It and We Don't
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma heal wounds faster than pharma? Yes, for scrapes and cuts (not gunshot wounds, not broken hearts). Three parts…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Kill Bacteria on Food Packaging? Yes. Its Biggest Competitor Is Nothing.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: if plasma is so good at killing bacteria, why do we still have foodborne illnesses from packaged food? Three things: how…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Make Hydrogen? A Silent-Tank Story, Off-Grid Farms, and On-Site Generation
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma make hydrogen without electrolysis? Yes. From water, methane, ammonia, biological waste, diesel fuel, or a mix of…
Chat with Greg Fridman"That's Just What You Believe." Here's Actually How I Decide What I Believe (3 Principles)
Someone recently left a comment on one of my videos: "buddy, that's just what you believe." Yes, sir. Here's exactly how I got there, in three principles, plus…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Clean Cigarette Smoke in Your Apartment? Yes. Radioactive Isotopes Are the Real Problem.
Follow-up to my last smoke and exhaust episode. Two viewer questions in one: why is bread exhaust alcohols, and can plasma clean cigarette smoke in your…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Clean Without Touching? Yes, at 8 Meters Per Second (Ask Kodak)
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma clean a surface without touching it? Yes. Reactive gas-phase species do the work with zero physical contact. Great…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Clean Smoke and Exhaust? Yes. Soot Is Where It Struggles.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma clean smoke and exhaust? Yes, it's a proven after-treatment technology. Three catches: soot is hard, ozone is a…
Chat with Greg FridmanHow I Deal With Tangent Projects: A 3-Step Algorithm (Recognize, Delegate, Delete)
A viewer asked how I deal with tangent projects. The ideas that pop up in the middle of what you're actually supposed to be doing. I have a 3-step algorithm I…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Make Nanoparticles? Yes. I Discovered Some By Accident (And My Advisor Told Me to Drop It)
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma make nanoparticles? Yes. And a personal story about how I accidentally discovered some in grad school, why my…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma 3D Print Metal? Yes, Plus 7 Other Roles in Additive Manufacturing
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma 3D print metal? Yes. And that's just one of the eight distinct places plasma already shows up in additive…
Chat with Greg FridmanWhy Cold Plasma at Room Temperature Can Also Be Fully Ionized: The 4-Temperatures Answer
Two viewers (one on YouTube, one on LinkedIn) asked closely related questions about the relationship between ionization degree and plasma temperature. Time for…
Chat with Greg FridmanThe Two Books That Made Me Want to Pay More Taxes (Annie Jacobsen on Nuclear and Biological War)
Do you ever wonder exactly how the world is going to go to shit? A short break from plasma to recommend two books that changed how I think about that question…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Change Your Hair? Regrowth, Gray Reversal, and Why Purple Is Off the Table
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: a two-part viewer question about hair. Closer shave? Change your haircut? Change your hair color? And a callback to the ball…
Chat with Greg FridmanHow Ionized Does It Have to Be to Be Plasma? The Simple Answer (And the PhD Answer)
A viewer asked a great foundational question: how ionized does something have to be to be called plasma? Some sources say all electrons stripped from all…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Fix Potholes? Silence a Loud Neighbor? Pop a Pimple? (Gloriously Dumb, Round 4)
Round 4 of the Gloriously Dumb series. I had AI scout the channel and generate the silliest "Can Plasma?" questions it could imagine. This time: 6 questions in…
Chat with Greg FridmanCryogenic Engineers in Plasma: 0 Kelvin on One Side, Millions of Degrees on the Other
A viewer asked: are cryogenic engineers often found in the plasma industry, and what would they do there? Short answer: not in my part of the field. But there…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Make Food Safer? 10,000 Papers Say Yes. Here's How.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma make food safer? Yes. And it's a Pandora's box, with over 10,000 Google Scholar papers on the topic. Let me…
Chat with Greg FridmanGloriously Dumb "Can Plasma?" Questions: The Animals Round
Round 3 of the Gloriously Dumb series. I had Claude scout my channel and generate the silliest "Can Plasma?" questions it could invent. Today's category…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Kill Airborne Viruses? Yes, Easily. Then the Real Problem Starts.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma destroy viruses in the air? Short answer: yes, easily. Long answer: the killing is the easy part. Getting it…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Cure Everything? No. Killing My Own Running Joke.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series, a meta episode: can plasma actually cure everything? My running joke on this channel is that if your question starts with…
Chat with Greg Fridman4 Gloriously Dumb "Can Plasma?" Questions: Hangovers, Bad Breath, Headphones
Round 2 of the Gloriously Dumb series. I asked Claude to look at my channel and generate the dumbest "Can Plasma?" questions it could imagine. Today's…
Chat with Greg FridmanSyngas: The Plasma Trick That Turns Waste Into Fuel
We've been hearing "10 years of oil left" for decades. It's the free beer tomorrow sign of the energy world. But crude oil and other natural resources really…
Chat with Greg FridmanOxidation Didn't Cause Disease. Oxidation Created Life.
