Melissa: 00:00

Okay, Jam. For this month's rerelease, we are going to keep up with our food theme and also our fun summertime tree theme.

Jam: 00:09

Okay.

Melissa: 00:10

I want us to go back in time and think about carbonated water.

Jam: 00:15

Oh, man. That's way back.

Melissa: 00:16

Way back in time, I think it's, like, January 2020 times.

Jam: 00:20

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 00:21

So in the before times even.

Jam: 00:23

In the before times.

Melissa: 00:24

And at that time, my brother had asked about the taste of carbonated water. And Yes. Carbonated water is one of my favorite drinks.

Jam: 00:32

Totally. Me too. And we're both kind of obsessed with it and both our spouses too. Mhmm. I love that episode so much, and I've actually talked about it With people in real life, in conversations, at lunches, all that kind of stuff

Melissa: 00:45

Mhmm.

Jam: 00:45

So many times. It really works its way into Conversations really well. So I I love this episode.

Melissa: 00:51

Great. So I hope you all enjoy our food summer theme as we talk about carbonated water.

Jam: 00:58

And you can share some carbonated water with your popcorn to stay on theme from last week.

Melissa: 01:03

Movie movie night?

Jam: 01:04

Yeah. Movie night, and happy listening.

Melissa: 01:06

Happy listening. Yay chemistry. Hey. I'm Melissa.

Jam: 01:20

I'm Jam.

Melissa: 01:21

And I'm a chemist.

Jam: 01:22

And I'm not.

Melissa: 01:22

And welcome to Chemistry For Your Life.

Jam: 01:24

The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.

Melissa: 01:28

Jim, how are you doing?

Jam: 01:29

I'm doing really great. I'm drinking coffee. I'm loving it, and, it's great.

Melissa: 01:35

Ready to ready to live and learn.

Jam: 01:37

Yeah. Live, laugh, learn, love, drink coffee.

Melissa: 01:40

Oh, no. Well, I'm excited for today's topic. I I think usually I am. Yeah. But this week, I had a really hard time coming up with the topic because it was so hard to follow-up this super exciting episode with Renee.

Jam: 01:57

Yeah. That's true.

Melissa: 01:58

It was very hard to decide, but I finally was like, well, a lot of people, my brother, my roommate, a few other people in passing, I can't remember, specifically asked about carbonated sodas, carbonated water beverages. Uh-huh. I was like, I'll do this. I kinda know it already. It'll be good enough.

Melissa: 02:18

Whatever.

Jam: 02:18

Yeah.

Melissa: 02:19

And then when I started looking into it, it got crazy. It took twist. It took turns. There's a familial element that blew my mind. It was so fun.

Melissa: 02:29

Uh-huh. So now I'm really excited, and I think this is the perfect follow-up episode to Renee.

Jam: 02:36

Nice. Excellent. That's very good. We have caused us to have a problem by having such a cool episode. Like, maybe in the future, we should think twice about having really cool episodes because we might have a hard time following them up With other episodes.

Melissa: 02:47

I agree. So Especially because I'm the one that has to come up with. Yeah. Yep. It's tough.

Jam: 02:52

It's you you just carry it.

Melissa: 02:55

Yep. Okay. So let's get started. I love Spindrift.

Jam: 03:01

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 03:01

Is a type of sparkling water?

Jam: 03:03

Yes. I'm familiar, and I know how much we love it.

Melissa: 03:05

I love it so much.

Jam: 03:06

You kind of can't not tell people about it.

Melissa: 03:08

I can't not tell people about it. I'm so excited about it. It's fresh fruit squeezed into sparkling water. You know this, but the people at home might not.

Jam: 03:15

Yeah.

Melissa: 03:16

And it's so flavorful and delicious, and it doesn't any of the weird chemically aftertaste that other, quote, lemon flavored sodas

Jam: 03:23

Yeah.

Melissa: 03:23

That are made with no lemon juice do.

Jam: 03:25

Right.

Melissa: 03:26

And you can tell that it's real fruit juice because it has, like, 2 or 3 calories per can instead of being mysteriously 0 calories even

Jam: 03:33

though

Melissa: 03:33

it has a flavor.

Jam: 03:34

Yeah.

Melissa: 03:35

Things I'm suspicious of.

Jam: 03:36

Right.

