Chat with Greg Fridman

Gregory Fridman
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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.

  1. 17h ago

    Cryogenic 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 is one place where they're essential, and it happens to be the most extreme engineering job you can pick. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 The question: cryogenic engineers in the plasma industry? 00:07 Quick intro, Greg Friedman, plasma bioengineer 00:24 The viewer's question in full 00:41 Reframing: plasma is the 4th state of matter, not "an industry" 00:43 It's like saying "the liquid industry" or "the solid industry" 01:15 Most commodity plasma work is atmospheric pressure (cheapest option) 01:31 Ag, medicine, environmental remediation: no cryo needed 01:45 Where cryogenic temperatures do become essential 02:01 Fusion is the exception 02:03 Fusion people are a different discipline from plasma people 02:26 Superconducting magnets cooled with cryogenic systems 02:39 Near zero Kelvin on one side of the wall 02:46 Multi-million degree plasma on the other side of the same wall 02:57 If I had to do it all over again, I'd consider fusion 03:15 The lowest and highest temperatures humanity can make, one wall apart 03:55 What I actually am: atmospheric-pressure plasma chemist 04:11 Why I avoid low pressure (expensive pumps and chambers) 04:32 Why I avoid high pressure (30+ atmospheres is another kind of expensive) 04:41 Where I actually work: plasma for agriculture, PFAS cleaning, commodity applications 04:49 Cost minimization and robustness 04:57 Skills required to enter the field 05:05 Find good schools, find advisors 05:12 My PhD had 7 advisors (yes, you can do that) 05:22 The hack: tell advisor #1 you're with #2, tell #2 you're with #3, take the day off 05:29 Have multiple mentors, ask them for guidance 05:32 Not the easiest field. Rewarding when it works. 05:43 If I'd studied fusion instead of ag tech and sewer water, I could be designing reactors 05:52 …which is what I'm working on now 05:59 Can't talk about it until the patent is granted 06:10 It's running at about 1 Kelvin. So yes, we'll need cryogenic engineers. 06:15 Wrap-up, thanks for the question, post more in the comments If you're a student choosing a field, an engineer thinking about a career pivot, or you've ever wondered why fusion feels different from the rest of plasma, this is the episode. 🔔 Subscribe for more in the "Can Plasma?" series: @gregfridman #PlasmaScience #FusionEnergy #CryogenicEngineering #Careers #Engineering #PlasmaPhysics #PhD #Fusion #IndustrialEngineering

    Cryogenic Engineers in Plasma: 0 Kelvin on One Side, Millions of Degrees on the Other

  2. 2d ago

    Can 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 classify it for you, then share my favorite application: pre-loaded antimicrobial ice on your strawberries. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 A very broad question, a shallow dive today 00:10 Quick intro, Greg Friedman, plasma bioengineer 00:32 Let's classify. Three plasma types plus food types. 00:40 Non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure cold plasmas 01:03 Type 1: Dry plasma in humid air (cheapest option) 01:10 Antimicrobial: biofilms, bacteria, fungal spores, mold, viruses 01:36 Type 2: Moist plasma with water droplets, vapor, or alcohol 01:49 Boosted OH radicals and hydrogen peroxide production 02:14 Type 3: Plasma-treated liquid as a bleach replacement 02:22 Foods that need each: dry grains, coffee, spices (dry only); milk, eggs (low temp) 03:04 The full food chain: harvest, chill, transport, package 03:13 Bird poop on lettuce: plasma at the source 03:38 Yuma, Arizona harvest at 100°F, rapid chilling, cross-contamination risk 04:04 Plasma coatings on the packaging itself 04:24 Plasma gel developed for the diaper under raw chicken (kills salmonella on contact) 04:51 My favorite application coming up 05:36 Plasma-treated water droplets carry hydrogen peroxide and peroxynitrite 05:56 Fly them through a freezer with strawberries 06:02 Droplets freeze on the berries as snowflakes and ice 06:17 Antimicrobials sit dormant while frozen 06:25 On defrost, they release and kill any surface bacteria as the fruit thaws 06:55 You eat safe, freshly defrosted strawberries 07:06 The broader field: over 10,000 papers on Google Scholar 07:22 Wrap-up, ask specific food safety questions in the comments If you work in food processing, packaging, agriculture, cold chain, or food safety regulation, this is the map episode. The chicken diaper and strawberry ice examples are ready to steal. 🔔 Subscribe for more in the "Can Plasma?" series: @gregfridman #CanPlasma #PlasmaScience #FoodSafety #FoodProcessing #Agriculture #Sterilization #FoodTech #ColdChain #Packaging #PlasmaChemistry

    Can Plasma Make Food Safer? 10,000 Papers Say Yes. Here's How.

