Chemistry For Your Life

#042

What's that smell? Is it us? Is it you? We hope it's neither, thanks to deodorants and antiperspirants. This week, Melissa and Jam delve into the chemistry of this everyday important substance. What are the differences between deodorant and antiperspirant? How do they work in the first place? Does one work better? Is one better for us? Be kind to one another, wear deodorant.

References from this episode

1. Individual and gender fingerprints in human body odour – Dustin J Penn, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Karl Grammer, Gottfried Fischer, Helena A Soini, Donald Wiesler, Milos V Novotny, Sarah J Dixon, Yun Xu, and Richard G Brereton


2. What are deodorants and antiperspirants, and how do they fight sweat? - Everts, Chemical and Engineering News


3. Studies of trans 3 methyl 2 hexenoic acid in normal and schizophrenic humans - S. G. Gordon, K. Smith, L. Rabinowitz, P. R. Vagelos, Journal of lipid research


4. Breast Cancer and Deodorants/Antiperspirants: A Systematic Review


5. Aluminium, antiperspirants and breast cancer


6. The mechanism of eccrine sweat pore plugging by aluminium salts using microfluidics combined with small angle X-ray scattering. - Bretagne A, Cotot F, Arnaud-Roux M, Sztucki M, Cabane B, Galey JB.

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

• Amanda Raymond


• Emily Morrison


• Kyle McCray


• Justine


• Emily Hardy


• Ash


• Vince W


• Julie S.


• Heather Ragusa


• Autoclave


• Dorien VD


• Scott Beyer


• Jessie Reder


• J0HNTR0Y


• Jeannette Napoleon


• Cullyn R


• Erica Bee


• Elizabeth P


• Rachel Reina


• Letila


• Katrina Barnum-Huckins


• Suzanne Phillips


• Venus Rebholz


• Jacob Taber


• Brian Kimball


• Kristina Gotfredsen


• Timothy Parker


• Steven Boyles


• Chris Skupien


• Chelsea B


• Avishai Barnoy


• Hunter Reardon

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Birds… but chemistry.

What does compost have to do with eggs? How are birds basically doing chemistry experiments to make their colors? Why would a bird eat dirt… or rub ants all over itself?? This episode is a grab bag of wild, fascinating bird facts that connect back to chemistry you already know. No quiz, just vibes.

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

00:00 Bird Chemistry Vibes

02:02 Compost Egg Incubators

02:58 Feather Colors Chemistry

06:20 Seeing Ultraviolet Light

08:11 Clay Eating Detox Trick

09:28 Hot Bodies Fast Reactions

14:23 Preening Oil Waterproofing

16:15 Rainy Day Birdwatching

16:44 Anting Bird Hygiene

19:17 Seabird Feather Sunscreen

20:14 More Bird Chemistry Ahead

20:41 Bird Phobia Banter

21:19 Documentary Media Swap

22:22 Mississippi Kite Swoops

28:19 Do Birds Recognize Faces

31:12 Photo IDs and Backyard Hawks

32:34 Chicken Show Family Lore

33:00 Wrap Up and Support

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

• Amanda Raymond


• Emily Morrison


• Kyle McCray


• Justine


• Emily Hardy


• Ash


• Vince W


• Julie S.


• Heather Ragusa


• Autoclave


• Dorien VD


• Scott Beyer


• Jessie Reder


• J0HNTR0Y


• Jeannette Napoleon


• Cullyn R


• Erica Bee


• Elizabeth P


• Rachel Reina


• Letila


• Katrina Barnum-Huckins


• Suzanne Phillips


• Venus Rebholz


• Jacob Taber


• Brian Kimball


• Kristina Gotfredsen


• Timothy Parker


• Steven Boyles


• Chris Skupien


• Chelsea B


• Avishai Barnoy


• Hunter Reardon

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#053 Rebroadcast

This week, Melissa and Jam revisit one of their fav episodes on the topic of mosquitos. What is DEET? What part does it play in repelling mosquitos? How do repellants repel mosquitos in the first place? Is it just straight witchcraft? Let's do it.

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

References from this episode

1. Staph Retreat - Radiolab - WYNC


2. https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/rachel-carson-silent-spring.html


3. https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/reregistration/fs_PC-080301_1-Apr-98.pdf


4. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-it-true-that-the-deet/


5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24892824/


6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11693870/


7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26827259/


8. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31167-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219311674%3Fshowall%3Dtrue


9. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31167-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219311674%3Fshowall%3Dtrue


10. https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/biochemistry/does-DEET-fend-off-malaria/97/web/2019/10

Thanks to our monthly supporters

• Amanda Raymond


• Emily Morrison


• Kyle McCray


• Justine


• Emily Hardy


• Ash


• Vince W


• Julie S.