Melissa: 03:36

Include that. So I love it. It's just sparkling water with fruit juice, and I was going on and on about how much I love it. Mhmm. And my brother said, listen.

Melissa: 03:45

I know it's just air. I don't know how to explain it, but I think carbonated water has a bad taste. And I said, you're right. It does have a bad taste

Jam: 03:56

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 03:57

Because there's a chemical reaction happening.

Jam: 04:00

Well, it's not a bad taste. I mean, yes, you could say

Melissa: 04:03

Oh, yes.

Jam: 04:04

Might think it's bad. Right. It has a taste. It does

Melissa: 04:06

have a taste.

Jam: 04:07

And some people like this, some people do not.

Melissa: 04:08

People like it. Some people do not. I love it

Jam: 04:11

Me too.

Melissa: 04:11

In the right context with the right stuff in it.

Jam: 04:14

Yeah.

Melissa: 04:14

So I said, you're right. There's CO 2 dissolved in water. And we talked about on the baking soda and baking powder episode Mhmm. How when carbonic acid breaks up, it breaks into c o two and h two o.

Jam: 04:32

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 04:33

That is actually what's known as a reversible reaction. Uh-huh. So the opposite can happen where c o two and h two o come together to make carbonic acid. Ah. So there's a little bit of that carbonic acid flavor in your drink.

Jam: 04:49

Okay.

Melissa: 04:52

My brother was amazed. Yeah. He was like, seriously? And I had learned that in college a long time ago, and it was buried so far back, and then you just kind of

Jam: 05:01

Yeah.

Melissa: 05:01

Think everyone knew it or thought everyone knew it.

Jam: 05:04

Buried under a pile of other things you've learned.

Melissa: 05:06

Right.

Jam: 05:07

Yeah.

Melissa: 05:07

Yeah. So I was like, yeah. That's it. This that's how soda water works. Uh-huh.

Melissa: 05:11

And he said, you have to do an episode on that Yeah. Because that's amazing. I mean, he's he was so frustrated for so long Uh-huh. Because he said it's illogical for air to have a flavor. So Yeah.

Melissa: 05:24

You know?

Jam: 05:25

Right. He knew just just enough to be frustrated.

Melissa: 05:27

Right.

Jam: 05:28

Like, I think most people don't think about it. They either like it or they don't. Mhmm. But they're not like, why does it taste like this? Yes.

Melissa: 05:34

Was like, it's just water and air. It shouldn't taste any different, but it does. Yeah. And I was like, well, it's not water and empty air. It's water and CO 2.

Jam: 05:42

One good thing, I think, is that if Spindrift ever decides to sponsor our podcast, we could just basically take the most of what you said at the beginning of this and just use it.

Melissa: 05:51

Oh, absolutely.

Jam: 05:52

Fade it right into a really nice ad for them.

Melissa: 05:55

Spindrift, if you're out there, if you're listening, please sponsor us. We love you.

Jam: 05:59

And we'll say, Well, we already said it, or we'll say whatever you want.

Melissa: 06:04

So that was that. That's basically the reverse reaction of the CO two

Jam: 06:10

Okay.

Melissa: 06:10

And water happening.

Jam: 06:12

Yeah. It's been a while since we did that episode too. I'm gonna have to

Melissa: 06:15

Think through it. Yeah.

Jam: 06:16

Mhmm. Remember stuff. Well

Melissa: 06:17

and the reason it can happen reversibly is because there's something known as equilibrium. Mhmm. They're really molecules are moving around so much that it's not like this plus this, a plus b just equals c. A lot of times, a plus b equals c, and then c is breaking back up into a plus b, and then a plus is reforming. It kinda just goes back and forth as the molecules move around and energy is put in and given off.

Melissa: 06:42

So, usually, reactions will favor one side or the other. They'll tend to go more one direction than the other. There's a lot of stuff that goes into that that doesn't really matter, but just know that that reaction is reversible, and we talked about it already. Mhmm. The atoms in carbonic acid can break up and rearrange to form c o two and h two o in the same way that c o two and h two o can combine to form carbonic acid.

Jam: 07:08

Okay.

Melissa: 07:09

It's just a reversible reaction.

Jam: 07:11

Okay.

Melissa: 07:11

Okay. So that's the first part.

Jam: 07:14

Okay.

