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Oh hey, it's your neighbor who's always out vacuuming his car, and you're like, is he really clean or is he so dirty that he needs to be vacuuming it that much. Ali board back with another episode of Ologies. Okay, so today one half of a two parter on Potter. Are you ready for this? Have you been ready for this since nineteen ninety seven?
Were you even born in nineteen ninety seven?
Now, whether you've read all seven books in the Harry Potter series, or you've just seen a movie or two, or all you know is that Harry Potter is about a charming adolescent member of the occult who has I guess pretty bad vision. This episode is about chemistry and the science behind the spells. It's just dang magical and fun. Also, it's kid from I'm not going to swear. I've managed not to swear. It was difficult. You are welcome, okay, but before we board, the Hogwarts express a really quick
bit of business prior to leaving the station. So thanks are in order to everyone who supports the show by signing up on patreon dot com for as little as twenty five cents an episode, which lets you submit questions to the ologists. Thank you, Everyone's sporting Ologies wares from ologiesmerch dot com. We have brand new merch up, including some stickers to help you find all the ologites around you. Thank you also to everyone who rates and subscribes to
ologies and shares episodes on social media. Y'all keep it up there in the science charts. And especially to the folks you know close to my heart who leave reviews. You know, I creepily read each one, and I pluck a fresh one each week, such as, for example, cup Eater, who said, if you ever thought about the movie Legally Blonde and are like gosh, I wish el Woods had an awesome podcast about science and creativity and fact based
thinking in general that I could listen to every week. Well, that is a nodly specific request, but also what this podcast is. Thank you, Cupeter, I will take that with a bow. Also, Sarah Jane Horwitz, your secret is safe with me and anyone else who reads every single review. Okay, potter Ology, come the frick on, dad Ward, I've got okay,
I've got a making up Potterrology right listen. My standard is theology has to have been used previously by a person not involved in this podcast in an educational or an academic setting. And yes, potterlogy does count.
It does exist.
There are book clubs called potter Ology there's an instagram at potter Ology. It has like fifty thousand followers, and it serves up some hot Harry Potter memes, even Urban Dictionary, which is a terrible website of firms. Potterrology is quote the study of all things in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. So Potterrology. It's in a lexicon and one cold cheney. A letter fell from the gray sky, just kidding. It was in my email inbox, and it was from a real witch, just kidding.
It was from a PhD student in.
Nebraska, Channing Thompson, who works with a professor who has created a seven week course for exploring the science behind each Harry Potter book. She teaches it to local middle schools as an after school program, and even has an honors class at the undergraduate level at the university. So her college course is called a Muggles Guide to Harry
Potter's Chemistry. Her mission to prove to muggles aka non wizards, humans like you and me, that science and technology are muggle magic, and to highlight all of the real world chemistry and botany and alchemy and love potions and stun guns and hybrid animals that we love from the wizarding world. So this ologist is a chemistry professor who works on the development of electrochemical biosensors that could be used to
diagnose disease. She's been an author on papers such as use of thiolated oglio nucleotides as anti fouling dilutants and electrochemical peptide based sensors.
I needed to meet.
Her, so I rode tripped. I made a special stop my first ever visit to Nebraska, and on a rainy morning I made it to the chemistry building at the University of Lincoln, Nebraska to meet up with her. She is small in stature, wearing fashionable black pants, black boots, polka dotted black blouse, and we popped into our office past a rustic looking sorting hat and a life size cutout of Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter, and she slipped
on a pair of circular Potter esque glasses. We sat down at her desk, where she proceeded to demonstrate disappearing ink before I really even had recording levels set or handed her a mic. Just wait, you're gonna fall in love with this genius human person.
But I don't need to spell out how charming she is.
So without further ado, get ready to blast through platform nine and three quarters into the world of chemistry Professor Honorary Wizard and patrologist, Doctor Rebecca Lae.
And you can see it would eventually fade away again because the chemistry is really what happens is that this ink is basically made in a basic pH such as like PHG eleven DOWO pH thirteen, so the color is blue. But the fact is that when when you know in the presence of just exposed to air such as you know that air has CO two in there, So what
happens is that CO two carbonic acid. So carbonic acid neutralizes with the base, which is a sodium hydroxide that is in the ink, dropping the PhD around pH nine or so when that indicator at pH nine is actually colorless.