  3. 5d ago

    Gloriously 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: Animals. Four questions. Three actually had real answers, and there's a Caribbean mosquito-zapper story you'll want to hear. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Quick note on embracing AI (before we dive in) 00:26 AI scouted my channel for silly questions again 00:39 Round 3: Animals. No prep, just answering as I go. 00:49 Quick intro, Greg Friedman, plasma bioengineer 01:09 Four questions in the Animals category 01:13 Q1: Can plasma make a dog smarter? 01:20 Dog training whistles: inaudible to humans, audible to dogs 01:36 Plasma frequency is also inaudible to humans, audible to dogs 01:40 My lab dog always runs away when I turn on plasma 02:02 Plasma-to-LED training progression: sound cue then light cue then just light 02:16 Yes, indirectly, plasma can make a dog smarter 02:26 Q2: Can plasma stop a cat from knocking things off tables? 02:43 Tuned plasma can deliver a mild shock (like a plasma toy) 03:01 A plasma coaster the cat learns to avoid 03:09 Hydrophilic coatings to help things stick to the table better 03:26 Where did AI even come up with this one? Definitely gloriously dumb. 03:33 Verdict: plasma can't really solve this one 03:38 Q3: Can plasma repel mosquitoes? 03:47 Two angles here 03:59 Angle 1: plasma-charge mosquito spray droplets so they stick to skin more uniformly 04:20 Angle 2: the bug zapper. UV lamps and plasma zappers. 04:38 The Amazon tennis-racket plasma zapper (a few bucks) 04:51 A Caribbean Airbnb story: 26 mosquitoes in one evening 05:12 That's kill, not repel. Direct repel via plasma sound? Not sure. 05:19 What plasma can do: deposit repellent coatings more uniformly 05:41 Q4: Can plasma make fish glow brighter? 05:48 (Thanks, Claude) 05:54 GFP (green fluorescent protein) fluoresces in UV 06:18 Plasma produces lots of UV, so yes, it can charge fluorescent proteins 06:35 Same logic as the old glow-in-the-dark watch dials 06:52 UV lamps get dirty, plasma sources don't (no moving parts) 07:09 These aren't that dumb. AI is surprisingly good at edge-case questions. 07:15 Where plasma UV beats lamp UV (durability, no moving parts) 07:28 Where lamps beat plasma UV (cost, broad spectrum, sun) 07:52 Wrap-up, keep sending your questions, I read all of them If you're a dog owner, mosquito-hater, biologist, or you just enjoyed the first two rounds of Gloriously Dumb (Food & Kitchen, Personal & Grooming), this is your continuation. 🔔 Subscribe for more in the "Can Plasma?" series: @gregfridman #CanPlasma #GloriouslyDumb #PlasmaScience #AI #Claude #Animals #Mosquitoes #GFP #SciComm

    Gloriously Dumb "Can Plasma?" Questions: The Animals Round

  4. Aug 6

    Can 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 deployed on an airplane, in your HVAC, or in a respirator is where the real engineering happens. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 The question: can plasma destroy viruses in the air? 00:03 Easiest thing plasma does 00:07 Quick intro, 2.5 decades of doing this 00:26 What a virus actually is (DNA plus a thin wrapper, very little protection) 00:38 Why bacteria are much harder to kill (cell walls, spores) 00:53 Bacteria have more protection built in than viruses 00:56 Viruses don't travel alone: cough droplets carry biological material 01:12 Approach 1: trap on a filter, plasma treat the filter 01:27 Approach 2: plasma mesh, air passes through with zero pressure drop 01:44 The number: about 1 log reduction (90% kill) in a single pass 01:56 Trivial to do in a petri dish in the lab 02:05 The real challenge starts when you leave the lab 02:14 Case study: airplane cabin air 02:24 Trapped in an aluminum tube with strangers who are coughing 02:32 Airplanes are terrified of ignition sources 02:35 Small fuel leak plus plasma equals spark plug equals boom 02:52 Not going to happen in a passenger cabin 02:56 Where are you installing it? Humans? Pets? What about ozone? 03:16 Ozone management options: heat destruction or activated carbon 03:22 Both are proven in air filtration systems 03:46 90% kill per pass, from thousands of experiments 03:51 The catch in HVAC: heating to destroy ozone also heats the house 04:10 What about plasma respirators? 04:17 Great in theory: plasma treats air as you breathe 04:26 The catch: no ozone requires a no-oxygen plasma, which means no oxygen to breathe 04:36 So can plasma destroy viruses? Very easily. 04:40 What plasma makes: OH radicals, H2O2, atomic oxygen, NO, peroxynitrite, plus VUV 05:19 The real question is not "can it kill" but "how do you commercially implement" 05:29 That's most of my daily focus 05:33 Regulatory bodies, OSHA, thousands of implementation issues 05:46 Come to school, become a plasma chemist, join us 05:52 Wrap-up, questions welcome in the comments If you're in HVAC, air filtration, aerospace, medical device design, or public health, this is the deployment reality episode. 🔔 Subscribe for more in the "Can Plasma?" series: @gregfridman #CanPlasma #PlasmaScience #AirFiltration #Viruses #Aerosols #HVAC #IndoorAirQuality #PublicHealth #PlasmaChemistry

    Can Plasma Kill Airborne Viruses? Yes, Easily. Then the Real Problem Starts.

