Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
In this month's bonus episode, Melissa and Jam respond to comments and questions about regulation of scented products, being a parent and getting a PhD, condiments as non-newtonian fluids, adhesive removers, and more!
A podcast that helps you understand the fascinating chemistry hidden in your everyday life.
Have you ever wondered why onions make you cry? Or how soap gets your hands clean? What really is margarine, or why do trees change colors in the fall? Melissa is a chemist, and to answer these questions she started a podcast, called Chemistry for your life!
In each episode Melissa explains the chemistry behind one of lifeās mysteries to Jam, who is definitely not a chemist, but she explains it in a way that is easy to understand, and totally fascinating.
If youāre someone who loves learning new things, or who wonders about the way the world works, then give us a listen.
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist. And I'm not. And welcome to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry for your everyday life, bonus addition.
Melissa:I was gonna try to beat you. I didn't. Okay, Jam. I'm really excited. I guess I'm always excited, but we Good questions this week.
Jam:Awesome. I'm telling you, we always get good questions, but, I never know what they're gonna be until, like, right before. So
Melissa:Well, actually, some of the questions are specifically for you this week.
Jam:Oh, nice.
Melissa:So I'll let you get started with the first few, and then I'll take over about halfway through.
Jam:These first few questions actually are from some of our age bonders. Our
Melissa:Yay. Our
Jam:mo our 3rd sort of most Whatever tier of our Patreon. We love all our patrons. These are the people who donate the most. And so they'll get to read their own questions. These first couple are from Bree.
Jam:Take it away, Bree.
Bri:Hi. Yeah. So my name is Bree from Austin, Texas, and I was wondering How do scientists safely determine what molecules are associated with the scent? Like, how do perfume developers know which molecules are safe for human scented products and aren't, like, carcinogenic, caustic, or dangerous for a topical application.
Melissa:This is such a good question. Okay. Now this answer could have changed, and I think I maybe have talked about this on the podcast before.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:But I I learned this from someone else who's a chemist who did an internship at I don't I think it was maybe Johnson and Johnson, but I don't know for sure. So allegedly.
Jam:Allegedly. Okay.
Melissa:And he told me a story that when he, would When he was an intern there, they would tell people to come up in the morning, and you would get free breakfast, and you could put, like, the scent molecules on your skin and, like, a little bit of each scent. And then you would come back later in the day, and if you hadn't broken out, then that was good enough because Scent is not regulated by the FDA.
Jam:Right. I think you've at least just talked about that part of it before that it's not regulated.
Melissa:It's not regulated by the FDA or it wasn't at least then. I don't think it is Still now. So whenever you can, opt for unscented products because that's gonna be a better option or, You know, something that is maybe scented with a diluted essential oil might be okay, like, the lavender oil and stuff that we talked about. But really even then those
Jam:can be irritants because there's a
Melissa:lot of organic molecules, like, all in that scent. It's not just 1. You know? So Right. I would say Wherever you can avoid scents or work with a scent that you know that you're not, sensitive to is probably the better option.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:When I saw that question, I was really excited that I was gonna get to talk about that because he said they would go up and get, like, donuts or whatever. Yeah. Just the interns would go and put that on their skin, and then it was voluntary. He didn't have to do it. Yeah.
Melissa:It seems kind of crazy.
Jam:Is it possible that, like, There could be some sort of scent that's bad for us, but that wouldn't, like, react on our skin? Like
Melissa:Yeah. I think there are things that are carcinogenic. They I think they There are things also that are called I don't they're, like, called transporters, basically, where they can pick up other things and take them with you. So I don't know. I think that fragrance I'm I'm looking at the FDA website now, and it said that the fragrance ingredients Should meet the same requirements for safety as other cosmetic ingredients, but the law doesn't require that FDA approve them before they go on the market.
Melissa:But they are supposed to be safe. But I don't know how they determine that. Yeah. So I think if you knowingly put a carcinogenic smell on the market that you would get in trouble for that, but I don't know if it's doesn't need to be approved by the FDA. I don't know how they make sure that it's safe.
Melissa:You know? Right. That's a that to me, that's very, hands off.
Jam:Right. Maybe it'll only be after the fact if there's reported problems.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:After it's been out there for a while rather than let's vet this before Yeah. Or whatever.
