Bonus: Enzymes eat plastic? (and other questions)
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist.
Jam:And I'm not.
Melissa:And welcome to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life. Holiday bonus edition.
Melissa:I always love the bonus edition. I'm always excited for it. One time I'm gonna gonna surprise you, and I'm gonna also say bonus edition.
Jam:I'll I like to sometimes add effects when I, end up editing it later because it's just fun to mix it up.
Melissa:Oh, really? I don't think I realized that you did that. I listened to them, though.
Jam:I wonder if there's ever been a time that I've said it after you listened to it already the 1st time. Like, last month, I definitely added some weird Sci fi sounding effects to it.
Melissa:That's fun.
Jam:At some point, I don't remember if I ever told you about that.
Melissa:Well, I Wholeheartedly approve.
Jam:Okay. Good.
Melissa:Well, I'm excited to get into some listener questions. I love q and r episodes.
Jam:Yes. Let's do it. Are you ready?
Melissa:I'm ready.
Jam:Okay. This question's from our very inquisitive, Great friend, Steven h. And he asks another SuperGlue question, which I think is great because I think he has Asked most of the superglue related questions, actually. But he asked, could you explain why scuffing up a smooth surface Helps the glue super glue stick to it better.
Melissa:I suspect that is because there's greater surface area, And so there's more places where there's moisture sitting on there, and the polymer can form. That's my suspicion.
Jam:Okay. Interesting. Nice.
Melissa:But I did not look into that at all. That was my very brief suspicion is that scuffing something up, those scratches mean there's more surface area because they're Putting a scratch into it. So instead of rigid flat surface, there's now more area.
Jam:Nice. K. Cool. Thanks simple, but That makes sense?
Melissa:I know. I don't have a lot of extra to add to that.
Jam:So 2 of our listeners, Nikki and Anthony wrote in to tell us about an update on the plastics enzyme. Do you wanna explain what they shared with us, Melissa?
Melissa:Yeah. So I was really excited when I saw this. It actually came out just a week or two after we put out our last plastics episode, and I've been meaning to, Talk about it, so I'm glad they wrote in. But, actually, the bacteria that we talked about that had developed an enzyme that could break down Plastic. Some forms of plastic that they used in making bottles that they found outside a bottling plant in Japan.
Jam:Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Melissa:So we had talked about how, oh, my next thought would be let's isolate that enzyme and see how it breaks down plastic. And they did that, and they found that it did break down plastic pretty slowly. But if you paired it with another enzyme that broke down, I think the the byproducts that were produced from the first enzyme
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:It broke everything down much more quickly. And so they did isolate those 2 enzymes, And they're using it right now to break down plastic, but it needs to be tweaked and scaled up a little bit more until it's available for for commercial use. But that is there was more to that. So we got to see the science from that build on itself. So I've included a link to some of those articles and do a Yale dotedu article about the science article in case it's a little too dense in our references, so you can go and check those out.
Melissa:But I think that is really cool. I was really excited to see that what we talked about was already coming into fruition because we're a few years behind. You know? So that was really exciting.
Jam:Nice thing. That's awesome. Already cool things happening.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Sweet. So Anthony also wrote in, and he said That what he imagined for the diaper's polymer is called a Hoberman's sphere?
Melissa:The Hoberman's sphere is those if you're Have a kid or were a kid, you probably remember. They have those it's something that when it's condensed down, it's a tightly collapsed ball, And then you can spread it out to make a big ball. You know? It's like a spiky ball when it's little, and then it expands to make a big ball.
Jam:Yeah. It's made out of, like, little plastic Things that kind of like, are joined together. Yes. Totally. Totally.
Melissa:You can you can type Hoberman's sphere into Google and a Hoberman sphere will come up, and you you'll be able to see it. So it's just one that collapses and expands back out. Hoberman Sphere.
Jam:I never knew what those were called. I definitely had one of those as a kid. Very cool. Super fun.