Melissa: 07:15

That's all I thought there was. Uh-huh. I learned that in college, but I always check my facts before I come in to do an episode.

Jam: 07:23

Yeah.

Melissa: 07:23

So I was pulling up some stuff to basically confirm what I already knew. Uh-huh. And I discovered that a few months after I graduated college, a new paper came out

Jam: 07:33

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 07:34

With a new finding that told me that CO 2 detection was totally different than anything I thought.

Jam: 07:44

CO 2 well, you said CO 2 detection?

Melissa: 07:46

Detection on our tongue Oh. Was way more complicated than I ever thought.

Jam: 07:51

Interesting. Okay.

Melissa: 07:53

So are you ready?

Jam: 07:54

Yes. I'm ready.

Melissa: 07:55

Buckle up. I'm so excited. It was like, oh, science is still working. Since I left college, new things have come out.

Jam: 08:02

Yeah.

Melissa: 08:02

I've never revisited this since I got to grad school because there's not really a point. Yeah. But my mind was blown.

Jam: 08:09

That's cool, and it also makes it more fun for you in this case. You're not just recycling

Melissa: 08:12

more fun.

Jam: 08:13

Yeah. Not just recycling old info. You're getting to, like, Kind of share new info with everybody.

Melissa: 08:18

Yeah. I'm so excited. Okay. But before we go into the new part, though, do you wanna kinda give a brief overview of what I just said?

Jam: 08:26

So like in the baking soda, baking powder episode, in that case, it was that There is acid, and it breaks apart into H two 0 and CO two?

Melissa: 08:43

Mhmm.

Jam: 08:44

And in the case of sodas, what you had learned carbonate water

Melissa: 08:49

Mhmm. What

Jam: 08:50

you had learned a while ago, and it kept in your memory, was that it basically the same thing in reverse that it is what happens when H2O and c o 2 are together that they form that same type of acid? You said it's carbonic acid? Right. Okay. So it's like either direction.

Jam: 09:10

Mhmm. The acid's there, and then it can break apart into those 2 things Right.

Melissa: 09:13

Or

Jam: 09:13

those 2 things are are together, and they can combine to create that acid.

Melissa: 09:16

Right.

Jam: 09:17

Okay. Got it.

Melissa: 09:18

And so that is the CO 2 comes from they pump CO 2 into water to make it carbonated

Jam: 09:23

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 09:24

Store it under pressure, but it can react with water to make the carbonic acid.

Jam: 09:30

What's so weird to me I mean, maybe this is not gonna seem weird in a second. I've just never really thought about it. But how can you just, Force some gas into some liquid?

Melissa: 09:37

Well, actually, gas is more soluble when liquid is cold Uh-huh. And when it's under pressure. So that's why we keep our drinks in the fridge with a lid on, cold and under pressure. Yeah. So it's soluble under those conditions.

Melissa: 09:53

And, actually, I suspect, but I have never confirmed

Jam: 09:57

Mhmm.

Melissa: 09:57

That bottles, like a bottle of Doctor Pepper can hold a little bit more pressure than a can of Doctor Pepper can because I don't like how busy the bottles are compared to a can.

Jam: 10:10

Interesting.

Melissa: 10:11

I've never confirmed that, but I think they just keep it under higher pressure.

Jam: 10:15

I've never noticed that difference, but I haven't really thought about it. But I guess it they're definitely different materials. I mean, very, very different, so that might make sense. But that is so weird. Just forcing some gas into some liquid into a container.

Melissa: 10:28

I planned to look into how they did that manufacturer wise, and I never got around to it. I think it's gonna have to be another episode because this by itself is pretty complex.

Jam: 10:37

Okay. So potentially part 1, but even so, on its own its own important topic.

Melissa: 10:44

Right.

Jam: 10:45

Okay.

Melissa: 10:45

So that's you've got a good handle on the basics. It's the reverse reaction that acid forms when the carbonation, the CO two that's dissolved in the water to make our drinks fizzy sometimes has a little bit of a reaction to make carbonic acid.

Jam: 11:00

Okay.

Melissa: 11:01

We can put the pictures up of the atoms rearranging the same way we did for the baking soda, baking powder episode.

Jam: 11:08

Okay.