Melissa:So I I feel like Opt for unscented products. And ever since I learned that, I usually do try to opt for unscented products. Yeah. And my most of our stuff is unscented, which is sad because I used to love the combination of this podcast has taken both of these away from me. It's a combination of the type of laundry detergent and dryer sheet that my mom used for us all growing up.
Melissa:And she would, like you know, on Sundays, she we would usually do our own laundry. But On Sunday, she would always make our bed for us. I'd, like, come home from work, and my bed would be made, and it would smell like that. And now we use unscented things and no dryer sheets because of what I've learned as a chemist. Right.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:So yeah. We're we had to do the same thing with, scented Detergent and stuff like that and soaps because with babies, you wanna, like, kinda just keep that away for a little while. It's kind of one of the best practices is just for the 1st while to obviously not add to the things that could cause problems for kids or whatever. And so Yeah. Like, If you washed in a scented thing that was irritant to
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:A baby, then they're just gonna be all irritated. Anyway, awesome.
Melissa:So Better not to.
Jam:Better not to. So we've we kind of, And then we have 2 kids. So it's like, okay. We just find 1 detergent is so much easier than having, like, the scented one for us and the non scented one for The kids seems just Yeah. Yeah.
Jam:Anyway.
Melissa:Yeah. And well, and also in cosmetic products, I do that too. So all my lotions and soap in the shower, you know, all that stuff is unscented. So whenever you can go unscented, it's probably a best practice to do so. At least that's what I do.
Jam:Dang. Well, very interesting question. And now let's hand it back to Brie for her second question.
Bri:And I was also wondering if you could talk about what it's like For your peers pursuing a PhD, who decided to have kids? Because I'm getting married next year, March 25th. And I would love to have a kid eventually, but I also love the idea of getting a PhD in biophysics or science communication. So I was just curious.
Melissa:Okay. This is a good question. And I would say, you know, Mason and I eventually wanna a family, and we're sort of in the information gathering stage of what that's like. And so the I think I've Ask a lot of people what it's like to have a kid either be being in a PhD or, in academia in general. And I would say it's definitely possible to have a kid and get a PhD.
Melissa:Definitely, having a kid is Harder than not having a kid in my experience, just in life in general. And maybe maybe it's just Trading good things for other good things. I mean, Jam, maybe you could speak to that more as a parent. It just makes life maybe a little bit more busy, and you have been time thinking about and taking care of humans that aren't you. Right.
Melissa:So would you is that been your experience?
Jam:Yeah. And I think I've people have asked me about Becoming a parent a bunch. Like and all these people who've asked me about that, actually, their life looks a little different. It's not like everyone's got the same thing. But one of the things I think is true across Everyone who's asking this kind of question is like, you're just going there's gonna be some significant change that has to happen.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:And just deciding about that with your partner sooner is is better. So one of you is either gonna have to work a lot less and watch the kids, or you're gonna have to decide that you want that you have a plan for a day care, that you're willing to spend that amount of money, and you've got, you know, some some ideas in place of what that could be so that you can still allocate your amount of time toward Your career PhD went to, but it's gonna have to come from somewhere. Right.
Melissa:That
Jam:time. And so, I do know some people who have thought then they're, like, surprised. You know? Like, oh, wow. I guess 1 of us has to really totally change our Yeah.
Jam:Trajectory, Or we didn't look into the cost of daycare, and, wow, it's expensive. Oops.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Gotta change your plan. It's just like something's gotta give somewhere, I guess, is is one way to put it.
Melissa:And I think one nice thing about I I do know people who have had kids while they were getting their PhDs, and, like, That's totally viable. It's totally an option. So one of my previous boss, I think she had she had 1 or 2 kids while she was actively getting her d.
Jam:Wow.
Melissa:And she has a good partner who helped her out a lot. And then a friend of mine recently had a baby while she was finishing up her master's, And she has a baby now with a as she's going through her PhD. So that's just 2 that I could think of off the top of my head. Your life is gonna have to change. You have to really think about it with your partner like what Jam said.
Melissa:But also the nice thing is grad school, depending on your adviser and what kind of field you're in, can be more So you have these classes that you have to get through, and you usually have to do a teaching assignment, and then you have to do research, but, like, a lot of my research can be done remotely. So if you're interested in a field that allows for that, then you can absolutely do that. Right. And then you have more flexibility to work while a baby's sleeping. You still have to work.
