How can we improve the accessibility of chemistry?

We have to remake the lab from the tools in it to the way it's even designed to the way we behave in the lab. We have to rebuild it to make it

accessible to all these different types of people.

It's Thursday, February 22nd, George Washington's birthday.

Also the birthday of Heinrich Hertz, as in frequency, and Johannes

Bronstead of Acid Base Theory fame. And on top of all that, it's Science Friday.

I'm Scifry producer Charles Bergquist. The world of chemistry can be a very visual place.

You've got diagrams of molecules, a lab filled with rows of bottles and vials.

People might observe chemical reactions by watching for changing

colors or searching for specific peaks on a graph. Since those experiences all rely in large

part on vision, they're less accessible to blind and low vision people.

Scientists are now working to make chemistry more accessible,

with techniques that include 3D printing that let students feel the data.

Joining me now with Dr. Brian Shaw, he's a professor of biochemistry at Baylor University

in Waco, Texas, and one of the authors describing the touchy techniques in the journal Science Advances.

Welcome to Science Friday.

Hey, Ira, great to be here.

Nice to have you.

Okay, can you describe these tactile prints for me?

What do they like?

Well, tactile graphics have been around for a while, but the ones we're developing.

Yes, they're tactile, but they're also

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