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User:Quinn110310/NileRed

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Nigel Braun
Born Nigel BraunSeptember 7, 1991 Montreal, QC
Education McGill University (attended)
Known for Creator of NileRed YouTube channel Creator of NileBlue YouTube channel
Relatives Corey Braun (brother)
Channels NileRedNileBlue
Subscribers 6.27 million (main channel) 8.38 (combined)
Genres science, chemistry, educational,
Years active 2014–present

Nigel Braun (born September 7, 1991), NileRed[1], is a Canadian chemist and YouTuber best known for his educational videos on elaborate chemical experiments. Nigel has garnered significant attention for his captivating and informative work that examines chemical reactions, processes, and various laboratory methods. He uploaded his first video in March 2014 and has steadily gained a following. Nigel is prominent in the science-media world, with 10 million on TikTok and similar amounts on YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms. He also owns other accounts, such as NileBlue[2].

Early Life and Education

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From a young age, Nigel was interested in building and creating. He attributes his interest in chemistry to early videos online, quickly realizing his interests aligned more with this content. In addition, Nigel mentions in an interview with Karat that working with highly dangerous, scarce, and valuable chemicals such as Bromine made these processes more rewarding [3][4].

Nigel Braun was raised in Montreal, Québec. His parents are Jody Tanaka, a retired interior designer, and Duke Braun, a musician and professor. Nigel's ancestry is French-Canadian and Japanese descent. Nigel has an older brother, Ryan, and a younger brother, Corey. Corey Braun helps with content creation for NileRed and other related accounts. He attended McGill University in 2014, completing his B. Sc. in Biochemistry and minor in pharmacology [5]. His academic background constructed a solid foundation upon which Nigel built his YouTube channel, giving him a broader audience to share his passions. After University, he worked as a laboratory technician in an organic lab and then continued as a chemistry graduate student. He subsequently withdrew from graduate school to pursue his YouTube career[1].

Career and Popularity

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Nigel posted his first YouTube video on March 24, 2014, titled "Making the Pharaoh's Serpent [6]." He hopes the video will provide educational and entertaining qualities to scientific experiments. This video now has 3.2 million views.

Nigel's experiments began in his parents' garage, where he applied the knowledge he had learned at University. He now owns a personal chemistry laboratory where he can practice safely and work with his team [4].

Nigel works with costly and dangerous materials and chemicals. His videos of him working with Aluminum and Mercury and Turning Old Jewelry into Pure Gold Bars, have over 80 million views combined.

Nigel states that his goal is to "show the natural beauty of chemistry in fun and interesting ways" [4]. He also states: "that chemistry is often taught poorly or without a purpose. Because of this, people tend to lose interest and sometimes even start to hate it. In each video that I make, I try to balance theory with purpose" [4]. Nigel combines theory and purpose in his most notable videos, which turn everyday items into edible substances, such as making cotton balls into cotton candy or turning his urine into artificial sweeteners. These experiments are distinctive to NileRed's YouTube videos and separate him from other science-related content. Nigel suggests these videos attract a broad audience as they speak to natural curiosities; Nigel says in an interview with C2W International, "I really try to explain the reasons why I like a project, and I suppose it coincides with what other people think is cool…In the last couple of years, I've also switched to projects that contain more interesting materials, like ferrofluids, or where you turn one thing into another, like turning protective gloves into grape soda" [7].

Another reason Nigel's videos are favoured is their familiar outline and style. Many of his experiments follow the structure of a laboratory report, a style recognizable to many chemists [7].

Personal Life

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Aside from chemistry, Nigel has also spoken about his interest in filmmaking and photography and often refers to his YouTube content as scientific storytelling. However, aside from his participation on YouTube, Nigel maintains a private personal life, only revealing his face to the public seven years ago in his video titled "Making a Nylon Precursor using Green Chemistry." [8]

Apart from his YouTube channel, there is limited information about Nigel's life outside of his science-based content. It is unknown if Nigel is romantically involved.

Recognition

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There is no documentation of any awards or honours for Nigel's contributions to the NileRed channel. He has been featured on many recognizable YouTube channels, such as Safety Third, Karat, and Mr.Beast. His online presence continues to grow, with millions of followers and views.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b "NileRed - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
  2. ^ "NileBlue - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
  3. ^ Brotherton, Laine (2022-02-21). "NileRed is YouTube's best chemist". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
  4. ^ a b c d I quit grad school to do chemistry in my garage: NileRed’s story. Retrieved 2024-04-07 – via www.youtube.com.
  5. ^ "NileRed". Wikitubia. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
  6. ^ Making the Pharaoh's Serpent. Retrieved 2024-04-07 – via www.youtube.com.
  7. ^ a b Linzel, Daniël (June 14 2021). "Bizarre chemistry for everyone". C2W International. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Making a Nylon Precursor using Green Chemistry. Retrieved 2024-04-07 – via www.youtube.com.