Chemistry For Your Life

The episode examines what happens chemically when cooked starch cools and is reheated. Melissa and Jam discuss glucose polymers, insulin, digestion, crystallization, resistant starch, and interactions with gut microbes. They review studies involving foods such as bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes, and explore the proposed effects of repeated reheating. The discussion connects everyday cooking questions to food chemistry and the evidence behind claims about leftovers.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam answer questions about household natural gas, organic-chemistry careers, topical pain-relief gels and pharmaceutical crystal forms. The episode also revisits previous explanations and discusses chemistry education and the history of the field.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam examine the chemistry and cell biology proposed to explain red-light therapy. They discuss photobiomodulation, mitochondria, collagen and the limitations of available studies, alongside the distinction between regulatory clearance and evidence for a particular consumer device.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam explain how evaporating water can cool a building and why the same approach works much better in dry climates than humid ones. They connect swamp coolers to older cooling techniques and examine newer ideas, including ice-based systems intended to reduce pressure on electricity grids.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam trace the chemistry of refrigerants from early hazardous compounds to chlorofluorocarbons and their replacements. They explain why a substance that cools effectively can still create environmental problems, and discuss the tradeoffs among ozone protection, climate effects, flammability and regulation.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam answer science questions drawn from Reddit, including why different metals produce different flame colors and why carbon has its own major branch of chemistry. The episode also considers the gap between discovering something that works and understanding its mechanism, with stories about laboratory mistakes.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam unpack the chemistry inside an air conditioner. They explain how refrigerants, pressure changes and transitions between liquid and gas move heat out of a room, why the outdoor unit releases warmth, and what frozen coils reveal about the cooling process.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam explain how hairspray combines a propellant, solvent and polymers to produce an aerosol that holds hair in place. The episode follows the formation of a fine mist, the behaviour of the polymer film and the formulation trade-offs involved, then compares hairspray with gels and mousses.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam are joined by Nicki Stewart for the second part of their forensic-chemistry series. They discuss the material left behind in a fingerprint and compare physical and chemical approaches to revealing latent prints, including powder adhesion, iodine, ninhydrin and cyanoacrylate fuming. The episode explains why the choice of method depends on the surface and the chemical composition of the trace, and why preserving and interpreting real evidence is more complicated than television depictions suggest.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam examine how erasers remove graphite from paper. The episode connects the structure of graphite with the polymers and physical interactions that let an eraser lift a mark, contrasting absorption and adsorption and discussing what makes an everyday material effective for this purpose.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam explain why graphite makes pencils useful for writing. The discussion follows carbon bonding into graphene sheets, conductivity and the weak interactions between layers, then connects these structures with paper, pencil hardness and clay mixtures.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam recount Stephanie Kwolek’s discovery of Kevlar and explain the polymer chemistry behind its strength. The discussion covers rigid aromatic structures, hydrogen bonding and the organization of polymer chains into strong fibres. It connects these molecular features with protective equipment and other applications.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam explore reverse osmosis through molecular motion, pressure and membrane separation. They also discuss limits and waste in water purification, questions about aluminium foil in dishwashers and sacrificial metals, and how mixtures of differently sized solid particles can separate through the Brazil-nut effect.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam explain the colour-changing wetness indicator in diapers. The episode connects absorbent polymers with acid–base chemistry, conjugated molecular structures and interactions with light, showing how a change in chemical conditions can produce a visible shift in colour.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam examine bird flight at the scale of air molecules. The discussion considers lift, momentum transfer, wing shape, angle and flapping, explains the limits of common Bernoulli-based accounts, and relates airflow to the molecular motion underlying the macroscopic behaviour of gases.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam investigate why ice is slippery. They compare proposed explanations involving surface water, pressure and melting with experimental findings on ice surfaces, and discuss water’s unusual properties, amorphous structures and what these imply for skating and everyday slipping.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Melissa and Jam examine wool, lanolin and claims about resistance to odour and bacteria. The episode connects their chemical structures with water-repelling behaviour, processing and interactions with microbes, distinguishing observed odour reduction from broader claims about antimicrobial activity.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam