Extracting Calcium from Bones 

"Our bones are covered in disgusting low calcium flesh." me: *takes notes*

"Now I am become Tar, the destroyer of yields"

I love me some discusting low calcium flesh

"You gotta read between the tar" spoken like a true organic chemist xD

As someone who repairs vac pumps for a living, you’re a monster.

Tom is like the opposite of a hippie: disgusted by anything natural or organic, longs for just some good ol' normal chemicals.

NileRed: "So now we made our plastic gloves into this fine, 99,5% pure crystalline Pulver..." Tom: YOU GOTTA READ BETWEEN THE TAR!!! That's why I love this channel 😂

This 100% feels like a hellish chimera of Cody's Lab & Michael Reeves

It's the little touches in these videos, like failing to close the glove box after six tries, that really make it top tier chemistry

Tom: tries to get food with a high bone:meat ratio Also Tom: uses bird bones, which are famously light and hollow

It never ceases to amaze me how much chemistry involves tar and poo colored solutions.

I think chicken bones (at least of ones used in meat production) would have relatively little Calcium because 1 - they're brittle 2 - chickens were bred to grow meat fast (which would mean grow bones fast) 3 - their diet and lifestyle were not designed to make particularly strong bones

legendary quotes of 2021: "Godamn chicken Gas" -Extractions&Ire, 2021

"God damn chicken gas" Is so fucking esoteric, that it will legitimately haunt me for the rest of my days. Thanks a ton lol

@03:13 I love the glove-box-close editing. Show the struggle for an uncomfortable length of time, then, cut to the end, leaving the viewer with the burning question, "How long did it REALLY take to close that glove box?"

I feel like NileRed could make a massively popular third channel that's just him reacting to watching your videos.

"I've got quite a few questions about this project, even though I'm the one... that... came up with it" I feel like this is the motto for most Ph.D's and post grad work

Hydroxyapatite is really stable, doesn't decompose till, like 1200 C. You should have just burned the shit out of those bones until the ash was completely white, that would have completely solved the tar problem. Also, butchers will usually have some large cow bones in stock, for dogs.

The strangeness and oddity that is such a specific and "peculiar" idea happening SO close to Cody's Lab doing the same is freaky. Also the people who genuinely worried you were going to use your own bones should always be accompanied by an adult for their own safety.

Last year's halloween special was spooky in a dangerous way, this year's was spooky in an existential way. Watching you suffer through this, then have your project idea done by someone who specializes in metallurgy and get a way better result was painfully relatable.

I didn’t realize you had a second channel! Oops! Haha. It’s so interesting to see the similarities and differences in our procedure!

Missed a golden opportunity to be placed on a new and much more interesting watch list by asking the discord to mail you bones.

I don't know why but the stir bar wriggling around like a maggot in the shit soup made me laugh far too much

You and Cody are easily the most entertaining chemistry channels on YT. I especially love your non professional personality when it comes to chemistry, it's very amusing.

The contrast between your setup and Nile red's setup is for some reason just hilarious to me

Hate to tell you this Tom, but there's definitely a food with a better bone ratio, and they call them "bones" 😂 turns out that's a thing you can just get on it's own

That pause in the music when you said "Goddamn - Chicken Gas" and have the beat resume right after, that's gold man :D

One thing you could've done, if you had prepared this a bit earlier in advance (and by a bit earlier I mean a couple of months lol), is to just leave your leftovers in a bucket of water with a mostly-sealed lid and let all the flesh rot off over time. It does take a while, you have to periodically swap out the water, and it is *quite* stinky, but it is a very, very effective way to isolate bone. I do speak from experience, as I once preserved a crow skull in this manner. It goes faster if the water is warm, tbf--I did this in autumn in Minnesota, so you'd probably get it done quicker in a place where the ozone layer hasn't been invented yet. Another method is to stick the leftovers in a bucket with some dermestid beetles, if you have them. I did not, and I'm not certain how viable an option that would have been in Australia, but it does go faster and is far less smelly. Also, fun fact--by using the water method, I actually got some saponification to occur on my crow skull! This is a relatively common thing that happens to corpses in cool, wet environments; they form a substance called adipocere, or corpse wax. Could be something to look into for next halloween? 👀

Very nice video! Funnily enough I've worked on that matter commercially as a chemical engineer on scales of 30 t batches. I would like to point you to the process of bone gelatine production! The first step in that is the bone preparation. Which ends with demineralization of the protein structures with hydrochloric acid. Which actually seems to be the most efficient according to the literature I read back then. Literature on that is sparce but not unattainable. There's a paper by P. J. Makarewicz on the kincetics and lab scale trials, A. G. Ward and A. Courts have a series of monographs on the topics and there is a "Gelatin Handbook" by Gareis that gives overview over the general ideas. You can usually precipitate snow white calcium phosphates, sulphates or carbonate (whatever you choose) from the resulting solutions. Would be amazing if you tried that process because gelatin production is such a forgotten topic! Although not very chemistry to be honest... Quick run through the steps: Crushing of the bones to bone chips. Enzymatic removal of flesh and other tissues followed by defatting with hot water (there's a lot of fat in bones hence why the tar-fest) . Although they did that with petrol up until the 80s or something. And since you don't want to make food grade stuff from the collagenous bone parts you should be able to remove the fats with solvents as well. Step by step extraction of clacium with acid solutions