Melissa: 11:09

So here's the new thing that came out. I'm so excited about this. What they found was we are not just experiencing bubbles bursting and tasting a little bit of acid on our tongue when we drink dizzy drinks.

Jam: 11:25

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 11:26

What's actually happening is there is a CO two receptor on our tongue

Jam: 11:32

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 11:33

That senses the CO two. It's an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase 4 Uh-huh. For those who wanna know. It's attached to the sour receptors on our tongue, sort of like a little flag waving around. And when the c o two comes, it breaks it down into carbonic acid along with water, so there is the sour taste.

Melissa: 11:58

But, also, there's a sensory message that's activated that feels like bubbles on our tongue. And this whole time, I thought I was feeling bubbles on my tongue, but if you drink carbonated beverages in a pressure chamber where the bubbles cannot burst, you still experience the same fizzy sensation.

Jam: 12:25

And our our tongues are what's sort of making the acid come about As well. Yes. Like, this that first net is is surprising to me. Mhmm. Because it seems like if that wasn't happening on our tongue, that enzyme wasn't doing guests.

Jam: 12:41

Doing. It tastes that way.

Melissa: 12:43

Yes.

Jam: 12:44

And then we also wouldn't feel the bubbles?

Melissa: 12:47

Yes. Isn't that crazy?

Jam: 12:50

What the heck?

Melissa: 12:51

I know. It's like a twofold first of all, there's more acid sour taste than there would be because of the Uh-huh. C o two detectors on our tongue or enzymes on our tongue. And second of all, that feeling is sensory response to the chemical, not necessarily the actual feeling of bubbly water. Yeah.

Melissa: 13:15

Isn't that mind blowing?

Jam: 13:16

That's so weird. It just I've never thought about it, but, I mean, I guess, Yeah. What would bubbly water I mean, we see the bubbles in the carne water or in soda or in the whatever it is.

Melissa: 13:27

Right.

Jam: 13:28

And it is kinda weird to think that we would feel those at all in the 1st place.

Melissa: 13:31

Right.

Jam: 13:31

Like, what would what it would even feel like? The food feels pretty strong. Yep. It doesn't really feel like a bubble.

Melissa: 13:37

I know. And I was trying to envision if I poured it over my hand, does it feel like fizzy water? Yeah. And I was like, no.

Jam: 13:45

Yeah.

Melissa: 13:47

Yeah. My mind was blown. So

Jam: 13:50

Okay.

Melissa: 13:50

I'm here to officially apologize to my brother because I spread old information, and I was wrong. Uh-huh. And he was right. Carbonation itself, the c o two has a flavor.

Jam: 14:05

Yeah.

Melissa: 14:05

And I was wrong. It has a sensory response in our tongues, and I was wrong. It's not just the acid in the water. There's more to it. Yeah.

Melissa: 14:12

So I'm here to and admit I was wrong to my brother on a public forum.

Jam: 14:18

Dina, that's that's crazy. Something so simple. I mean, I'm not really sure how they found out about carbonated water or whatever.

Melissa: 14:25

Well, I can tell you about it. Oh. Are you ready for that? Yeah.

Jam: 14:28

Let's just do that instead of what I was gonna say, It was just another version of, oh, it's crazy. Wow. Everything about the world is is mind blowing to me because I don't know anything.

Melissa: 14:37

Well, I can tell you one who invented carbonated water. And I can tell you too

Jam: 14:42

Yes.

Melissa: 14:43

How they figured this particular thing out.

Jam: 14:46

Okay. I'm ready.

Melissa: 14:47

Okay. So the person who invented carbonated water is a relative of someone you and I know.

Jam: 14:55

No. Wait. Wait. You and I

Melissa: 14:56

know them personally. Our listeners do not, most of them, probably. Plate.

Jam: 15:00

A relative, someone you and I know personally? Mhmm.

Melissa: 15:04

No. Yes. Our good friend, Autumn Priestley Uh-huh. Went to UNT with you. She and I worked together at our church for a few years.

Jam: 15:12

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 15:13

Autumn Priestley's great, great, great uncle, someone we personally know's great, great, great uncle Uh-huh. Was a famous chemist named Joseph Priestley, and he invented carbonated water as a misguided attempt to fix scurvy. What? Yeah. It didn't fix scurvy because scurvy is a vitamin c deficiency.

