Roads are one of the defining features of modern civilizations, believe it or not. To me and I think most others, the state of the roads in a country gives an idea of the level of development. It does not surprise then that chemistry features quite heavily in how we make roads. A request from a listener, I explore in this episode the chemistry of bitumen and the physical properties needed for a good road. This podcast is still not reactivated, but if you have a topic that you are interested...

It takes a little bit more than 100mg of cyanide to kill a 75 kg human being. A little more than 100mg and the unfortunate victim will show the telltale signs of “bluish tones of oxygen deprivation mottle the skin.“ Cyanide Poisoning is as old as the usage of chemical compounds containing cyanide and this episode looks at the chemistry that happens in the body during a poisoning. “This will be the last episode of Chemistry in Everyday Life for now. It was a huge amount of fun, but for the...

Both starch and cellulose are made of glucose, one of the main sources of energy for the human body. Yet... we can digest starch that we find in things like potatoes or flour, but we cannot digest cellulose, a compound that is found in virtually every plant... Why?!? If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1 or you can leave a comment on my website https://chemistryineverydaylife574446112.wordpress.com/....

Dear  Chemistry in Everyday Life Fans, I am off this month and as a  consequence, we are looking back on past episodes over the summer.  Today’s re-run is one of the first episodes that I ever recorded by the  name of “Protection from the Sun Pt. 1 – The Ozone Layer”. I hope you all enjoy your summer. Stay safe and take care :)

Dear Chemistry in Everyday Life Fans, I am off this month and as a consequence, we are looking back on past episodes over the summer. Today’s re-run is one of the first episodes that I ever recorded by the name of “Protection from the Sun Pt. 1 – The Ozone Layer”. The survey is still open and you can still submit an answer under https://forms.gle/LihJiny4jncB6h2A6. Let me know what episodes you like best and we shall replay them over the course of the summer. I hope you all enjoy your...

Dear Chemistry in Everyday Life Fans, I am off this month and as a consequence, we are looking back on past episodes over the summer. I asked you what is your favourite episode and the result said it was the episode "Breathe in, Breathe Out - Oxygen Transfer in the Blood". The survey is still open and you can still submit an answer under https://forms.gle/LihJiny4jncB6h2A6 . Let me know what episodes you like best and we shall replay them over the course of the summer. I hope you all enjoy...

PLEASE NOTE: During the month of August, I will repeat some previous episodes. If you want to influence which episodes will be played, you can click on the following link to part in a 1-question survey. Thanks! https://forms.gle/LihJiny4jncB6h2A6 How can you trace a molecule inside the body? How do you know, how a compound inside the body is metabolised? We will explore these questions in this episode. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be...

Have you ever wondered how all these scientists come up with their findings in forensics, environmental science, pharmaceuticals, … cooking, cosmetics, and in soooo many more? Chemical purification and analysis lies at the heart of this question and I give you hereby my attempt at answering it. This is Part 2 of this 2-Part series looking at analysis. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1or you can leave a...

Have you ever wondered how all these scientists come up with their findings in forensics, environmental science, pharmaceuticals, … cooking, cosmetics, and in soooo many more? Chemical purification and analysis lies at the heart of this question and I give you hereby my attempt at answering it. This is Part 1 of this 2-Part series looking at purification techniques. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1or...

After talking about red blood cells two episodes, this episode looks at a different bodily fluid. One that helps in the digestion of fats. We are talking about bile. A liquid associated with bad experiences, but is essential to our survival. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1or you can leave a comment on my website https://chemistryineverydaylife574446112.wordpress.com/. Alternatively, you can send an...

In this episode I confront the horrible memory of my one and only bad car crash. I only remember fragments, but the airbag was a big part of the memory. If you want to know how explosions save lives everyday on the road, then tune in. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1or you can leave a comment on my website https://chemistryineverydaylife574446112.wordpress.com/. Alternatively, you can send an email to...