  5. Aug 4

    Can 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 "can plasma," the answer is usually yes. Time to be honest about where that joke breaks. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 The question: can plasma cure everything? 00:06 Quick intro, Greg Friedman, plasma bioengineer 00:23 My running joke: open a medical dictionary, plasma probably does something 00:47 The honest answer: no, that's just a joke 00:52 What plasma actually does: strong oxidizer, controllably skews redox balance 01:08 Coagulation cascades (intrinsic and extrinsic) respond to redox 01:25 A lot of biological processes are influenced by plasma 01:32 Cure everything? No. 01:38 Severe mental disorders: I can't think of much plasma can do 02:03 Decayed tooth with damaged nerve: can plasma revive it and rebuild the tooth? No. 02:13 Biology is complicated 02:20 The dose and dose rate argument 02:27 Whiskey analogy: one bottle can be a lot, or nothing, depending on rate 02:50 Dose is how much you deliver. Dose rate is over what time. 03:03 100 pounds of steak? Not too much, if it's over 5 years 03:11 The chemistry you deliver controls what happens 03:20 Some changes are irreversible 03:23 The thermoset vs thermoplastic analogy 03:34 Once a thermoset is set, you can decompose it but you cannot melt it 03:44 That's why we can only recycle half of plastics 03:53 Location matters too 04:07 Can plasma even reach where you need to treat? 04:15 Plasma inside the brain: how do you deliver it? Drill a hole? Not gonna work. 04:30 Bottom line: can plasma do a lot of things? Yes. Everything? No, sorry. 04:39 Wrap-up: send more questions, comment section is open If you've watched a bunch of "Can Plasma?" episodes and started to wonder where the honest limits are, this is that episode. 🔔 Subscribe for more in the "Can Plasma?" series: @gregfridman #CanPlasma #PlasmaScience #PlasmaMedicine #Bioengineering #DoseResponse #Biology #ScienceCommunication

    Can Plasma Cure Everything? No. Killing My Own Running Joke.

  6. Aug 1

    4 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 category: Personal & Grooming. Four questions. Three of them turned out to be legit. One completely stumped me. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 The setup: Claude, gloriously dumb, round 2 00:11 Second in the series (Food & Kitchen was round 1) 00:14 Today's category: Personal & Grooming 00:21 Quick intro, Greg Friedman 00:47 Loving this AI-generated format 00:54 Q1: Can plasma cure a hangover? 01:09 What a hangover actually is (blood brain barrier, methanol crossing, alcohol byproducts) 01:41 You got me. Nothing. 01:48 Let me try anyway: room smell, gastric acid, plasma-treated water 02:19 Got me. Zero for one. 02:21 Q2: Can plasma fix bad breath? 02:29 Yes, actually. Halitosis from chronic tonsil infection. 02:36 More people suffer from this than you'd think 03:05 The current option is surgery to remove tonsils. Big deal in your 20s, 30s, 40s. 03:23 Plasma-treated liquid gargle: non-surgical, non-antibiotic 03:32 One gargle, works amazingly well 03:36 Mechanism: suppresses bacteria hiding on the tonsils 03:53 No known side effects, quite quickly 03:57 Q3: Can plasma do my laundry? 04:04 Referenced back to my hospital laundry episode 04:11 During the drying cycle, yes 04:16 Inactivates pathogens and kills viruses the wash cycle missed 04:26 If you want more, search the channel 04:35 Q4: Can plasma untangle headphones? 04:38 This is the one AI thought was dumbest 04:43 Wires stick to each other because they're not hydrophobic 04:51 Plasma-treat the cable surface 04:54 Now they slide against each other, don't stick 05:19 This is actually a legitimate problem people have with wired earbuds 05:33 Awesome question, AI 05:38 More rounds coming. Leave a comment if you want them. If you liked round 1 (Food & Kitchen), this is your continuation. Halitosis and headphones both turn out to be real applications. 🔔 Subscribe for more in the "Can Plasma?" series: @gregfridman #CanPlasma #GloriouslyDumb #PlasmaScience #Grooming #Halitosis #AI #Claude #SciComm