Yes, we hit the ground running. We blasted through a brick wall and straight into her, showing me a muggle's way to simulate the spell apocium attempted by hermione in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to read hidden writing from one Tom Marvolo Riddle's diary. So not a wizard caught in a struggle of good and evil. No worries that special blue ink is basic but neutralizes in
air to be invisible on the paper. So she swipes a liquid point oh five molar solution of sodium hydroxide, raising the pH again to very basic, and the message pops back up on the paper. Chemistry lesson magic intrigue, Hidden messages in a diary that Professor Lai gives me to take home. This is literally before the interview even began, and I got to ask her anything about her classes, and I swear we pick up the microphones like normal in a minute.
It's great because we are really having a real cause about it. And I remember students seeing this class on the website, the Catalog University. Someone actually wrote me, are you sure this is a real class that you can receive a credit? And I was like, yes, absolutely, you have exam, you have group project that you have to work on. Yes, absolutely. Oh my god, this class close close really fast. You basically only got sixteen slot. It's
not a big class. Honors class is only for sixteen sixteen slot, and it always ended up you know, the class will close very early because it's just kind of cool exactly, and some people would also mention that they would like to take the class just to have that on their transcript.
A Locals Guide to Harry Potter's Chemistry. Okay, all right, let's get into this. Tell me a little bit about your background with chemistry. When did you realize that you loved chemistry.
I actually, I would say I started to like chemistry when I was in high school. But I do have to tell you that it is a bit unusual path that I took. Actually, in my whole life, I've always liked art. Not until even my first year in college, I was still going for fashion design or fashion merchandising major. So in my second year I switched to biochemistry.
How did that happen?
So in my whole life, I've always been into you know, arts and actually really wanted to be, you know, a fashion designer. And what happens that when I I took you know, took a chemistry class in my first year and realizing that in college, I went to Kelsey, Los Angeles,
realizing that I really like chemistry. And I think there's a little bit you know, pragmatics reason or lazy reason I should not have my students here about that the fact because I thought that I did well without needing a lot of studying, I just like, yeah, I just thought, well, maybe I do actually get this, I get chemistry. I was like wow, I just ended up doing well in the class, and I thought, wow, okay, I should try to think about this might be could be a career option.
This career hunch was confirmed when she was getting her bachelor's in biochemistry at California State University and met her undergrad research advisor, doctor Jao.
Doctor Faming Jell and I really learned about, you know, the transformative ability of research. So he basically taught me a lot about how it is to do research and also how to be a scientist basically to have a scientific mindset. I think that's a very important idea as to how to approach a scientific question. That's really the time that when I look at research like wow, you can actually do so much with research. And that's when I decided to switch to biochemistry major too.
And what do you think is a scientific mindset? How would you describe it?
A scientific mindset is? Of course, first you know, you have to figure out what's the question, and then you have to think about how you're going to approach it, and there are multiple ways to approach it. You can't be oh, like, I want to try that all all of them at the same time. It's not possible. In some cases it might be possible, but it's more ideal is to systematically isolate one part of the questions, because some scientific questions are really really broad and really complex.
But how to isolate, you know, small chunks, small parts and attack small chunks at a time and be able to achieve get to a conclusion because you can think of it as like a network of you know, questions. They're all related. So how am I going to prioritize which part I want to address first? And you have to think about the amount of time, the resources, and
all the others. Right, simplify the question or at least address one part of the question at a time, and even within that one part of the question you would like to address. There are multiple approaches to address a question. It's very difficult to try to address everything at the same time, no matter how big the lab is. I think in general, I think I always would say scientific processes, do you think systematically? Rather than trying to go I
like this, I like this are like all of them? Well, how much time you have if you have the time turner right over there? This is a time turn of Harry And okay you might but even then, time turners can only go back one hour, so I don't know. You still can't address to too much problems. You keep turning it back another hour. Oh, let's go back all right?
Did Rebecca have a necklace nearby that looked like Hermione's time turn independent. I'm gonna let you guess. Also, before getting her bachelor's she studied at a British school in Hong Kong, but for her PhD in chemistry she went at the University of Texas at Austin and then did postdoc at UCSB. So what sparked this interest in lab work? Like? Was it like solving puzzles as you go? What did you like about it?