A viewer sent me a provocative theory: all disease can be explained in 9 words. "Electron replete healthy cells are irreducible. Disease is oxidation." I don't…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Remove Stains? Yes. And Your Shirt.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma remove stains? Yes. But it also removes the shirt underneath. And the wood table. And your carpet fibers. Let me…
Chat with Greg FridmanHow I Answer Questions I Don't Know (A Scientist's Framework)
I got a question I don't know how to answer, applied my standard framework, and then decided the framework itself was worth a video. Here is how I handle…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Break Down Nuclear Waste? No. But It Can Turn It Into Glass.
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma break down nuclear waste? A viewer on LinkedIn asked. The literal answer is no. The useful answer is that plasma…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Replace Your Stove? A Cigar Lighter Story and a Safety Nightmare
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma replace your stove? A viewer sent me a great question about the plasma cooktops appearing online, whether they…
Chat with Greg FridmanThe Future of Medicine: Why the Pendulum Is Swinging Back to Devices
A viewer sent me one of the most thoughtful questions I've gotten on this channel: what does the future of medicine look like in the next 5 to 10 years? And…
Chat with Greg FridmanHow Do You Actually Make Plasma? From a $3 Amazon Kit to a Particle Collider
A viewer asked one of the best beginner-friendly questions I've gotten: how do you actually make plasma in a lab? Is it expensive? Can a regular person build…
Chat with Greg FridmanCorona vs Flame Treatment: What's the Actual Difference?
It's 2026 and industry still uses open flame for surface treatment of plastics. A viewer wrote in asking why — and specifically, what's the actual difference…
Chat with Greg FridmanPlasma vs Microneedling vs Laser: What Actually Happens to Your Skin
A viewer asked a great follow-up to my recent beauty industry episode: what's the actual mechanism of plasma cosmetic treatments, and how is it different from…
Chat with Greg Fridman5 Gloriously Dumb "Can Plasma?" Questions from AI: Food & Kitchen
New sub-format! I asked Claude to analyze my channel and come up with gloriously dumb "Can Plasma?" questions. First category: Food & Kitchen. Five questions…
Chat with Greg FridmanAI in Science: My Work Moves 10× — Here's Why You Should Embrace It
A short break from plasma to chat about something that comes up in almost every research conversation I have lately: should scientists use AI? Here's my honest…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Do Anything for Fireworks? Yes — But Not the Colors (4th of July Special)
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series — a 4th of July special: can plasma do anything for fireworks? Yes, but with caveats. Three real applications, and a chemistry…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Be Used in Cosmetics Manufacturing? 4 Applications I Missed Last Episode
Quick follow-up to my last "Can Plasma?" episode on the beauty industry: I forgot to talk about a whole industry segment — cosmetics manufacturing. I've…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Be Used in the Beauty Industry? Real Science, Marketing Bullshit, and a 60% Placebo Effect
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma be used in the beauty industry? A dozen applications, some of them real, some of them total marketing bullshit on…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Make Things Smell Better? It's a Trick Question
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma make things smell better? Short answer: depends on what "better" means. Plasma is incredible at destroying smells…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Kill Prions? Yes — But Low Doses Made Them 3× More Infectious
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series: can plasma kill prions? The honest answer is yes at high doses — and at low doses, the result scared me off the topic. ⏱️…
Chat with Greg FridmanCan Plasma Help at the World Cup? Field, Players, Equipment, Locker Room
Next in the "Can Plasma?" series — a World Cup special: can plasma help soccer? Yes, in more places than you'd think — from the grass under the players' feet…