The Chemistry of Life with Kate the Chemist

About This Episode

Would aliens use the same periodic table as us? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Negin Farsad sit down with Kate Biberdorf, aka Kate the Chemist, to tackle fan questions about the chemistry of life, diamonds, how fire works, and spontaneous combustion.

Is there such a thing as a liquid diamond and could you swim in a pool of it? Kate walks through the phase chemistry of carbon, why melting a diamond means it’s no longer a diamond, and what the difference actually is between a crystal and a liquid crystal. Do crystals actually influence energy? We discuss crystal shops, the science behind why crystals are the lowest energy state of their atoms, and why “diamonds are forever” is really just a statement about molecular stability.

Could life on other planets be built from completely different chemistry? Kate and Neil explore silicon as a carbon alternative, the case for methane as a solvent on Titan, amino acids found on asteroids, and the biggest open question in astrobiology: is DNA inevitable, or just one solution among many that the universe stumbled upon? Would intelligent aliens organize a periodic table the same way we do or could they sort by stability, conductivity, or cosmic abundance instead?

What is the fire triangle? Learn about the chemistry of fire and the lesser-known Pentagon of dust explosions, explaining how sugar factory explosions happen. We discuss ATP in the body and its role in transferring and storing energy. The episode closes on a series of spectacular chemistry demonstrations — dry ice vortex pools, exploding paint cans, acid base reactions with glitter and food coloring — and Kate’s upcoming live science stage tour. Keep Looking Up!

Thanks to our Patrons Ari, Craig Zimmerman, Alison Frey, Jimmy Melendez, A Miller, Erik Frey, Eric Wall, Jack Weekly, Hayden Waters, Darius Bakunas, Steve, Dejan Rešetar, Ellen Phillips, Dragos Stefan, Jackie Felix, Lace S, Mariusz Milka, RedShiftMyPants, Rk C, De’Anthony Rhea, Rachel Morse, Maeve O’Meara, Hammer of Dog, Abdulaziz Almehmadi, Keaton Nguyen, Daniel Lehr, Bogumila Kenney, Debra Di Blasi, Leonhard Euler, Eli, JOHN DEMASTRI, svkool, Cheyenne McAdam, Ian Soobrattee, Andy Cheng, Scarlet Matthews, deriven, Elizabeth Brandon, Rachel Hewitt, Wtv, Timothy Dragila, James Mihaychuk, Bermuda Tim, donnie, Erly Thornton, Brandon Harper, Obada Alnajjar, and Thomas M for supporting us this week.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free.