I like, I consider that, as you know, it's not as good as the verito serum. It's not truth serum, but it is truth finder. You know, at the end, there's a truth to all these things that are happening in science in different chemical reactions. Even at that at this moment, I may not know all of them. There's always an answer to it. I think there's always a truth in science, whether we can at this moment know it, or we don't have to. We're not technologically advanced enough
to be able to understand it. Whether it's about a pathway in the human body with diseases or just new technologies. We may not be able to understand all of them, but I think it has I think I like science because or chemistry or science in general, is because it's truth finding. I think I think it is. I really think even if I don't know and understand it all right now, but slowly and surely I will get there. That's how I'll get it.
Oh that's a beautiful answer.
It's just my humble opinion. It could be entirely wrong, you see.
I think it's right. And then when you were getting your PhD, what exactly you were studying? Ions correct?
Oh, I study a lot of chemistry. So then when I decided to go to graduate school, I wanted to continue on with that.
Rebecca said that she had great mentors like undergrad advisor doctor Franglin Jao, PhD advisor doctor Alan Bard. So if you have academic dragons to slay, it's good to have a posse. I'm guessing both of them were more Hermione and less Weasley. Now Rebecca herself seems like a find excitable Hogwarts professor. And when it came to teaching, you got to design a syllabus and you are clearly a
Harry Potter fan. Yes, yes, When let's actually go back to that, when did you read your first Harry Potter book.
Oh, it's been such a long time, I have to say, actually, I would say it was probably the time that the first one came out, Yeah, two thousand and one. I believe The Sorcerer's Stone absolutely, and at that time it was already usked. That's the time that when I was like, oh, it's very cool. Oh it's a really cool book.
Yeah.
So but I didn't actually, I mean, I had that book then, but I didn't really get into seriously studying it completely, digesting the books and learning all about it until later on, for sure.
Okay, quick aside a little background on the books. The first in the series was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, published in nineteen ninety seven in the UK. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in nineteen ninety eight was the US version and a name change which was suggested by the publisher. Rowling says that she regrets it. We'll talk about that more later. Also fun fact, the initials JK were to sidestep any issues with young boys who bristled
at reading a female author. Now Jay stands for Joanne. K stands for Kathleen. She didn't actually have a middle name, but she made it up. Now. The first imprint of the book was a scant five hundred copies, and three hundred of those were sent to public libraries in the UK, which means then a rare signed first imprint, complete with a few typos and some misnumbered pages, has fetched nearly ninety thousand dollars at an auction earlier this year. So
Evan esco Your Life Savings. That means it disappeared.
It's a very old book, bit and it's very useful, King because I read it so many times. I think that book is probably one that I read the most number of times. I think the others at least around seven or eight. That one's probably ten. I cannot say that I remember everything, but I definitely have read it many many times. It's also quite short.
Yeah to the other one, and so what was he What was your impression when you were reading it? What really hooked you?
I just thought it's really amazing. I was thinking very much at that time, not a long time ago, you know, I wasn't thinking about having this class yet or chemistry when I first read it. But I was just more so really amazed by how intelligent, how creative, how awesome jk rowning, Yes, I really thought, I thought, Wow, she you know, she basically came up with the world, a world that is new, unique and or her own. There are other ideas, you know, or books could be similar.
But yet at the same time, I think, you know, she really, you know, generally, she really has this niche right there, you know, generating, you know, a whole just a whole world that I think is uniquely hers. And I was more at that time, I was really amazed off for writing ability and also just be able to come up with a world like that, because I've always
been to arts. Actually I wrote short stories myself, never to anyone, but you know, I've always been interested in writing stories and also sci fi and things like that. So I think it's actually quite amazing to be able to come up with an idea like that, because there's a lot of internal logic, you have to make it consistent. Yes, you can generate all sorts of sci fi world, whether it is for books or for manga or any animation anima like Japanese animations. A lot of them got based
on some really unique sci fi ideas. But you really have to maintain that logic throughout the series. And I think she thought about it a lot even when she first wrote The SORCER's Stone. So therefore, how to tie everything to be consistent? And I'm still very amazed by that, and it's very inspiring.
And it's kind of like, how can mystery is consistent? It's predictable because of certain chemical laws and physical property.
Yes, absolutely, I think so too. You learn one concept could be applied to other systems or other reactions as well. It is very very much the case learning from what's previously been done and used that to advance what you are going to do or what you are currently doing is very important in chemistry and science, as in writing as well. I think in creative writing and storytelling it's analogous in some ways.
When did it first strike you as a chemistry professor? That hot, damn, I can do a whole class on essentially potterrology. Were you like, wait a second, can I do well? They let me do exactly?