Melissa:But Yeah. There's some ages where it's easier to work while they're home than others. And then also, I would say This is just what I've heard from other people because I don't have kids yet, but I have gathered a lot of information. I'd also say that you have to think about if it's in biophysics or in another place where you're gonna be in a lab, that's a safety hazard. So, you have to think about that.
Melissa:Like, I know someone who wouldn't be in the lab the whole time that they were pregnant because their lab had a lot of organic molecules in it. If I had stayed in organic chemistry, I would probably Stop working in the lab from pregnancy
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Until child is born plus maternity leave, and that could impact grad school more. You know? So it really just depends, but I think it's totally possible. I think, I've also talked to women who got their, PhDs and then went into academia and then had kids and men also. And they just talked about how, like, there's a phase when kids are born where you just kind of Slow down a little.
Melissa:Yeah. And you kind of have to, but, you just be productive in the time that you have, and that's kind of all you can do. So Yep. But definitely not impossible and definitely, a burden that not just you, but you and your partner can talk about together and figure out, like, what is this gonna look like? It's gonna be a change.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So that was a good question.
Jam:Yeah. That's a tough one too. It's, obviously, it varies a lot. Mhmm. So but, yeah, that is a good question.
Melissa:But as more and more women are in STEM, it's important to talk about that. And, also, I think I hope that fathers are also thinking about that too. Yeah. I know a lot of men who their career has also changed when their their children are born, even Jim, you know, but Also men in academia who the pace at which they're working has to change. Yeah.
Melissa:Especially in those maybe initial adjustment phases.
Jam:Totally. Yeah. Like, we like, I did a career change before we even started trying to have kids, but that was one of the big reasons why.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:I was like, oh, I knew I couldn't do that same job anymore. It was wouldn't have worked with me and m schedules and and stuff like that. But it was, you know, it's just one of those things that was more like way ahead of time that we did or whatever. But
Melissa:The dream is for me and Jam to work and, My husband and his wife to be stay at home parents while we do podcasting and our other activities. Yes. Yep. That would be our that's what we really want.
Jam:Yeah. Slowly but surely, we're getting there. 1 episode at a time. Next question is from another h bonder on our Patreon, Tim. Tim says, so my husband loves honey mustard.
Jam:And I've noticed that in the bottle, it moves more like a gel or a jelly than a liquid, but it seems more liquid when it comes out. I've also noticed that when I clean the bowls He uses for dipping that it tends to come off all as one chunk or in skins. I wonder, is honey mustard a polymer? Okay.
Melissa:So I don't know off the top of my head if honey mustard is a polymer or not. But with that remind I don't I don't get involved in honey mustard. I think, though, that what you're describing is the non Newtonian fluid that we talked about. Like Yeah. Do you we we did this, An episode on cornstarch and water, sometimes called Oobleck.
Melissa:And we talked about how sometimes when you apply force, Like, liquids will flow more or less, and they don't have this, like, consistent understandable resistance.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And so, we talked about with cornstarch, when you apply force, it like, if you punch it, it It pushes back on you.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:But then we have a friend who took a bath in it. Do you remember?
Jam:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:And so when you move around slowly, then it's very liquidy. But I guess I think ketchup then acts the opposite. It's like it's when you put the force on there, It it acts more like a liquid, but when there's not force on, it acts more like a solid.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:So, it sounds kind of like Honey mustard is doing that. And if I remember, that flow of the fluid was called rheology, and we didn't have a lot of answers as to why.
Jam:Right. Interesting.
Melissa:It might be a polymer, but it also might have these non Newtonian Properties about the way that it flows.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting. I feel like I wonder if a lot of condiments are like that. If it's or if it's just a handful.
Jam:But
Melissa:Maybe so. I don't know. And I wonder if it has to do with, like, do they put cornstarch in there to thicken it up or something? I don't know.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:I don't I'm not sure what.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:Yeah. I I don't know. But that was a good question.
Jam:And we learned something new. We learned that doesn't really go for honey mustard.
Melissa:Yeah. I don't really.
Jam:I didn't know that about you.