    4 Gloriously Dumb "Can Plasma?" Questions: Hangovers, Bad Breath, Headphones

  7. Jul 30

    Syngas: 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 are getting scarcer and lower quality, and syngas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) is one of the strongest plasma powered answers to that problem. In this episode I answer a viewer question from LinkedIn about the wave of syngas startups using plasma and natural gas, and what it means for the shift away from fossil fuels. We cover what syngas actually is, how plasma can produce it from methane and water or straight from municipal trash, and the wide range of things you can do with it: ammonia for fertilizer, methanol and other alcohols, liquid fuels, electricity, hydrogen fuel cells, even reducing iron ore into metal. Chapters: 00:00 Running out of crude oil 00:12 Meet Greg Fridman 00:23 The viewer question on syngas startups 00:41 The "10 years of oil" myth 01:28 What is syngas 01:46 What syngas can be used for 01:55 Ammonia production for fertilizer 02:41 Methanol, vodka, and other alcohols from CO2 02:55 Liquid fuels and valuable chemistries 03:32 Hydrogen as rocket fuel 03:49 Burning syngas for electricity 04:05 Hydrogen fuel cells 04:10 Reducing iron ore with syngas 04:33 Making syngas from methane and water with plasma 05:10 Making syngas from trash with plasma 06:02 The trend toward plasma made carbon sources 06:42 Closing thoughts Got a question, plasma related or not? Drop it in the comments and I'll answer it on the channel. #CanPlasma #Syngas #PlasmaTechnology #CleanEnergy #Hydrogen #Sustainability #WasteToFuel #PlasmaChemistry

    Syngas: The Plasma Trick That Turns Waste Into Fuel

  8. Jul 28

    Oxidation 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 disagree. I also don't agree. Let me walk you through it, all the way back to the Miller experiment and the origin of life. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 "Disease is oxidation" 00:03 A viewer question about evolution, origin of life, and plasma 00:19 Quick intro, Greg Friedman 00:35 The viewer's 9-word theory in full 01:11 My answer: I agree and I disagree 01:21 Without oxidation, you'd be dead. Every cell needs oxygen. 01:32 The trick question: how much free oxygen is in your blood right now? 01:47 Answer: none. Oxygen is bound to hemoglobin and handled carefully because it's toxic 02:12 The whole system is built to control oxidation 02:28 Inflammation and oxidative markers do go together 02:33 Immune cells generate reactive oxygen species to attack foreign organisms 02:54 Other immune cells detect those ROS and rush to the site 03:15 My favorite biochemical: peroxynitrite 03:40 Redox balance: cells maintain reduction/oxidation balance very tightly 03:47 This is evolutionary 03:58 The bacterial origin story: mitochondria has its own DNA 04:13 Mitochondrial DNA is bacterial DNA 04:25 Splits like a bacterium, double cell wall like a bacterium 04:34 Either the bacteria built protection, or they invaded existing cells 04:48 You are a walking tank protecting billions of bacteria from oxidative stress 05:12 The reversal: oxidation is not the disease. Oxidation created life. 05:15 The Miller experiment 05:25 A sealed glass jar with methane, nitrogen, water, no oxygen 05:44 A little spark of lightning (plasma!) 05:50 A few weeks later, the water turned brown 06:01 Amino acids. Then microorganisms. Then plants. 06:23 Plants started producing oxygen, which killed early bacteria 06:25 Surviving bacteria built protection. That protection became us. 06:35 The tank is now watching this video 06:41 Oxidation is the foundation of life 06:51 Where plasma kicks in: it disrupts redox balance intentionally 06:53 Even the Miller experiment lightning was plasma 07:03 Plasma treatment "kicks aged cells a little harder" when they stop responding 07:57 Downstream effects: wound healing 08:01 Anti-tumor and anti-cancer activity 08:05 Coagulation, angiogenesis 08:22 So: oxidation is bad? You're wrong. Oxidation is good? You're right. 08:30 I agree and disagree at the same time 08:37 Can I explain all disease in 9 words? No. Biology is genuinely complex. 09:20 But redox is under a lot of it 09:35 Wrap-up, post more questions like this in the comments If you're a biochemist, physiologist, or someone thinking hard about health and aging, this one's for you. 🔔 Subscribe for more: @gregfridman #PlasmaScience #Oxidation #RedoxBalance #Biochemistry #OriginOfLife #MillerExperiment #Physiology #PlasmaMedicine #Evolution

    Oxidation Didn't Cause Disease. Oxidation Created Life.
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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Gregory Fridman
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    84
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Gregory Fridman
  • Show Website
    Chat with Greg Fridman