Melissa: 15:31

But isn't that so cool?

Jam: 15:33

Yes. What? To Autumn, Autumn, thank you so much to your great great great uncle or whatever.

Melissa: 15:41

I know. In 17 67, I think.

Jam: 15:45

That is so crazy. So he was trying to solve a a very real problem. Yes. Do we know what, like, Tools he had at his disposal that Nope. Ended up causing that initial diversion.

Melissa: 15:54

Look into any of that. Just freaked out that I knew that person's descendant, and that was it.

Jam: 15:58

What if he, like, Like, caught a lot of CO 2 in his mouth, and then, like, just blew it really hard into, like, a bottle that had the or a jar or whatever that had the water in it. And what if it was just, like, a little fizzy? He's like,

Melissa: 16:13

I have no idea.

Jam: 16:14

Okay.

Melissa: 16:14

I have no idea. Maybe It could've been that. Maybe someone who likes the science history can go look into how Joseph Priestley came up with that. I did not have time to do it, and the semester starts tomorrow. So so that's the 1st crazy part.

Jam: 16:26

Okay.

Melissa: 16:27

2nd crazy part is the way that these scientists did it. I'm not sure. I was kind of confused on how exactly they figured out that they should do this. Uh-huh. And I cite the original article in our resources that where they discovered this in 2009.

Jam: 16:44

Mhmm.

Melissa: 16:44

But first, they inhibited the CO two enzyme. So somehow they detected the CO two enzyme. First, they inhibited it

Jam: 16:52

Yeah.

Melissa: 16:52

And noted that no other flavors were inhibited. So you could still taste sour, sweet, all those things.

Jam: 16:59

Yeah. The flavor of fruit flavor, whatever it is that's part of the thing you're drinking.

Melissa: 17:03

Regardless of the fact that the CO two enzymes are blocked.

Jam: 17:06

So that's awesome that they could do that.

Melissa: 17:08

Right.

Jam: 17:08

Like, woah.

Melissa: 17:10

Mhmm. And then the second thing that they did Uh-huh. They did these tests on mice because mice have a very similar taste palate that we do. Mhmm. And they basically genetically engineered mice to not have sour receptors at all.

Jam: 17:23

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 17:25

And the mice that didn't have sour receptors also did not have c o two detection abilities.

Jam: 17:29

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 17:30

So the c o two functions independently of the sour receptors because they could still taste sour when c o two was inhibited, but it's directly attached to the sour receptors. Because if the sour receptors are gone, Mhmm. So is the ability to detect CO 2.

Jam: 17:46

Interesting.

Melissa: 17:47

So one article I read described it like the CO 2 enzyme is a flag on the sour receptors almost. Uh-huh. So

Jam: 17:55

they are kind of 1 even though they do different things to some degree. Like, we obviously taste sour Even when it's not carbonated or whatever?

Melissa: 18:02

Right.

Jam: 18:02

But they are one thing, sort of.

Melissa: 18:07

Sort of. It look it's like attached. Yeah. So if you don't have sour receptors, you don't have a CO 2 detector. But if you inhibit your CO 2 detector, you can still taste sour things.

Jam: 18:17

Interesting.

Melissa: 18:18

So weird. Right?

Jam: 18:19

That's really weird. Mhmm. What?

Melissa: 18:22

My mind was blown. I was so excited.

Jam: 18:24

So would all of the thing so they'd add to a human instead of a mouse. We can really ask them the mice how they feel about it. What would it feel like to drink a soda? Would it Or carbonated water. Would it just taste a little funky, but just be, like, flat?

Jam: 18:40

I mean, we've all experienced a flat Right. Soda. Right. And it I mean, I guess you could say that other tastes are the same, But it is like

Melissa: 18:47

There might be slight less sourness to it.

Jam: 18:50

Okay. Less sourness?

Melissa: 18:51

Because part of the sourness, as we learned, was the enzyme breaking down the c o two.

Jam: 18:55

Or the sourness is weird. Like, have you let a, like, a carbonated water that has a little bit of fruit flavor go flat?

Melissa: 19:01

No.

Jam: 19:02

It tastes like, It just tastes weird.

Melissa: 19:06

I think they probably balance it for the sour in the gas in addition to the sour that naturally forms in the soda.

Jam: 19:13

Mhmm.

