Chemistry For Your Life

What happens when some listeners challenge one of our past episodes?
This week we’re revisiting our silicone episodes after several listeners pointed us toward new research. Along the way we answer questions about mosquito wristbands, waterproof mascara, stubborn adhesives, and whether amino acids may have formed on the early Earth after all. It’s an Ask a Chemist episode full of updates, follow-ups, and a reminder that science is always a work in progress.

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Timestamps

• 0:00 – Revisiting our silicone episodes after new research


• 2:00 – Does silicone really leach into food, and should we be worried?


• 10:30 – What we know (and don’t know) about silicone safety


• 17:30 – Do mosquito patches and wristbands actually work?


• 23:30 – How does waterproof mascara stay waterproof?


• 27:20 – A chemistry detour: removing paint and stubborn adhesives


• 30:20 – The Miller–Urey experiment and the origin of amino acids


• 33:20 – Wrap-up + send us your chemistry questions

References from the Episode:

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Sara Hull

Dog Day Dan

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Summer Alden

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Kyle McCray

Justine

Ash

Vince W

Julie S.

Heather Ragusa

Autoclave

Dorien VD

Scott Beyer

Jessie Reder

J0HNTR0Y

Cullyn R

Erica Bee

Elizabeth P

Rachel Reina

Letila

Katrina Barnum-Huckins

Suzanne Phillips

Venus Rebholz

Jacob Taber

Brian Kimball

Kristina Gotfredsen

Timothy Parker

Steven Boyles

Chris Skupien

Chelsea B

Avishai Barnoy

Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

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What if chemistry classes were organized around real-world problems instead of chapters in a textbook?In this bonus BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with Vicente Talanquer about helping students think like chemists rather than simply memorize chemistry. They explore why authentic, real-world problems can transform learning, how instructors can make meaningful changes without rewriting an entire course, and why teaching chemistry is about developing a way of thinking—not just delivering content.

 

Important Links

• Submit a Question for Community Conversations


• bcce.divched.org/2026


• YouTube.com/@chemforyourlife


• chemforyourlife.com

Free resources
Chemical Thinking Curriculum Structure: https://sites.google.com/site/chemicalthinking/structure

More on Chemical Thinking Curriculum: https://sites.google.com/site/chemicalthinking/

General Chemistry - CLUE textbook & activities: https://www.chemistry.msu.edu/clue/general-chemistry.aspx

Organic Chemistry OCLUE textbook & activities: https://www.chemistry.msu.edu/clue/organic-chemistry.aspx

Time Stamps

0:00 – Why Melissa loves BCCE and chemistry education
2:50 – Meet Ellen Yezierski and the idea of scholarly teaching
4:00 – Moving beyond intuition and using evidence to improve teaching
6:35 – What chemistry educators can learn from cognitive science and education research
8:30 – The biggest challenge: finding time to improve your teaching
11:00 – Why conferences and community matter for innovation
13:45 – Barriers to evidence-based teaching and the risk of changing what’s familiar
16:20 – Applying the same scientific scrutiny to old teaching methods
19:40 – A practical first step toward scholarly teaching
21:00 – Finding useful teaching research without getting overwhelmed
25:20 – Meet the panelists and the ideas they’ll bring to BCCE
29:10 – How the Community Conversation will work
32:35 – Why good teachers are made, not born
34:00 – Filling your teaching cup back up at BCCE

Support this podcast on Patreon 

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

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There are a lot more ways to reveal a fingerprint than the black powder you see on TV.In this second part of our forensic chemistry series with Nicki Stewart, we explore the surprising chemistry behind fingerprints. From powders and iodine vapor to super glue fumes and chemical reactions, we break down how forensic scientists reveal invisible fingerprints—and why choosing the right method depends entirely on the surface, the chemistry, and the evidence they’re trying to preserve.

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

• 0:00 – What are fingerprints, really?


• 5:30 – What’s actually left behind when you touch something?


• 9:20 – The two main categories of fingerprint detection


• 14:00 – How fingerprint powder actually works


• 18:40 – Iodine fuming and why fingerprints disappear again


• 25:25 – Revealing fingerprints on sticky tape


• 29:40 – Ninhydrin and the chemistry behind purple fingerprints


• 35:05 – The surprising science of super glue fuming


• 42:20 – Why collecting fingerprints is much harder than TV makes it look


• 46:10 – Jam’s biggest takeaways from fingerprint chemistry

References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Sara Hull

Dog Day Dan

Bri .

Summer Alden

Amanda Raymond

Kyle McCray

Justine

Ash

Vince W

Julie S.

Heather Ragusa

Autoclave

Dorien VD

Scott Beyer

Jessie Reder

J0HNTR0Y

Cullyn R

Erica Bee

Elizabeth P

Rachel Reina

Letila

Katrina Barnum-Huckins

Suzanne Phillips

Venus Rebholz

Jacob Taber

Brian Kimball

Kristina Gotfredsen

Timothy Parker

Steven Boyles

Chris Skupien

Chelsea B

Avishai Barnoy

Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does it mean to teach chemistry like a scientist?
In this BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with chemistry education researcher Ellen Yezierski about scholarly teaching: making evidence-guided decisions about how we teach and how students learn. They discuss why content knowledge alone isn’t enough, how educators can improve their teaching without becoming full-time researchers, and why some of the best chemistry teaching ideas come from asking better questions about learning.

 

Important Links

• bcce.divched.org/2026


• YouTube.com/@chemforyourlife


• chemforyourlife.com

 

Time Stamps

0:00 – Why Melissa loves BCCE and chemistry education
2:50 – Meet Ellen Yezierski and the idea of scholarly teaching
4:00 – Moving beyond intuition and using evidence to improve teaching
6:35 – What chemistry educators can learn from cognitive science and education research
8:30 – The biggest challenge: finding time to improve your teaching
11:00 – Why conferences and community matter for innovation
13:45 – Barriers to evidence-based teaching and the risk of changing what’s familiar
16:20 – Applying the same scientific scrutiny to old teaching methods
19:40 – A practical first step toward scholarly teaching
21:00 – Finding useful teaching research without getting overwhelmed
25:20 – Meet the panelists and the ideas they’ll bring to BCCE
29:10 – How the Community Conversation will work
32:35 – Why good teachers are made, not born
34:00 – Filling your teaching cup back up at BCCE

Support this podcast on Patreon 

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#061

Be honest. Have you ever glued yourself with super glue? Everyone should accidentally make that mistake at least once, so you can literally feel the impressive stickiness of super glue. Well today, you can learn about the chemistry within super glue, without putting any fingers or other body parts at risk! Let's do this.

 

References from this episode

1. Introduction to Polymers R.J. Young and P. A. Lovell


2. http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/superglue/superglueh.htm


3. https://www.chemistryworld.com/podcasts/cyanoacrylate/6261.article


4. https://pubsapp.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/86/8624sci5.html


5. https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/students/highschool/chemistryclubs/March_ChemClubCal.pdf


6. https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/articlesbytopic/bonding/chemmatters-dec2006-glue.pdf
   
   

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife.
Email us at chemforyourlife@gmail.com

Thanks to our monthly supporters

• Ciara Linville


• J0HNTR0Y


• Jeannette Napoleon


• Cullyn R


• Erica Bee


• Elizabeth P


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• Suzanne Phillips


• Nelly Silva


• Venus Rebholz


• Lyn Stubblefield


• Jacob Taber


• Brian Kimball


• Emerson Woodhall


• Kristina Gotfredsen


• Timothy Parker


• Steven Boyles


• Chris Skupien


• Chelsea B


• Bri McAllister


• Avishai Barnoy


• Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon

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