Oxygen in, Carbon Dioxide out. We learn this basic paradigm about breathing from a very early age on. But how does it work? From a chemical viewpoint this is a lot of fun! So let’s look into it 😊 If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1or you can leave a comment on my website https://chemistryineverydaylife574446112.wordpress.com/. Alternatively, you can send an email to...

Why is iron to Rust? Why does this not happen for stainless steel? How else can we protect materials from corrosion? If you want to know, listen to this episode 😉 If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1or you can leave a comment on my website https://chemistryineverydaylife574446112.wordpress.com/. Alternatively, you can send an email to [email protected]. Sources Rust – Wikipedia entry ·...

I always found the concept of energy in the human body very intriguing… or in any organism for that matter. The term energy is very abstract to me. For example, there is a difference to “having the energy to go for a walk” or “the energy to power the oven”. One phrase clearly describes energy as electricity and the other is the energy needed for an activity that we humans undertake. So what is energy in a human being or an animal? If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for...

Space. The Final frontier… a friend of mine asked me if there is chemistry in space and how it is different from the chemistry, we observe here on Earth. This is an exciting topic. So exciting that I had to make a podcast episode about it. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1. Alternatively, you can send an email to [email protected]. Please note: I made a mistake in this episode. I called the...

I always tried to avoid making an episode about making alcoholic beverages, because there is already so much great content about it and I did not see the extra value in talking about it. For this episode, I shall break this taboo, by talking about distillation. A technique that is used for making spirits, but also for so much more, which is why I only mention spirits at the end as a side note. I hope you enjoy listening to it. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a...

Batteries are ubiquitous in daily life and I took them for granted for such a long time that I felt obliged to write an episode about them. Especially since they work thanks to a very basic concept called Redox Reactions. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1. Alternatively, you can send an email to [email protected]. Sources Redox Chemistry and electrochemistry ·...

From winter gloves and people with inverted organs to the effects of molecular mirror images. Chirality can be found everywhere, so it is high time to talk about it. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1. Alternatively, you can send an email to [email protected]. Sources Wikipedia entries on Chirality and Enantiomers · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirality ·...

We talked about Glow Sticks, we talked about Fireworks. Now it feels like the right time to look at another big factor in color of compounds, the conjugated systems. If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1. Alternatively, you can send an email to [email protected]. Sources: My publication on the synthesis of...

Our 2020 new year’s celebration had to look quite different this year. The Belgian government had to restrict contact, so no extended family, and no fireworks this year. All for very good, Corona-related reasons. This meant for us that we had to find an alternative, so that we could still give our 3-year old daughter a little spectacle. With glow sticks and chemiluminescence in our back packs, we then went on to celebrate a very special and very different new year. This podcast we shall use...

So it was time again to add a little Diesel Exhaust Fluid, also known as AdBlue, to the gas tank of my car. So I stood there in the cold winter temperatures, freezing my, you name it off, and just wished that it would add quicker! Inevitably, one thought popped into my headed: “Why, oh why on earth am I doing this anyways?!” This episode is the final product of my investigations… If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under...

This episode is inspired by my wife's recent experience at the dentist where she needed to get a filling done. It was her first and it reminded me of my first (and so far only) dental filling that I needed to get done a couple of years ago. Our discussion about what the dentist did to fill the dental cavity led to this episode. I hope you enjoy it :). If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1. Alternatively,...

After discussing for 3 episodes the cutting edge technology that led to a Nobel Prize, I would like to return back to more mundane things and there are not many things more mundane than eating bread :-D This episode will look at the reason why bland bread starts to taste sweet after chewing it for a while. I hope you will enjoy it :) If you would like to share feedback or have a suggestion for a topic, I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1. Alternatively, you can send an...

Welcome back to the last episode of this Nobel Prize series during which I discuss the technology for which the two research groups around Prof. emmanuelle Charpentier and Prof. Doudna received the joint Nobel Prize for chemistry. This episode will put all the pieces that we encountered over the course of the last two episodes together and finally will explain, how the so-called gene scissors, CRIPS/CAS9, work. I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1 , if you have feedback...