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Something You Should Know

SYSK Choice: The Hidden Chemistry in Everything & Why Scientists Can’t Define Life

Something You Should Know

Mike Carruthers | OmniCastMedia

Education, Social Sciences, Self-improvement, Science, Health & Fitness

4.54.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When you order something online, do you then track the package to see where it is and when it is coming? This episode begins with the results of a survey about how people track their orders and why and how they hate it when a package is late. https://blog.4over.com/delivery-tracking-consumers-statistics Do you know how soap works to get the dirt out – or how moisturizers work? What is it about caffeine that keeps you awake? The answer is - chemistry! With everything you do and anywhere you go there is a lot of chemistry working in the background. Here to explain how it all works is chemist Kate Bibendorf. Kate is a chemist and author of the book It’s Elemental: The Hidden Chemistry in Everything (https://amzn.to/3ycoZEK). You are going to hear things you never knew before and you will likely never drink a flaming shot of vodka again in your life! Doesn’t it seem that science should have a pretty solid definition of what life is. Actually though, it is a mystery. Even though we all have a pretty good sense or understanding of life – it remains undefinable. Why? That’s what Carl Zimmer set out to find out. Carl writes the Matter column for The New York Times and is author of 13 books including Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive (https://amzn.to/3yhCBP1) He joins me to explain what we do know, what we don’t know and how some things you might think are alive – actually are not. Maybe. Who hasn’t had a swig of water from a garden hose on a hot day? But it is probably a very bad idea. Listen as I explain why you are much better off going into the house and getting a glass of water and leave the garden hose water in the garden. https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2010/06/do-you-suppose-it-s-safe-to-drink-from-a-hose/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! For the first time in NetSuite’s 25 years as the #1 cloud financial system, you can defer payments of a FULL NetSuite implementation for six months! If you’ve been sizing NetSuite up to make the switch then you know this deal is unprecedented - no interest, no payments - take advantage of this special financing offer at https://NetSuite.com/SYSK ! The Dell Technologies’ Black Friday in July event has arrived with limited-quantity deals on top tech to power any passion. Save on select XPS PCs and more powered by the latest Intel® Core™ processors. Plus, get savings on select monitors and accessories, free shipping and monthly payment options with Dell Preferred Account. Save today by calling 877-ASK-DELL ! Discover Credit Cards do something pretty awesome. At the end of your first year, they automatically double all the cash back you’ve earned! See terms and check it out for yourself at https://Discover.com/match Keep American farming and enjoy the BEST grass-fed meat & lamb, pastured pork & chicken and wild caught-Alaskan salmon by going to https://MoinkBox.com/Yum  RIGHT NOW and get a free gift with your first order! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Today on something you should know, tracking your online shopping orders, it's become a

0:07.0

bit of a national pastime, then the fascinating chemistry of everyday life.

0:12.4

Like how soap works, how caffeine keeps you awake, and why you should never have a flaming

0:18.0

shot of vodka.

0:19.0

Please don't ever do that, that is so dangerous, alcohol is so flammable.

0:23.4

Anytime I see a flaming shot, I get as far away from it as possible because with just one

0:27.4

turn, it can set any alcohol that's anywhere there.

0:29.9

Like a little fierce skull, anything will immediately ignite and it's so dangerous.

0:34.3

Also, why you should never drink from your garden hose.

0:38.3

And what does it mean to be alive?

0:40.5

You think we know, but we don't.

0:42.8

It is really kind of mind bending to think about the fact that scientists do not agree on

0:47.5

a definition of life.

0:48.5

They just don't.

0:49.5

And it tells us something I think really profound about what it means to be alive and how

0:53.8

much we have left to understand life.

0:56.3

Call this today on something you should know.

1:00.9

Are you currently enjoying this show on the Stitcher app?

1:04.6

Then you need to know Stitcher is going away on August 29th.

1:09.4

Yep, going away as in Kaput, gone, dead.

1:15.0

Rest in peace, Stitcher, and thanks for 15 years of service to the podcast community.

1:20.2

So switch to another podcast app and follow this show there.

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