Melissa: 19:13

So when part of that equation is gone, the other flavors get out of

Jam: 19:17

the Yeah.

Melissa: 19:17

Balance sort of Yeah. To our tongue.

Jam: 19:20

Right. And our our experience of drinking them is so tied to the feel as well. Right. Even if it actually does taste the same, technically

Melissa: 19:27

Right.

Jam: 19:27

If you could prove that, It obviously feels so different that it doesn't really matter. Obviously, we like that feel.

Melissa: 19:32

We're missing the

Jam: 19:34

Go for it.

Melissa: 19:35

They called it a somatosensory cell. So we're missing the activation of the somatosensory cell that gives us the sensation of the bubbles.

Jam: 19:43

Wow.

Melissa: 19:44

So we need both. Yeah. You're activating both your somatosensory receptor and you're activating your sour receptor at the same time. You're getting the taste and the feel, and the feel is part of that signaling reaction Yeah. From the enzyme being broken down.

Jam: 20:02

Wow.

Melissa: 20:03

Isn't that crazy?

Jam: 20:04

That's really crazy.

Melissa: 20:06

Do you wanna try to explain it back to me?

Jam: 20:08

Yeah. I'll try my best. I'm a little bit in awe and also, like, So confused because I don't know much about the tongue in general.

Melissa: 20:14

So it's

Jam: 20:14

like, oh, this is totally new to me.

Melissa: 20:16

It took me a second. I had to reread a few times. I was amazed. And then I read an interview with one of the people who wrote the paper, and that gave a little more information. So it was very interesting.

Melissa: 20:28

I had so much fun researching this.

Jam: 20:31

Okay. So back in the Wild West, Doctor Pepper and Billy the Kid were okay. So I okay. So Carbonated things

Melissa: 20:46

Mhmm.

Jam: 20:47

Have the Acid already in it? The carbonic acid is already in it?

Melissa: 20:57

It can just form as a byproduct of CO two and water reacting. Thing.

Jam: 21:01

Okay.

Melissa: 21:02

So there can be some already in it.

Jam: 21:03

Because it's already reacting, we're seeing that right by the bubbles, like, happening?

Melissa: 21:08

The bubbles happening are just the c o two that's dissolved as they come out of solution.

Jam: 21:13

Okay. So that's not a reaction. It's just that it's there. So we take a sip. We have a part of our tongue that's not just our sour receptor area, but also the what'd you call that?

Jam: 21:26

The

Melissa: 21:27

CO two enzyme.

Jam: 21:29

Enzyme. CO two enzyme.

Melissa: 21:30

The official name is carbonic anhydrase 4.

Jam: 21:34

Okay. We have that. Uh-huh. It's just attached to our sour receptors.

Melissa: 21:40

Right.

Jam: 21:40

And while we're tasting what we're drinking

Melissa: 21:43

Yes.

Jam: 21:44

Also, the enzyme Is affecting the thing that we're drinking

Melissa: 21:49

Mhmm.

Jam: 21:50

To where it Oh, gosh. It is Reacting or

Melissa: 22:02

Right.

Jam: 22:03

And making more of the carbonic acid?

Melissa: 22:05

That's a great way to put it.

Jam: 22:07

Okay.

Melissa: 22:07

It's basically like the enzyme helps the formation of carbonic acid, which is protons, basically. I mean, that's not super important for people to know. It just gives us that acidic flavor.

Jam: 22:19

Okay. And so that's happening while it's going across our tongues.

Melissa: 22:23

Right.

Jam: 22:23

And so we're tasting it, and we're and and it's changing while it's going across.

Melissa: 22:27

Yes.

Jam: 22:27

And we're feeling it because Yes. While that's happening, A feel happens, a bubble feeling happens

Melissa: 22:33

Mhmm.

Jam: 22:34

As a result of the enzyme doing its deal?

Melissa: 22:36

Yes. So it seems like when they break down that c o two. Uh-huh. The enzyme is activating not just a sour receptor, but also a somatosensory cell or almost like a feeling cell, so it gives us the bubbly sensation.

Jam: 22:51

Okay. So amount of sensory. Now that makes sense, the sensory part. I see what you're saying now. Mhmm.

Jam: 22:56

Okay. Man, that is so crazy.