Melissa:Mhmm. Yeah. I was like, that's a pretty good Explanation because it does it is still the polymer Mhmm. But instead of being so tightly linked, it's much bigger Mhmm. For it to or more gel like, you know, the texture changes so it can contain the water, but it still is a polymer.
Jam:Yeah. I think that's crazy.
Melissa:Mhmm. I thought that was really that was a good visual representation, so I wanted to share that.
Jam:This next question is from Kai on Instagram. They sent us a picture on Instagram of a celery leaf had been sitting in bleach. What was going on there, Melissa?
Melissa:Yeah. So Kai is a PhD student in Brazil. I actually asked what was studying, and he didn't reply. So he just sent a picture. It was really cool.
Melissa:It was a celery leaf that had been sitting in bleach for a while. Mhmm. And Most of the color was gone, which that in itself is a demonstration of the how bleach destroys color episode, And it more quickly destroyed the green than the yellow. So there was more yellow pigmentation left in the leaf than green, which also shows how there's yellow and green present in leaves all the time Mhmm. And that the green will break down faster.
Melissa:So I thought That was really cool. It's a representation he said, it's a representation of 2 episodes in 1 picture, and I thought that was really cool. So I wanted to share about it, and we'll, see if he can post it so we can reshare it on Instagram.
Jam:That is really cool. Yeah. We definitely should share that. This question's from Nima Kaye. They asked, Have you thought of making online chemistry courses?
Melissa:This is a great question. I actually have thought about it. Jim and I have talked some about other stuff we could put on YouTube. And, originally, I was thinking I might make videos for my organic chemistry classes and put them on YouTube, but I just have never Gotten around to it because I'm a graduate student, and I do this podcast in addition to being a graduate student. And I've got my research and my teaching responsibilities, And I also have a life with friends.
Melissa:You know? So it's kind of hard to manage your work and your friends and Being healthy and working out and all that and doing extra stuff. So I'm hoping that once I graduate, I'm Planning on moving into the teaching sphere at least for a little while, and maybe I can make some videos at that time.
Jam:Nice. K. Next question is also from Nima, and they asked, Mel, are you pursuing any field of art?
Melissa:That was a good question. I think they only asked me, Jam, probably because, they hate you. Right. No. I'm just kidding.
Jam:That makes sense, though, too. That's what I assume also. So?
Melissa:I was thinking it might be because your work already is art with video and digital and all of that.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So but I was gonna maybe say, I'd like to hear if you're pursuing any field of art outside of what you already do. But my answer is pretty much no. The only thing I do That's very artistic is making cakes.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:It's pretty artistic. And I guess Ice skating is kind of like an art Yeah. But not the way I do it. I'm not there yet, but it is really beautiful and can be very artistic, and And we're trying to, you know, make routines and stuff. Yeah.
Melissa:This is more like a dance. So
Jam:Right. Right. Right.
Melissa:That is pretty fun. That makes it kind of more of an art form, but those are my 2 biggest forms of art, I think. I don't do much other art.
Jam:Right. Yeah. That's interesting. I think I'm afraid I'm gonna say say something, and then later be like, oh, man. The more obvious answer would have been this instead.
Jam:But
Melissa:I know. I was trying to think about that too.
Jam:Yeah. I think the the first answer I could give is that I The main thing I do that really is for my own self and doesn't have anything to do with my work is, analog film photography. Mhmm. I really enjoyed that. I don't just do, like, tons of it Either, but it's something that I when I have time to put into, I really like doing that, and it's not for anything or anyone else other than myself.
Jam:I thing that kind of answers the question a little bit. I love music. I play a little bit of music, but just don't do it nearly much as I used to. So Mhmm. At different time in my life, that might have been my main answer, but it can't really be anymore.