I'm sorry I squealed.
You seem very absolutely correct what you just said there. And actually the idea. I was talking to my friend who's another professor here is doctor Barry Channg, and I always thank him when I have these podcasts and when I talk about these classes, because he really helped me and encourage me because I at that time, I basically asked him. I was like, yeah, I would really like to do this honors class, but will the university allow
these type of things? I mean, this is really I just worry they'll say you're not you know, it could be so. But so he said, what you know, Basically, he said, well, there's nothing to lose. Just try it. Ask them if they will let you. If they don't letch you, then the answer is no, at least you try. You know, you don't try, you don't know. And that's what I did, and I was entirely surprised that yeah, yeah,
the university allowed it. And so that's how it happened that I was like great, and after the class showed up on the catalog that that students look in and just like, oh and a student actually wrote me ask me about whether the class is lit. Is that legit or not? Who I actually get the credit for it? I was like, yes, you absolutely will. Well you have to pass it and do a good job the stale you will get one exactly. So yeah.
So Rebecca also teaches the curricula in much simpler form for high school and elementary after school programs. Her university class was four honor students and it met fifteen or sixteen weeks in a row. Pre Rex having read all seven of the Harry Potter books that is over four thousand pages. It's over one million words. Posers need not apply now. I wish we could have made this a four hour episode because she covers everything from the science
of invisibility cloaks to the spells. Petrificus totalis which freezes your foes, and chemicals in nature that can simulate it, like Haitian zombie powders from plants and the deadly pufferfish neurotoxin that blocks the conduction of nerve impulses along fibers and axons. It comes from bacteria in the puffer fish, not the puffer fish itself. So not a wizard can't cast any spells. That's fine, just get yourself a dirty pufferfish. This class is amazing anyway.
And so's that's how it's started. And I think it was just it was just great, just trying to come up with the syllabus of what I would like to talk about, and it's just it's really it's good fun. I think, you know, really setting up the class and thinking about how to run this class to make it
fun but still educational. I think that's always going to be the case, because after all, it is a chemistry class and will be graded and they should learn things right as a chemistry professor, as a scientist, I cannot just say, oh, I'll have a class, it's all good fun, funds great, but they have to learn things that have
to put effort into it. And I think at the end I definitely receive because we have students' evaluation for our classes, and definitely a few students mentioned that despite it seems like it's a you know, a fun class and whatnot, I've learned a lot that's actually a lot of science material. They learned a lot about not just chemistry, but science and technology as well. But the most important part I would like to mentioned this class is that
their homework. There's also, of course attendance point because there's class participation. They need to know answer questions and participate in class discussions as well. So these are all part of it. But but before I want to get there, I would like to mention how the class. The first thing I did on my first class was that I shorted them into houses.
Quick aside, for those who have never read the Harry Potter series in totality, Hogwarts is Harry Potter's wizarding school, and it has different houses, kind of like fraternities, but for cool witches. Raven Claw raven Claw mascot, Eagle colors blue and bronze. Values creativity, wit, intelligence, and learning. Raven Claus kind of seemed like the guy at work who's always reading books on his lunch hower and you're like, good on ya. Hufflepuff mascot the Badger colors yellow and black.
Values loyalty, justice, hard work, and patience. I feel like Hufflepuffs are the friends who hope you move. Gryffin Gryffindor mascot Lion colors Red and gold values bravery, gumption, chivalry, and courage. Harry Potter himself along with his buds Hermione and Ron Weasley all Gryffindors Gryffindors Ultimate Wingman, and finally Slytherin Slytherin mascot the snack I'm a snag now colors Green and silver values are leadership, cunning, resourcefulness, and ambition.
They seem kind of like hedge funt account managers of tomorrow, like congrats, you drive a bens, but you need to also pop your collar. I don't know if I like you, but I admire you now. At Hogwarts, the talking sorting hat bellows your house before a packed tall of students, but in Rebecca's class, she fills it with slips of paper and then lets fate.
I passed the hat around. They all pick one. If they picked the green green snake logo, the sliver Slytherin's logo, so they slitherin. Then if they got the you know, if they got the raven the raven claw, so the blue logos or raven claw, and then et cetera half a puff and a Griffin dhal after that for the rest of the semester, they will sit with their house.
Yes, before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses.
So I felt in the beginning there were like three friends they took the class together, but I split them into three houses.
Not me.