Melissa:Don't. Except I will say I worked at Texas Roadhouse for a while,
Jam:And
Melissa:that honey mustard had, like, a weird consistency that reminded me of, like, the Chick Fil A sauce consistency Yeah. Where it's not like that clear see through. It was, like, creamier.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:Right. And I did like that.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So Nice. You know? There there's one example where I sometimes go for honey mustard.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:But very rarely. It doesn't sound good to me.
Jam:Okay. This next question is from Alex on Instagram. Alex said for pharmaceutical chem r and d, what should I get my degree degrees in?
Melissa:So r and d is research and development. So when they say pharmaceutical chem r and d, it means, like, research and development for pharmaceutical medicines. And, honestly, a lot of those are organic molecules. A lot of medicine is organic. There there may be a some where it Has some metals involved, but for the most part, I would say that it's organic, and so I would probably focus on that.
Melissa:But I also know there's other fields that you can learn about like, pharmacokinetics, I think is what it's called, where it's like you look at how medicines interact with the body and how they move through the body. Mhmm. So there are a lot of different fields you could do. What I would probably ask honestly is to find someone who is doing pharmaceutical chem research and development and reach out to them via email if if the available information is on the website and see if they could get back to you about what they did or also read it. The, the organic chemistry read it form might be a good one to ask this question, because people who like to answer those questions and who are in those fields sometimes hang out on those forums.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And then also there are people who might specialize in research that's related to pharmaceuticals that you could go and get a PhD working with someone doing something like that. Those are kind of all the different avenues I would think you could go down.
Jam:Maybe you could do some LinkedIn creeping.
Melissa:Yeah. Oh, yeah. I forget I forget about LinkedIn.
Jam:Yeah. Most people should forget about it, but occasionally, in situations like this, it might help. I don't know.
Melissa:Yeah. And I do think I don't know about everybody, but A lot of people wanna help, I think.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:They should anyway. We have a problem with people not persisting in STEM. So
Jam:Yeah. Interesting. That's good. This next question is from Audrey m. Audrey asks, do you have to have a bachelor's in chemistry to start a master's In chemistry?
Melissa:No. Actually, you don't.
Jam:Ah.
Melissa:So I know people who you should know a good amount about chemistry, but I know people who came into grad school, and their background was in biology or Usually, it's another STEM field because you have to know a lot
Jam:Right.
Melissa:About the the topics, but, they want you to have kind of a foundation. But you could have majored in, you know, fashion merchandising. And then as long as you took those courses and you have the foundation, I think you could get into that program.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:But, yeah, a lot of people don't have their bachelor's in chemistry specifically. And there's another thing called post bacc where you have a bachelor's and then you decide you wanna do something else, so you go back to school just to get those things. So say Got it. You have a degree in finance, and then you realize you wanna go back to grad school and learn about chemistry. You can enroll in a post bacc program where you just take the classes that you need to be relevant for your per particular field that you wanna pursue.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:And then you can apply to those things. And a lot of times they'll have you take, some schools will have you take entrance exams or exams that show kind of what your basic level of understanding is, And then you maybe we'll have to take some proficiency courses to get you up to the same level as people who have a degree in chemistry, but You really don't have to have it. So that was a good question.
Jam:Interesting. I would not would not have thought to ask that, but that makes sense. It's like Having to go get a whole other bachelor's over again seems like that doesn't make that much sense.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:But having a way that's, like, kinda, the middle ground. If if your bachelor wasn't in a, like a science field already, then that makes sense. That's helpful. This next question is from Bailey. Bailey asks, How do adhesive removers work?
Melissa:Okay, Bailey. I didn't look this up because that's my rule for chemistry For your life q and r is that I don't do research because I do so much other research. These are meant to be short and sweet. So here's my initial thought.
Jam:Chemistry off the cuff.
Melissa:Chemistry off the cuff. Adhesive, I think, primarily works by strong intermolecular forces. So adhesive remover, theoretically, is something that can have a even stronger intermolecular force that That thing will interact with the adhesive instead of the adhesive interacting with the thing you're trying to get it off. So it basically gets in there and has stronger forces that can overcome, or it might even solvate or dissolve, like, surround The thing that has an intermolecular force with for some reason, I keep thinking of tape on a table because we're by a table.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So if there's, like, a sticker or a tape on the table, You can, I think, either take the route of trying to dissolve it or trying to overcome the intermolecular forces? So think of, like, What is that orange stuff? It's like Goo Gone?