Jam:I definitely do some design stuff for fun sometimes, But Mhmm. That doesn't happen as often as it used to. But every time I just get a little bit of an idea, and wanna make a little design and that sort of thing. I used to do way more drawing and stuff too, but I don't do that anymore. So slowly, my possible answers have have decreased over time.
Melissa:Yeah. I used to do a lot of artwork when I was younger. I always wanted an art set, add modeling kits and stuff, but I think now that's mostly expresses itself in doing chemistry can be very artistic. This synthetic organic stuff was really beautiful and felt very creative. But I think mostly now the art that I do is in my cake making.
Melissa:I try to make things really beautiful and Try different things out, and I've modeled all those vegetables out of fondant. Yeah. Which reminds me I was gonna post that picture online.
Jam:Oh, nice.
Melissa:So I think those are some of my Art pursuits.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:That's a fun question.
Jam:Following on that theme of fun questions, we've got a question from Chels. She asked, what are each of your favorite holiday movies?
Melissa:That's such a good one. But, also, I don't have an answer.
Jam:Oh, really?
Melissa:I I love holiday movies. I love Kind of those cheesy, trashy ones that's basically just a rom com, but it's in a holiday setting because my mom and I would watch those together a lot, I think. And I love the Charlie Brown Christmas movie. I like White Christmas, Christmas in Connecticut. It kinda I do all the Christmas movies.
Melissa:I'm I'm here for all
Jam:of them.
Melissa:So There wasn't one that was really jumping out at me, so I figured I decided I was gonna tell this story instead.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So last year I think it was last year. It might have been 2018, but one of the last 2 Christmases I spent with my mom
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:She recorded a movie called the shoe addicts Christmas on the Hallmark Channel is, like, just your typical ridiculous Christmas movie, but she recorded it with me because she thought I'd it, and I went to her house, watched it with her, and it was just a fun day. And I found it on sale at Target for $6 or something. And so I got it, and I'm really excited to watch
Jam:it again. Nice. Nice.
Melissa:This year. So Dude,
Jam:that's great.
Melissa:Have already watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. I watched Christmas inheritance on Netflix already. I am in on the Christmas movies. I'm I would love to cash in on this.
Jam:Nice. Yeah. This is a tough question. It's hard to pick a fave. I think 1 2 movies of note that are kinda recent, Like, holiday and or Christmas movies that I liked.
Jam:The other day, we watched the Christmas chronicles, the first one.
Melissa:Oh, I've never seen that.
Jam:There's 2 apparently, and I didn't know about them. And it's on Netflix. The first one, I really liked.
Melissa:Oh, good.
Jam:And we just put it on, and I was doing something else, and then I ended up getting sucked into it. And
Melissa:Nice.
Jam:Yeah. So I was good. And then I also, last year, watched, animated Christmas movie called Klaus
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:That was really cool. And
Melissa:Nice.
Jam:I thought that one deserves some recognition. I think in terms of, like, Dear to me Christmas movies that I really get a kick out of watching over and over and over, ever since I was a kid, is Christmas Vacation, that's a classic one.
Melissa:Mhmm. I do not like that one. That that's
Jam:not, You know, that's not great for all audiences, so don't don't go watch that one depending on your age. Ask your parents first. But for whatever reason, my parents let us watch that pretty young, and so I've always loved it. I love classic, you know, eighties nineties Chevy Chase. And so it hits all those all those boxes for me.
Jam:But it's it's a weird movie. It's not yeah. It's not it's not necessarily the uplifting, like, inspiring, get together, share kind of because it's a movie that some other movies are.
Melissa:Right. I do also love, speaking of nostalgia, those stop motion.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:There's the Year Without A Santa Claus, the Rudolph, the Frosty, I love all those. And the original cartoon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas was 1 too that I really liked.
Jam:Yep. Yep. And Home Alone.
Melissa:Oh, yes. Home Alone. Love Home Alone. I don't care about Home Alone 2 or 3, though. Everybody tries to get me 2.
Jam:Yeah. You're wrong about Home 1 2.