"Turning chickens into tar" would sound a bit more halloween-like

Me, a cook: Oh, you need the flesh off the bones. Boil the bones then dude, easy :) yep, boil the bones. Just...boil the bones, brother. *Boil the b* -- *BOIL THE BONES MAN*

Im at the part where hes got his beaker of calcium carbonate and Im just taking a moment to appreciate all the work he had just put into making Lime from bones

'I'l get some bones with good calcium content!" CHOOSES HOLLOW BIRD BONES

Great video, in addition to the chemistry there's a great subplot about an Australian man struggling to learn english.

Came for the bones, stayed for the aphex twin.

I've never seen wings served in a bag like that, but it makes infinitely more sense than milk in a bag.

You are an amazing organic chemist! You can even make tar out of inorganics!!!

Finally, actual bone hurting juice

the "just gotta get my bag of bones out of the glove compartment" bit was hilarious ( a pencil fell in the crack so it wouldn't close lmaooooooo)

this is my first time watching one of your videos, and I love it! You are so informative and entertaining at the same time, great stuff! subbed for life!

Already giggling like crazy minutes in. Aww, man, I missed you. Life is better with you.

"I am a tar connoisseur" I love this channel. The comments are amazing too!

I've had some heartfelt laughs in this video, although over half a year late thanks tom, you really never fail to amaze with your content

13:34 the forbidden chilli sauce

i wish i could donate my bones to this cause

I might have tried keeping the bones at high heat for a longer time, that'd probably burn off more of the organics. Apparently cremated remains are mostly calcium phosphates, so cremating the chicken could work.

ho gosh, just found out about your second channel, I just LOVE your energy, editing, and the subjects you tackle, glad this exists :)

24:42 - The edit here is comedy gold Awesome video. Thank you

So, a lot of the proteins in bone matrix are soluble like collagens. You can use a slow cooker and whatever bones you start with to make a delicious broth by extracting it. If done correctly the remaining bone is extremely weak and can easily be crushed to powder. I would have made bone broth then taken the clean, weak bone and used something like a pair of food cans nested in a capsule and burnt it in a charcoal fire (possibly with a blower) to destroy as much of the remaining organic as possible. From there you’d know the chemistry better than I would, I’m just a civil engineer who likes cooking.

Please extract iron from blood next, then u can combine calcium and iron to create a "being" with alchemy

Thanks Cody for the pointer to this channel. Looks great to fill the time between yr videos.. edit. This is a great video, especially the spectrometry at the end. Also love the style and the music ... Sounds a bit like aphex twin. Liked + subscribed

This video is pure internet gold! I had a smile the whole time watching. Can't wait for the E&F follow up video; Turning bone to explosives.

Tried this recipe and my kids can't get enough of this spoopy seasonal treat! Great cooking channel, clear and family friendly instructions!

"You gotta read between the tar." I'll put that quote in my PhD thesis. Thanks. And to you, random youtuber: If you read this comment in -~2-3 years- 2026 or later please remind me.

Seriously amazing music choices in this video, Aphex!

Just want you to know, I love your videos, grade A content my friend. I'm not a chemist, im a mechanical engineer, but I quite enjoy your videos. Always cheers up my day, you're hilarious. Keep up the good work.

Not a chemist, but when you are making concrete from scratch and you dont have access to limestone you can just take sea shells and burn them for a long time under high heat then dissolve the remains in water. I think burning the bones a lot longer and a lot hotter would have solved a lot of your tar

mate, get yourself a kiln. kilns are G r e a t at turning organic chemistry into inorganic chemistry. plus if you fuck around with the atmospheres inside the kiln you can do all kinds of metal-based reactions

loving the afx used throughout this. fantastic choice.

Just found this channel and your explosions, you're like a meme'r NileRed and I love it.

Everything this man touches turns to tar, it's amazing !

This was absolutely disgusting start to finish yet still incredibly enjoyable

The music in these videos is just as anxiety inducing as are the safety measures. I love it! Thank you for the entertainment. I do recommend more safety.

Thank god you have this channel so I can catch a video more than twice a year.

I would've dissolved the toasted bones in hydrochloric acid, boiled it down, and then chucked the whole mess into a Piranha solution bath. That should've destroyed everything organic and selectively precipitated out the calcium as insoluble calcium sulfate. And to get calcium metal...who knows man. High temperature electrolysis of the chloride? A "thermite-style" reduction with lithium or magnesium?