• Heather Ragusa


• Autoclave


• Dorien VD


• Scott Beyer


• Jessie Reder


• J0HNTR0Y


• Jeannette Napoleon


• Cullyn R


• Erica Bee


• Elizabeth P


• Rachel Reina


• Letila


• Katrina Barnum-Huckins


• Suzanne Phillips


• Venus Rebholz


• Jacob Taber


• Brian Kimball


• Kristina Gotfredsen


• Timothy Parker


• Steven Boyles


• Chris Skupien


• Chelsea B


• Avishai Barnoy


• Hunter Reardon

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Birds fly all the time. We see it constantly. But how does it actually work? Is it just "Bernoulli’s" principle? Is the air pushing up? Are the wings pushing down? And what’s happening at the molecular level when a bird takes off? Let’s talk about feathers, airflow, collisions between air molecules, and why the way flight is usually explained might not actually be the whole story.

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Timestamps:

• 00:00 — The Question
  Have you ever actually wondered how birds fly? A kid’s question sparks the episode.


• 01:00 — “Isn’t this physics?”
  Why a chemistry podcast is talking about aerodynamics.


• 02:00 — A disclaimer about flight explanations
  Melissa explains why common explanations of bird flight can be misleading.


• 04:00 — The weird analogy that starts it all
  What does oobleck (cornstarch and water) have to do with bird wings?


• 06:00 — Air isn’t nothing
  Thinking about air as billions of tiny molecules interacting with wings.


• 09:00 — The classic explanation of lift
  Bernoulli’s principle and why it’s often used to explain flight.


• 13:00 — Why that explanation isn’t the whole story
  What’s missing from the “air moves faster over the top” idea.


• 18:00 — Collisions at the molecular level
  What air molecules are actually doing when a wing moves through them.


• 22:00 — Pushing air downward
  Why deflecting air matters for creating lift.


• 26:00 — Wing shape and angle
  How airfoil shape and angle of attack change the behavior of airflow.


• 30:00 — Flapping vs gliding
  Why bird flight isn’t the same as airplane flight.


• 34:00 — Turbulence and airflow patterns
  What’s happening behind the wing as the bird moves through the air.


• 37:00 — Bringing chemistry into the picture
  How thinking about molecular motion helps make sense of the physics.


• 39:00 — Final recap
  So… what actually keeps birds in the air?

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

• Amanda Raymond


• Emily Morrison


• Kyle McCray


• Justine


• Emily Hardy


• Ash


• Vince W


• Julie S.


• Heather Ragusa


• Autoclave


• Dorien VD


• Scott Beyer


• Jessie Reder


• J0HNTR0Y


• Jeannette Napoleon


• Cullyn R


• Erica Bee


• Elizabeth P


• Rachel Reina


• Letila


• Katrina Barnum-Huckins


• Suzanne Phillips


• Venus Rebholz


• Jacob Taber


• Brian Kimball


• Kristina Gotfredsen


• Timothy Parker


• Steven Boyles


• Chris Skupien


• Chelsea B


• Avishai Barnoy


• Hunter Reardon

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this bonus episode, we host a rematch of our game “Fun Fact or Fake Factoid” with Claire and Jam, using stricter rules: each claim must be entirely true or false as worded, and the winner earns a treat. We test statements about pregnancy-related brain changes, koala fingerprints, bird body temperature, whether every fig contains a dead wasp, how egg markings form, woodpecker tongues wrapping around their skulls, unique parrot pigments, bald eagles’ ability to take off from the ground, black bear maternal instinct, and whether red bird color is structural rather than pigment-based.

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

00:00 Rematch Setup

00:42 Rules and Stakes

02:46 Pregnancy Brain Changes

05:55 Koala Fingerprints

07:48 Bird Body Temperature Myth

11:26 Fig Wasp Debate

15:33 Egg Markings Explained

16:53 Egg Pigment Mystery

17:57 Woodpecker Tongue Wrap

19:13 Tie Breaker Rules

20:26 Parrot Pigment Class

21:18 Eagle Takeoff Myth

24:27 Bear Instinct Debate

25:19 Bird Color Science

29:54 Rematch And Submissions

31:21 Support And Credits

References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

• Amanda Raymond


• Emily Morrison


• Kyle McCray


• Justine


• Emily Hardy


• Ash


• Vince W


• Julie S.


• Heather Ragusa


• Autoclave


• Dorien VD


• Scott Beyer


• Jessie Reder


• J0HNTR0Y


• Jeannette Napoleon


• Cullyn R


• Erica Bee


• Elizabeth P


• Rachel Reina


• Letila


• Katrina Barnum-Huckins


• Suzanne Phillips


• Venus Rebholz


• Jacob Taber


• Brian Kimball


• Kristina Gotfredsen


• Timothy Parker


• Steven Boyles


• Chris Skupien


• Chelsea B


• Avishai Barnoy


• Hunter Reardon

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.