Melissa:Yeah. I'm fine with that. I think because I watched it as an adult, and it seemed like the violence was so much more intense. I couldn't believe that they wouldn't be seriously injured from it. I wouldn't I Yeah.
Melissa:I just kept thinking, I wouldn't want my kid to watch this. Yeah.
Jam:It's pretty intense, but both of them are are like that to watch him as an adult. Like, in Yeah. The whole one's where he steps straight on a nail. Oh. That's a number one, and I'm like, oh, man.
Jam:They're both Pretty violent. Like, as a kid, it isn't you don't fill in the blanks with, like, what that's actually like to step on a nail. You're just like, oh, ouchies. That would hurt. You know?
Jam:It's like as an adult, you're like, Oh, man. I've seen what those injuries are like, and that's Yeah. Messed up.
Melissa:Not pretty.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:I also This is so random. But at the end of our how the Grinch stole Christmas VHS Uh-huh. There was a doctor Seuss video About it was called If I Owned the Zoo Uh-huh. By Joseph McGrew. And it's just a little boy talking about all these crazy doctor Seuss esque Animals that he would bring in.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And I want that on DVD so bad. I'd have never been able to really find it. I haven't looked Super hard, but I've looked for it and not Yeah. There's nothing obvious has jumped out. So we had watched that at Christmas time even though it wasn't a Christmas movie because it was after our Grinch VHS.
Jam:So Right.
Melissa:That that's kind of a weird one that I associate with Christmas, but I think those are some of my favorite Christmas movies. Yeah. You know, Disney had that one about the elf with Anna Kendrick, Noelle, that just came out last year, I think.
Jam:See that one, but is that Bill Hader in it?
Melissa:I don't know who that is. I just know Anna Kendrick is in it, but it was pretty good. I like
Jam:I feel in it. I think he might be the brother. If he's in it, then I will watch it. But I real quick. I can't remember for sure.
Jam:No offense in a
Melissa:Kendrick. But it has cast. It's about Noelle Kringle. Bill Hader. Yep.
Melissa:Sure does.
Jam:Nice. Okay. Cool. Yeah. I'll watch it.
Melissa:Great. Well, that was a good question, Charles.
Jam:Yeah. We had a lot of answers. Sorry that we didn't give you one definitive, but there you go.
Melissa:Just talked about all the moves that we love.
Jam:And the last thing we wanna do is not really a question, but just to give a shout out to lots of you guys who Tagged us in your stories with your Spotify end of year stuff, end of, like, 2020 wrap up your Spotify. Mhmm. And it tells you about your podcast stuff too. And a lot of you guys tagged us because you will soon do a lot of chemistry for your life in 2020.
Melissa:That was really cool. I was not expecting that when I got on to Instagram that day, and I was really excited. And Especially Khloe. She sent us a screenshot that she listened to 14 episodes in one day, which is amazing to me, Khloe. Thank you.
Melissa:You must have learned so much. And she also said that because of the show, she's changed her specialism from biology to chemistry to become a teacher in the UK. And that just Really made my whole day it made me tear up a little. It was just a special message, and I've just been there when you're the burnout and you don't remember why you love chemistry or you're kind of maybe not appreciating what you're doing as much and you get really about something, and it's just a really good feeling. And so and and someone else, Charles also mentioned that that she was feeling the burnout, and it Sort of switched her back on to remembering why she left chemistry.
Melissa:And so those were just really sweet messages, and I'm just really thankful to you guys, our listeners. We could not do this without y'all, and that was just this sort of special, sweet, unexpected gift.
Jam:Yeah. That's awesome, and we're thankful for all you guys. Even if some of you guys aren't quiet at the level of listening to 14 in one day, that's okay. We're still
Melissa:appreciating you
Jam:a lot. So this episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa DeClini and Jam Robinson. And we'd like to give a special thanks to e Robinson who reviewed this episode.