I already love it and so does my skeleton! PS I Love milk and I drink it a lot. RIP to all lactose intolerant people

saw the notification from you and CodysLab at around the same day. good job guys!!

Seeing this and Codys video pop up within a day is hilarious

We need a “God damn chicken gas” remix

"But you know what? We're just gonna f*ing stumble and suffer our way through this project." I like your attitude, that's how a real analytical chemist talks!

The creep of explosions and fire shitpost editing style into extractions and ire continues, and I am living for it!

So many ways those bones could have been cleaned before it became a black mess. Soxhlet extractor comes to mind as a standard chemistry tool. Ants and sun bleaching would be the way to start, afterward crushing and Soxhlet would at least be a bit cleaner. Clean, pulverize, extract organics, purify with fire, then put in solution and precipitate - that's how I would have gone about it. P.S. I'm a new sub but a big fan. love that you shameless put out this train wreck of an experiment -- it's like I could do that too! Please don't ever use a glass rod or funnel when pouring your solvents. I laughed so hard at the paint stripper spilled all over a painted lab bench top. If only you had included a clip cleaning the paint off the bottom of the flask. ...but seriously, I love you man. Be safe (mostly, you know). Now to watch Cody's video!

10/10 would watch again. Being bamboozled by chemistry I don't understand whilst also simultaneously watching the screen turn deep fried because of the occurance of tar is an eye opening experience, would recommend

Satire: When comes your book?: 101 Ways to make Tar

the soundtrack of this video is the best in youtube, period. great shit

I skimmed the comments and could tell by about the 3 minute mark that this video might not turn out well. You've got my respect for going on through with it and posting. Wish I had the kind of follow through displayed here. Towards the end you had me thinking you might've just cracked the recipe for turning trash into multivitamins XD

Overall a very interesting video, I enjoyed watching it, and it is on brand for E&F because it's a chemistry shitposting channel first and foremost, so it did perfectly well. Tho, for the actual extraction I'd have: Bought cow bones, y'know, you can just ask the local butcher for bones. Some boiling would soften the meat and degrade the marrow, making it easier to strip off. Then strip as much of the flesh as possible with a knife. With meatless bones you can just leave them to dry, a couple of hours in a 90°C oven would suffice Once the bones are boiled and dry they should be pretty brittle, so you could grind them a bit to make them easier to deal with Afterwards, incinerating the bones (calcinating? just leave them at 500°C in a crucible) You should be left with just ashes, which are mostly sodium and calcium carbonates and phosphates, way easier to extract calcium from there on, without having to deal with tar, or W H A C K smells.

"back when i thought the channel would be epic meal time with BONES"

The music used in this video are the type I'd expect to hear in a weird dream

How well that cubane joke aged! ahaha Keep up the good work mate! good to see another Aussie at it!

The perfect Australian to combat lockdownerism. The explosives expert.

This channnel is absolutely my favorite thing on RU-vid right now

I study biomedical & archaeological sciences at uni, you questioning everything about bones at the start of the video is how I feel when I have to do literally the most basic chemistry/stoichiometry for my degrees

Bro I don't know anything about chemistry but I love watching your videos, I come back and re-watch these things all the time, in the least terroristy way possible

15:33 you can't stop me from drinking the forbidden caramel macchiato

Missed an opportunity to call the HCL "bone hurting juice", it's a liquid that "hurt" the bones.

not the calcium extraction we wanted, but still an awesome video.

Loving that set

Bleached and cleaned bones, grind to powder, dissolve everything in strong acid, filter, precipitate an insoluble calcium salt. Avoiding those organics and polymers is really tricky. Your purification steps were well thought out

Holy shit, scunge is my new favorite insult. Thank you australian chicken alchemist.

Dude that wordart made my bones shudder from reminding me of year 7 PowerPoint presentations

The music stopping when the precipitate flew out the beaker was hilarious.

This extraction almost has an alchemy vibe to it. And I loved that!

This man is single handedly keeping the plastic spoon companies in business lol

I've watched dozens of these videos now and I don't know any more about Chemistry! DOZENS.

"I was having a hard time finding bones, but then last night I had an unwanted trespasser on my property... yada yada yada... anyway now I have some bones."

Was the "whack smell" reminiscent of pyridine? IIRC pyridine was originally obtained from the destructive distillation of bones.

for some reason I totally thought you were gonna put them on a meat ant mound to get rid of the meat. it's not exactly chemistry but I guess ants are just really complicated chemicals. great video!

I love the clown trip house jingle going on with the juxtaposition of the jank ass shit chemistry, busted toaster oven with the beaker keeping it closed, etc... made me feel like if someone walked in on me watching this i would feel shame.

1:50 any Australian highway has a dead kangaroo every couple kms 💀