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:That I feel like the adhesive peels up. Yeah. It doesn't disappear. So I think when that happens, it's maybe just overcoming the intermolecular forces, encoding the thing that's trying to bind. Yeah.
Melissa:So that's what I think.
Jam:I've used Google on a bunch of times, and I just can't remember what, like, what my eyes see when I'm using it. You know what I mean? Mhmm. It's forever that works. You know?
Melissa:Yeah. It works. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's my chemistry off the cuff.
Melissa:But I I don't know that we've done a whole episode on adhesive. We did stuff on sticky things.
Jam:Yeah. I think we we sort of did, but it was really into the intellectual forces side. It wasn't I don't think we thought about removing.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:But that's, I guess, when we started the conversation about all the different intermican forces.
Melissa:Yeah. Way back in the day.
Jam:Yeah. Long time ago.
Melissa:Okay. Well, now, Jam, I'm changing it up.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And now I'm asking you questions.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So Bailey also asked, does Salt actually make water boil faster? And we did an episode on this already, and it it has kind of a weird name, which is probably why you couldn't find it. Yeah. Right. It's called Why didn't Jam's pot ever boil?
Jam:Yep.
Melissa:And so my question for you, Jam, is do you know If salt makes water boil faster.
Jam:I I do know. Okay. I know that it doesn't.
Melissa:It does not. That's right.
Jam:If anything, it It could be depending on the amount of salt. Mhmm. It could be negligible or make it slower. Make it boil more slowly because of the colligative property that things, like, salt and other things can have when you dissolve it into water, and It can mess with the ability of the I forget the all the details, but if the water this the The it to overcome the atmospheric pressure as it's heating up and reaching that temperature to start boiling.
Melissa:Yes. So, basically, it makes the boiling point higher. It makes it harder because boiling is when, the vapor pressure is equal to the atmosphere pressure or greater, I think. I I can't remember exactly that definition. I go back and listen.
Melissa:Yeah. I had it for that episode. But, basically, the the water vapor needs to be able to escape.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And the salt can make it harder to do that or other things dissolve, like you said. And so it You have to get to a higher level of energy for it to be able to overcome that barrier, basically, and become boiling water, so it boils hotter. So you're still putting in the energy. You might be getting to a 100 degrees Celsius or 212 Fahrenheit before you see the boiling because that That boiling isn't at a set temperature. The boiling temperature can change.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:That was one of my favorite episodes we did early on.
Jam:And it's very memorable for me because the reason why We tiled it that way is because I had this very specific story that had told Melissa before that I was trying to cook pasta for my whole family one time At a recent family gathering a couple years ago, and this massive pot I was trying to boil, and I could it just felt like it was never boiling.
Melissa:And it
Jam:was like, what is going on?
Melissa:I also think it was you added more metal to it, like a strainer to it partway through, and that's like a A heat sink, basically, that, like, took more heat away from it. There's all these things that went into it.
Jam:A lot of salt and did that. It's like it could've been all the same combined. I can't remember how, like, how often I had the lid on, which we talked about that being, like, like a definite benefit Yes. For boiling things. Yeah.
Jam:But I'll tell you what I do now is I always add salt at the end. So, like, when it's already boiled. So pasta, you know, for taste or even for ration like that. Mhmm. I like to add salt at the end if I'm boiling if I'm trying to get the water to be boiling as quickly as I can, I'm not gonna mess with that until the end.
Melissa:Yeah. And it might be getting to that temperature before. It just doesn't look boiling. So you could still when it seems hot, add your pasta and it not be actively boiling, but but it doesn't really you know?
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:That's you don't know for sure. That like, boiling is the metric we use to know. Right. Right. So, Okay.
Melissa:That was a great one. I was excited that you remembered it, and I was excited that someone asked so that I could quiz you.
Jam:Yes. And that's, like, such a good nice, applicable one. Like, weekly usable
Melissa:You can think about it a lot.
Jam:Oh, yeah.
Melissa:Okay. And then Audrey asked, what are good gifts for the coffee lovers in our lives?
Jam:That is a very good question.
