NileRed
| NileRed | |
|---|---|
 Braun at Open Sauce 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Nigel Braun September 7, 1991 |
| Education | McGill University (BS) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | nile |
| YouTube information | |
| Channels | |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Genre | Educational Entertainment Science |
| Subscribers | 9.21 million (main channel) 4.63 million (NileRed 2) 2.85 million (NileBlue) 16.5 million (combined)[b][1] |
| Views | 3.75 billion (main channel) 50.65 million (NileRed 2) 362.61 million (NileBlue) 3.9 billion (combined)[a][1] |
Last updated: May 18, 2025 by GamingWithAlf | |
Nigel Braun (born September 7, 1991), known professionally as NileRed, is a Canadian YouTuber known for his chemistry-related videos covering chemical reactions and strange compounds. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry with a minor in pharmacology.[2][3]
Early life
[edit]Nigel Braun was born on September 7, 1991, in Montreal, Quebec,[4] to Dorian Braun, a sound engineer and former college professor, and Jody Tanaka. His younger brother, Corey, helps manage the channel. Braun has a BSc in biochemistry and a minor in pharmacology from McGill University.[3][5]
Before starting a YouTube channel, Braun was a trained laboratory technician in an organic chemistry lab.[6] He later began a Master's degree program in chemistry at McGill, but left it to focus on the NileRed channel.[1][3][4]
Career
[edit]Braun had been making videos, mainly tutorials, for fun since his mid-teenage years, then creating a YouTube channel on March 10, 2014. His first video was uploaded on March 24, 2014, and most of his early videos were recordings of his projects as a laboratory technician then at his parents' garage, with them later being filmed at his industrial-grade laboratory.[3] Braun wanted his channel name, NileRed, to be related to chemistry, but not too chemical-sounding. He and one of his university colleagues looked through a book containing chemical names and started with "N" because his name began with the same letter. They settled on nile red, a compound for dyeing used in biochemistry and microbiology, as it sounded good and did not sound much like a chemical. A second channel, NileBlue, was created in 2016 to showcase more casual projects than the main channel, and a shorts channel, NileRed 2 (formerly NileRed Shorts), was created in 2021.[7][8] He is assisted in his channel by two family members and two friends he hired.[3]
Some of Braun's videos were deleted in 2018 during a purge of chemistry channels.[6] In 2019 and 2020, the web magazine Hackaday reported on Braun extracting bismuth from pepto bismol,[9] making aerogel,[10] and making superconductors.[11] In 2021, The A.V. Club and Newsweek reported on a video of him dissolving a hot dog in piranha solution, which went viral.[12][13]
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Streamy Awards | Learning and Education | Nominated | [14] |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Views, broken down by channel:
3.74 billion (NileRed)
101.62 million (NileRed 2)
362.61 million (NileBlue)
103.46 million (NileRed Extra)
47.91 million (NileRed en Español) - ^ Subscribers, broken down by channel:
9.19 million (NileRed)
4.63 million (NileRed 2)
2.85 million (NileBlue)
409,000 (NileRed Extra)
171,000 (NileRed en Español)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "About NileRed". YouTube.
- ^ Brotherton, Laine (February 21, 2022). "NileRed is YouTube's best chemist". The Michigan Daily. Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Isai, Vjosa (August 17, 2024). "With Purple Gold and Bouncy Metal, a Canadian Chemist Shines on YouTube". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 29, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
- ^ a b "Arndtsen Research Group". Arndtsen Research Group. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ Dalheim, Robert (May 5, 2021). "YouTuber makes transparent wood on his own". Woodworking Network. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
- ^ a b Krämer, Katrina (June 29, 2018). "Hobby chemists fall foul of YouTube's content purge". Chemistry World. Archived from the original on September 13, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ Bai, Sam (March 2, 2022). "NileRed, a professional amateur chemist, savior of students, bane of teachers". The Saratoga Falcon. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ Linzel, Daniël (June 14, 2021). "Bizarre chemistry for everyone". ScienceLink. Archived from the original on September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ Williams, Al (March 16, 2019). "Extracting Bismuth From Pepto Bismol". Hackaday. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ Williams, Al (April 4, 2020). "Making Aerogel, It's Not For The Faint-Hearted". Hackaday. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ Williams, Al (August 4, 2020). "[NileRed] Makes Superconductors". Hackaday. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ McCarter, Reid (November 9, 2021). "YouTube scientist plays with hazardous chemicals to completely dissolve a hot dog". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ Lea, Robert (December 20, 2021). "Video of Hot Dog Being Dissolved in Acid Mixture Viewed 10 Million Times". Newsweek. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ^ "10th Annual Streamy Nominees & Winners". The Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2024.