Actually the hat did that's I was like, you know, m I actually put those little logos little pieces of papers inside and then seal it with a piece of paper and I left it out overnight on that desk. Great for them, so to let the head make some decisions. Yeah that night, right, and they's got a night to decide, okay. And it's not related to me. You got sorted into Slytherin as a hats problem, will.
Have gained a wonderful young wizard.
So so it was. It was quite funny too. I think in another class, I think the twenty thirteen one of the students was saying that, but I'm a Grifvens. I got sorted into Slytherin. She was very unhappy about it, really was very unhappy about it. But what school was
that was the end of the semester. She actually learning more about the Slytherins and learning more about the class and working with the other students because I saw them in the teams, right, she actually had a great time still, you know, despite the fact that she was truly unhappy. I could see her face just like I'm it just sorted me in the slytherin, I was like the hat
sort of. But towards the end, I think independent of what they came they came into the class wanting to be in this house or the other, they all ended up learning something about different houses and enjoyed because making your friends too, right, because by you know, having them, you know, work together for the rest of the semester with each other. And why I also mentioned that, it's because there are house points. I have four jars, and
I have intentional approach. I love Swarovski's crystals, four colors of it because the sapphires, you know, the emeralds, and then you know, you can think of with the rubies and then the yellow one. I end up choosing something that's more like a topaz, right for the hufflepuffs, and I have bags of these crystals, and then in the beginning they are all empties or four jars, and then
when they answer the questions correctly, award ten points. Basically still mimicking what they have at Hogwards, right, because they have these four you know, big jars. They're not really jars, but columns of it. You can see how many would they gain house points They'll be they'll open it, open the valve and then be like, oh, six rubies, just drop to the bottom, you know, No, the griffin doll got six points or ten points, right, So that's also what what I did as well. So the four jars,
I have never seen so many hens going on. Yeah, because usually you think of college classes, most people will ask a question, They're like, I don't want to answer your question. Yeah, I know the answer, but just don't want to. And I'm just kidding. But you could see just and realizing that. I think, no, mother, at what level college or or K twelve level, everyone likes to win.
So in the college level class, they also have final projects in the form of a presentation, and everyone in each house has to participate. No ducking behind the loud person in your group wallflowers. Now, Rebecca had me guess the last two winners and they were Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, and I was dead wrong guessing both times. Literally the last house I guessed each time, I might as well
get muggle tattooed on my neck. Ps. I checked around, and yes, there are people out there with muggle tattoos on their necks, and I sadly salute them.
How did this happen twice?
Magic is not on your side today? Sorry, I need to give you some potions, and.
I do want to talk potions. So tell me a little bit. Tell me about the lessons that you run through. I want to hear about the chemistry lessons on your syllabus that you relate to the books. What are some big takeaways that you're able to give people based on the book.
Yeah. So first I started with, you know, talking about sorces stone and about gold, because Sorcerer's stone, right, that stone's ability to basically touch anything and can turn it into gold. So I talked about the history of gold and why the chemistry of gold, Why gold is something that's so sought off to back in the medieval times, right, why it is gold such a unique metal compared to other metals and lesson metals, et cetera. So I talked
about gold. I spent two lectures talking about gold, and I think based on this judent evaluation. The gold portion ended up being actually the most well like lectures.
What are what are some lessons about gold? What are some takeaways? Because I've died and out well?
We talked about you know, microscopic gold versus microscopic gold like gold nano particles, and how microscopic gold looks gold in color and compared to you know, microscopic gold. When when the gold becomes like gold nanoparticles very very small, it has a reddish color, and how it ties to many other things including arts. Is that if you go to a cathedral or places like that, basically red stained glass contains coloid or gold.
Wow, did you know that about gold nanoparticles? I did not? So teeny tiny gold particles less than one hundred nanimeters show as an intense red color. Well, larger particles or nanorods absorb and scatterlight differently, and they present as blue or purple. Gold is like, Hey, just because I'm called gold doesn't mean I'm gold?
How dare you so I talk about you know, the chemistry of gold or what it means, and I, you know, talk about other objects gold objects in the Harry Potter's world and compared to and talk about European alchemy, about you know, Roger Bacon and Albertus Magnus, and how they also thought that gold being the perfect metal and therefore the others are all just not as perfect. And they also thought about this idea, how it ties to the
sorcerer's stone, and that JQ. Allen used this idea, which was an idea that was real that people thought about, well, can we mix something or discover something that is so good, so much more perfect than gold than could be used to transform or make change other base or metals such as iron and or led anything else to reach the perfection of gold, basically convert them into gold. So it's related this idea of the philosopher's stone. I would say
it's not JQ. Allen's original idea, but to utilized this idea very well in her books, But it is an actual idea.