Melissa:Mhmm. I
Jam:definitely have opinions. And lowest price point, I would say, find a super good bag of coffee from somewhere. Like, because the max it's gonna be is, like, 16, 17, $18. Mhmm. But if you're if it's a coffee drinker like me, You find what coffee you're gonna kinda drink on a regular basis, but being given, like, a special and, like, nicer than you might normally spend on a bag of coffee, from, like, a really good high quality, like, specialty coffee roaster.
Jam:It's really nice. And even if that's something that the coffee lover in your life already buys, You might be getting it from somewhere that they haven't had before.
Melissa:And different regions taste different. Right?
Jam:Yes. Different. Yeah. So you could find, like, a coffee that seems a little different than you think, you know, this coffee lover in your life might have already experienced or something like that.
Melissa:And high quality is usually Single origin. Right? For those of us who don't know anything about coffee. So it's like 1 type of bean, not a blend.
Jam:Yeah. And even if you don't see that the word single origin, if it says, like, A country and then has, like, other words seem like it might be describing the region of the farm.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:It's probably single origin. That's probably the lowest price point. And then if the coffee lover in your life doesn't have a good, like, vacuum thermos kind of thing, vacuum layer,
Melissa:Thermos.
Jam:Insulated thermos. Yeah. Thank you. Then the that's a great one. I mean, like, everyone's gonna appreciate that.
Jam:And those are kind of middle tier price. You know? You can get a good one for, like, 20, $25 depending on the size and stuff. And then at the top end, the this is not, You know, something that everyone necessarily needs. But the best coffee gift I've probably received in, like, Well, I'm not the best.
Jam:One of the ones I find myself using all the time is one of those mugs that literally has a little heater in it.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:It keeps your coffee at a specific temperature. Those are a little bit, you know, what's the word?
Melissa:Unnecessary, but delightful.
Jam:Yes. Necessary but delightful.
Melissa:You would not buy it for yourself.
Jam:Yeah. And I didn't exactly. But it's it was really nice to have, and I use it a lot. But also one thing that I've always I've actually given away a lot of these to people who are they love coffee. They're trying to get into it.
Jam:It's just a French press.
Melissa:Yeah. French press is good.
Jam:People don't already have 1. They'll probably really love it and use it quite a bit. And it's also nice for making, like if you've also given them a bag of coffee or something. Mhmm. It's easy to make a good amount of it and not mess it up.
Jam:Like, it's French presses are hard to mess up.
Melissa:And you can also get it like, You can do cold coffee in French press too. So that's another option, like a cold brew.
Jam:Yeah. I've been given a lot of French presses, and I've given them away as well. And if if probably in the past 5 years, I've had, like, 5 different French presses.
Melissa:Wow.
Jam:But I've been given 1, and then I'll give 1 to somebody else when they're, like, wanna get into coffee. I'm like, well, here you go. I've got Yeah. I have 1 more French press than I need. But so those are a few ideas.
Melissa:I I'll throw into even though it wasn't my question.
Jam:Yeah. Please.
Melissa:I was given a mocha pot, which those can be hard to get right at first, But I really, really like it because it gives me an opportunity to make something like an espresso drink at home without the whole Process of learning how to do espresso, which is actually really hard.
Jam:Totally.
Melissa:And then also, one time, I gave Jam a book about coffee.
Jam:That's right.
Melissa:And it was by this person who's really cool, James Hoffman. Mhmm. Sometimes he goes by Jim Hoffman. Uh-huh. He made it like an atlas of coffee, and he's really his show is, on YouTube.
Melissa:He has the channel where he tries out different things, and he gives tutorials. And he's just, yeah, he's just really cool. So Yeah. That was a that's a good gift too, I think.
Jam:It's actually that that book that most gave me is literally the reason why I caught myself and changed my wording because I said the coolest coffee gift, and I was, like, well, that's actually not true. That book is super cool. I just don't use it every day.
Melissa:That's true. And Yeah. Jam has told me how nice it is to have a cup of coffee stay the right temperature.
Jam:Yeah. It really is nice.
Melissa:That was nice. And also a coffee grinder, maybe. That's 1. If someone's just getting into it, they might not do the coffee grinding, and that can give you a nice fresh Yeah. Fresh cup.
Jam:Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. There's there's so many things. Dang it so hard.
Jam:Another brewer I would recommend that's kinda cool, very similar to the moka pot is the an AeroPress.