Melissa: 22:59

Isn't it? Yes. I I really this is almost exactly like the onions episode for me because I went into this Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa: 23:08

Very confident. I was like, I know what happens. You put carbonation in water and a little bit of acid happens just naturally, and we can kinda taste it. And it's like, no. Actually, our tongue can break down CO 2.

Melissa: 23:21

Yeah. Crazy.

Jam: 23:24

That is so crazy. Yeah. Anyone out there who doesn't like carbonated stuff or has never had it, this is totally boring

Melissa: 23:31

for you guys.

Jam: 23:31

So sorry. Maybe you'll maybe you'll be interested now, though.

Melissa: 23:35

And go check out go get a Spindrift.

Jam: 23:37

I do know some people who who aren't super into carbonated stuff. I don't know what

Melissa: 23:40

the deal is. He hates it.

Jam: 23:41

He hates all of it.

Melissa: 23:43

He he did like soda, but I think that's all the other sugar and stuff in there. Yeah.

Jam: 23:48

Yeah. I have a friend who doesn't like anything carbonate no matter doesn't really have, like, a, oh, it's not good for you or whatever. He just doesn't like it.

Melissa: 23:54

I wonder if those people have more of the c o two detectors. Boom.

Jam: 23:58

I also used to have a boss Who used to like carmenite stuff and has a medicine that she's pretty convinced makes has an effect on The taste of carbonated stuff, which may be affecting, though, this somatosensory thing or maybe affecting the enzyme. I don't know.

Melissa: 24:15

Dang. That's crazy. Oh, I was gonna say that at the end of this article, the scientist spent a little bit of time speculating on why mammals have c o two sensing. Uh-huh. Like, why do we have this on our tongue?

Melissa: 24:27

Yeah. And they don't, obviously, or didn't, in 2009, have a clear answer for it, but they felt it could have evolved as a mechanism to maybe recognize CO 2 in food that's decomposing or fermenting that's not safe to eat.

Jam: 24:43

Got it.

Melissa: 24:44

Or it could be that that enzyme is there basically to produce the acid to keep the pH balance right around the taste buds.

Jam: 24:52

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 24:53

And we just detect CO 2 almost as a byproduct that doesn't matter.

Jam: 24:58

It's not about trying to taste it. It's about trying to Fulfill another very important function of our bodies.

Melissa: 25:04

Right. That's what they suspected. So I should say pH is just the right amount of acid base balance. Yeah. So that's what they suspected.

Melissa: 25:12

It was either something that was evolved to help protect us, or maybe it's something that keeps the tongue Mhmm. Where it needs to be kind of

Jam: 25:20

Interesting.

Melissa: 25:21

Isn't that crazy?

Jam: 25:22

Man, that's really cool. I love trying to I mean, obviously, I know it's speculation. We can't probably really prove it very easily because it's not like we have A lot of humans from every period of, like, change to really observe, but that's pretty cool. And I think some of those things are Kind of intuitive. You're like, well, not eating spoiled food, that seems like a really good thing for advice to to try to have some something to fight against Or just keeping our our we know that, like, homeostasis.

Melissa: 25:49

Right.

Jam: 25:49

Like, our body's trying to do that in a lot of ways Right. Constantly. So just trying to keep the pH right of our tongue seems like it makes sense. Just like that's cool.

Melissa: 25:57

It's so fun. I love the things I've learned for this show, and I love when I end up being wrong about something. Yeah. It's so it's such a fun experience.

Jam: 26:08

That is not what most people would say, but But that's that's okay.

Melissa: 26:13

Okay. So that's for now to everything. Thanks for coming and learning and caring about carbonation.

Jam: 26:18

Anytime. I already love it now I just know more about it and love it even more.

Melissa: 26:21

Yeah. Now you can think about this the next time you're drinking your fizzy drinks. Okay. So do you wanna say something that made you happy this

Jam: 26:28

I do. I would love to. So so I already talked about seeing my family. That was a happy thing, I think, for the past the previous time, maybe something like that.

Melissa: 26:36

Few weeks ago.

Jam: 26:37

So What I'm gonna share about is that I of what I got for just from them. So they all, Chipped in together to get me a new coffee grinder, which I've really been

Melissa: 26:49

wanting. Yeah.