Melissa:Oh, yeah.
Jam:They're super fun, and depending on what Different brew methods your coffee loving friend or family member already has. This one's really fun. And everyone I know who has an AeroPress thinks they're so fun. Yeah. And there's so many ways to do it, and there's, like, lots of just recipes online.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And the people who created it, like, they have a recipe, But they didn't really give you these rules that are, like, firm. Yeah. So you can just do it a bunch of ways. So and they're really cheap. I mean, they're really, like, I think, 20, $25, something like that.
Jam:But they're a lot of fun, and you can make cool espresso y drinks Yeah. With them, or you can just make Chewed up coffee. You know? So
Melissa:And if there's someone who likes sugar and milk more than coffee itself, you could get specialty syrups.
Jam:Oh, nice. Yeah.
Melissa:You know? Like like the moan in has good syrups and or you can make your own if you're, like, looking for really cheap DIY. Nice. There's a TikTok channel where they make flavors of syrups at home.
Jam:Yeah. One time, Adri, I'll, like, end it with it, so I don't keep just thinking of things and being like, oh, one more thing. Oh, one more thing.
Melissa:Yeah. Me too. I'm doing it too.
Jam:It's such a fun topic. But a couple years ago, a friend of mine was trying to get into coffee, and he wanted me to write him A guide of different options of things he could get, like, a different grinder, different kettle, that kind of stuff. Different brewer. I, like, wrote that, and I saved it to a Google Doc Knowing that it would be useful someday. So if you're, like, really wanting more options than we already gave you, then just message us, and I'll send you that document, if that's the kind of person you're trying to buy for, remember.
Jam:That need that you they may need, like, a kettle and a Grinder and a brewer and all that kind of stuff. But if not, then the several answers we've already given probably was surprise. So
Melissa:Okay. So the next thing is not a question. It's actually just feedback that somebody gave me. That's what the next, few things are gonna be actually. So I put them all together.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So the first one is actually from friend of the podcast and current boss, Jordan. And he wrote in, to say something about our sunscreen episode. So he said he was listening to the podcast on sunscreens. And from the parent perspective, if you haven't encountered this already, the newborn community has moved away from sunscreens that contain typical organic molecules to avoid oxybenzone as it has some adverse effects in hormone regulation and potentially is carcinogenic.
Melissa:However, he said his understanding is that the rates of those adverse effects are lower than the melanomas associated with not wearing sunscreen. So the FDA thinks it's salient to continue purse pushing organic containing sunscreens.
Jam:Thing.
Melissa:My dermatologist said something similarly. I asked what what sunscreen she recommended, and she said the one you wear. So there's that. He also said what to expect in baby center, which are, big parenting sites. Recommend titanium and zinc oxides, but the you know, then he also tempered by saying the whole community of new stressed out parents has a tendency to be extremely risk averse.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Then he also said there's some evidence that Octi Chrylinde grades into Benzophenone, which is also, you know, the possibly carcinogenic and can do some damage to your reproductive system. But I definitely think the information we have now makes it seem like It's better to wear sunscreen than not, but if you're worried that probably the, inorganic ones are Better for especially little kids. They however, they do sometimes show up as, like they do what's called a white cast that makes your skin look really white where you put it on. They don't fully blend in. It's about metal oxide.
Melissa:Like, for me, the metal oxide sunscreens run into my eyes. I've noticed maybe because they're, like, sitting on the skin more, but then my eyes will water. So it's better for me to use the other kind if I'm gonna use sunscreen, which I try to every day, but I did not realize that it had such a high association. So we'll see. Yeah.
Melissa:But so I thought that that was a helpful information to share.
Jam:Yeah. Dang. That's interesting. There's so much there on the sunscreen stuff. I remember when we talked about the benzene ring stuff.
Jam:Mhmm. So, like, oh my gosh. There's a lot to think about, but Also, the basic of just, like, everyone should wear it though.
Melissa:You should wear it because it's likely that the risk that you have from putting on sunscreen is lower than the risk that you definitely have from the sun every single day.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:And especially, you know, all people of all skin tone should wear sunscreen, but I do think that melanin in some people's skin Helps protect them a little bit from those damages. But you're not immune because one of the biggest dermatologists I follow that we give a shout out to, doctor Shah, He has, darker skin, and he got, skin cancer on his chest from tanning.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And that's when he was like, wait. No. No matter what skin color you have, you need to be wearing sunscreen every day. Right. So and also don't go tanning.
Melissa:Yeah. It's bad for you.
Jam:Yep. Sorry.
Melissa:Okay. The next one is from Tim. Tim, this is same Tim from earlier, but this wasn't a text So I'm just summarizing the information.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:He is listening to podcasts from the beginning. So he is listening to the baking soda, baking powder episode.
Jam:K.
Melissa:And he said that there is a recipe that only uses baking soda and cookies. And I wanted I guess back then, I was like, what's causing that to What acid is it reacting with? Oh, I see. Soda is a base. It reacts with acid to give off air bubbles, and that's why it makes our cookies fluffy.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And he's I I think I looked it up and said it was brown sugar that's acidic. And he said, in case you didn't know or oh, Yeah. I looked it up and said that it was brown sugar, that it was acidic, but wasn't sure why brown sugar was acidic.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:So he looked it up and found that Many components of molasses are acids. And then he even gave a link to a website that gives typical percentages. And usually, the pH of molasses is between 5 and 7, which is neutral, but 5 is on the more acidic side. So molasses is the cause, and that is also I think what makes sugar brown.
Jam:Oh, yeah. Right.
Melissa:So thanks for that information, Tim.
Jam:Yeah. That's cool.
Melissa:And then finally, we got a little tidbit from mister Hollis. So mister Hollis is a high school chemistry teacher, and He, he was the one who sent us the article about the mosquitoes that inspired last week's episode. And after he finished listening, He said he sent me a message on Twitter that said he enjoyed the discussion of the GC mass spec, which that's when we talked about, the gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. And he had his students, visualize. He wrote in that he had his students, like, basically visualize chromatography by Using LEGOs.
Melissa:So he said, I had my seniors build 1 out of LEGOs. They had to build a contraption that would 1 by 2, 2 by 2, and 2 by 4 Legos. So it's it does sort of give that idea of, like, based on the different properties of the different molecules, you can separate them Oh, in chronology. And so he's using the size of the of the Allegos to separate them out in the same way.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:Isn't that cool?
Jam:Yeah. That's cool.
Melissa:So I appreciate that. Isn't that kind of what a burr grinder does too to bring it back to the coffee? Doesn't it only let certain sizes through? I guess it doesn't really sort it out.
Jam:It doesn't sort it, but, yeah, it does similar because the bean
Melissa:gotcha.
Jam:But, yes, it's I guess it is similar, but it's it's trying to get to one side, and then it's sorted.
Melissa:Everything instead of just separating.
Jam:Yeah. If you
Melissa:didn't have the grinding parts Right. Maybe. It's sort
Jam:of making them reach a, a sort of reach a maximum, but you could have parts that get smaller than that Yeah. Just to and fall through.
Melissa:I thought that that was a good way to visualize, like we usually separate by the molecules' properties like polarity or something else, but he's Having them separate out by the LEGO size, but it does give a good visual representation of what chromatography does, which is take different types of molecules and Some get to move forward and some stay behind, and we have another layer come out. So I thought that was really cool.
Jam:That's really cool.
Melissa:So, normally, at this point, we would use our bonus episodes to give a shout out to our supporters on Ko fi. However, we've recently made the big switch to Patreon. There are a few people who are still supporting us over on Ko fi. And since they were our original supporters, they've been with us through the beginning. We're gonna shout them out as well as our Patreon supporters.
Melissa:So from CofI, we'd like to thank Melissa p, Brian k, Derek l, and Steven b, Thank you so much for supporting us on Cofi and for all that you've done to keep us keep our show going throughout the last few years.
Jam:This episode was also made possible by a growing cool community of patrons over on Patreon. It means so much to us that you guys wanna help make chemistry accessible To even more people, those supporters are Nicole c, Timothy p, Bree m, Chris and Claire s, Hunter r, Steven b, Havishai b, Chelsea b, Christina g, Emerson w, Shadow, Brian k, Suzanne s, Jacob t, and Lynn s. Thanks again for everything you guys do to make chemistry for your life happen.
Melissa:This episode of chemistry free life was created by Melissa Coleenie and Jam Robinson. I would like to give a special thanks to E Robinson who