Jam: 26:51

I had the same coffee grinder. I mean, I'm way into coffee, And so slowly improving one's coffee setup is kinda the name of the game Yeah. Across time. And the grinder, which I think Could have a way of, like, translating into chemistry is so important because Yeah. It's one of the first steps before anything else happens, Not other than just getting coffee.

Jam: 27:10

You know?

Melissa: 27:10

Right.

Jam: 27:11

Grinding the coffee and the particle size and having good options and consistency dinner makes a huge difference. And so I'm really excited. I'm going from the ability to to grind 16 different levels of coarseness finest and coarseness To now being able to grind 40 different ones. So I'm that can be way more specific, and so I'm really excited about that. And that was super, super cool Love my family, and

Melissa: 27:36

I love Super, super cool.

Jam: 27:37

Getting to hang with them, and I love the grinder.

Melissa: 27:40

Jim is a scientific person in his own right regarding his coffee. But don't worry. We are planning on doing a series on coffee. It is oft requested. We hear you, but we wanna give it the time and space to do it just right.

Jam: 27:53

And I also want it to happen so so badly. Of all the things we could talk about, I want coffee to to happen.

Melissa: 27:59

We're not gonna just do it halfway. We're gonna try to do the best we can do with it.

Jam: 28:03

It's a worthy topic. I even I'm I I obviously feel that way. I

Melissa: 28:07

think it's gonna have to be a multipart

Jam: 28:09

Yeah.

Melissa: 28:10

Like, month long series about coffee or something.

Jam: 28:12

I mean, everybody cares about coffee even if Not really like coffee the same way.

Melissa: 28:16

Right.

Jam: 28:16

We all have some, you know, coffees in all of our lives whether we like it or not.

Melissa: 28:21

That's true. So even when I didn't like coffee, I loved how it smelled. Yeah. Okay. One really cool thing that I did Uh-huh.

Melissa: 28:28

That I love so much on January 1st Uh-huh. I went with my dad to the winter classic.

Jam: 28:34

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 28:35

So that is an outdoor hockey game that the the NHL puts on once a year, and it can be any door. Yes. Interesting. And it can be anywhere, any team. Usually, it's in the north, and it's some really traditional hockey team.

Jam: 28:49

So this is go ahead and do it at a at a pond that's already frozen.

Melissa: 28:53

Yeah. That's it.

Jam: 28:53

That kinda thing.

Melissa: 28:54

No. They do regulation ice. But this year, they did it in Dallas, which is the furthest south it has ever been.

Jam: 29:00

Woah.

Melissa: 29:01

And everything went so well, I had such a fun time with my dad. Uh-huh. And it it was like, oh, this is a moment of sports history. There was the 2nd largest crowd the NHL has ever had

Jam: 29:13

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 29:13

At any game ever. And it was so fun to be there with so many people who we're excited about the same thing you were, and it just was a shared sense of camaraderie that was really enjoyable. And it was such a good day with my dad. Just Yeah. All day, all we did was hockey and hang out and ride the train there and

Jam: 29:35

Yeah.

Melissa: 29:36

They opened the fairgrounds. We got to do a fosters corn dog. I'd never had one before.

Jam: 29:40

Oh, nice.

Melissa: 29:41

It was so fun, and then I went home and was in bed by 7 PM. So Wow. It was kind of a perfect day.

Jam: 29:47

Yeah. That's incredible.

Melissa: 29:49

Yeah. So I think I got in bed that early because I ended up being sick, but it was I didn't know it yet then. So it was so fun and just a really special time with my dad. So

Jam: 30:01

cool.

Melissa: 30:02

Yeah. That's that's it for this week for me.

Jam: 30:05

So, Melissa and I have a lot of ideas for topics of chemistry in everyday life just like carbonation. So I wanna hear from you. If you have questions or ideas, you can reach out to us on Gmail, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at chem for your life. That's chem, f o r, Your Life to share thoughts and ideas. If you enjoy this podcast, you can subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Jam: 30:24

And if you really like it, you can write a review on Apple Podcasts. That helps us to be able to share chemistry with even more people. If you'd like to help us keep our show going and contribute to the cost of making it, go to kodashfi.com /chem for your life, and donate the cost of a cup of coffee.

Melissa: 30:40

This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Colini and Jamm Robinson. References for this episode can be found in our show notes and on our website. Jim Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to s Flint who reviewed this episode.