PS side note for those who aren't up on centuries old alchemy gossip, a philosopher's stone was a real thing. Folks were looking for. A philosopher back then didn't necessarily mean someone in like a turtleneck writing essays about nihilism, but rather literally a lover of wisdom aka scientist Now who was Albertus Magnus or the Big Albert. He was a thirteenth century Friar philosopher, perhaps an alchemist, although scholars disagree about the degree to which she dabbled in gold making.
But he did believe in the occult powers of rocks. So if Big Albert wore a bra, he'd have a crystal tucked in it. We both know it now. Roger Bacon was a contemporary of Biggie Albert, and he had a reputation as a wizard. He also reportedly owned a mechanical bronze face that could answer any question you asked it. This was called a brazen head, kind of like a
magic eight ball, but metal and looked like a decapitated head. So, knowing all of this backstory about real philosopher, wizards and stones in gold, I see why JK was bummed that she let the publisher change it to sorcerer for US Americans. So who was it who urged the change? It was one Arthur Levine at Scholastic Books who thought philosopher just wouldn't grab us audiences, and he suggested instead the title Harry Potter and the School of Magic. And JK was
like mm no, but compromised with Sorcerer's stone. Did I look up Arthur Levine?
I did.
He's at Arthur A. Levine one on Twitter. He lives in New York. He owns his own publishing company.
Now.
He has about twenty four hundred followers. So if you were to tweet at him and say, wow, dude, that was all you huh, he might even see it and reply. But be nice, though, because that is quite a dual triumph and a burden to carry. Okay, back to the wizard Roger Bacon, who I'm sorry, wizards named Roger the best. As far as I knew, Roger is just a name for stepdads or the guy in accounting who wears Dockers but must have a wild, dark, magical life outside the office.
Roger Bacon, the alchemist, actually thought that gold dissolved in something else. It's called the elixir of life, and that's something called aqua regia, which is nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, which is something that no one should be drinking at all. There's no way of lengthening anyone's life whatsoever drinking that you can see. But it's also interesting in a way that how JQL also used this idea mentioned this elixir
of life related to the Sorcerer's stone. But this idea of elixir of life was around as well for the European alchemist Roger Bacon. But of course it's different chemical. But yet at the same time, I find it kind of interesting why acuaregia, why they I do not know why he would consider that's the elixir of life and giving this solution this name, But it could be because Aqua regia is known to be able to dissolve gold. If you just at the HCl, you put the gold
wire right there, you do not see any dissolution. Now, if you just add the nitric acid right there, you don't see the dissolution. But as you combine them together, you can see it's generating a beautiful dissolve gold solution, which is a golden color yellowish color solution. And what happens is that the aquius, the gold three plus right there, is going to eventually form this gold chloride, which is aquius. It's also soluble, and that's what you see in this
yellow solution right there. So these two reaction equations basically is telling exactly the story going from here with the solid gold right there, solid this gold wire to become this gold chloride, which is aquius basically in the liquid form. That's basically the transformation from here is magic right from here to you. I'm sure at that time people, at that Roger Bacon's time, that must be quite magical when you just add some stuff and like whoa, look it's
all dissolved, you know, and it's really amazing. But why the other on its own cannot do that? Why does it need that type of combination to be able to do that?
So while aquaorgia might be three parts hydrochloric acid in one part nitric acid, exactly the philosopher's stone that Harry is trying to protect, it does look in a beaker kind of like a glowy orange apparel spritz cocktail, which can be magical in the right amounts and caustic if too much goes down the hatch. So what if your gold has been cursed into a slushy jar and you need it dry and solid and like gold again.
What if you're going through TSA.
What can we do is that we can actually convert it back again. And that's one thing the magical part about gold is that and I wouldn't say only gold, many of them. You can dissolve it from a solid form to a solution form and then you can precipitate out. We just mentioned that we use acoregia to dissolve the salt gold wire or gold ring into the solution and then we can actually precipitate it out. You see, that's
what one could do. Now if the aco regia solution contains only gold, this beautiful yellow solution, and we want to collect these powders back so that is more portable. You can walk around with this caustic solution everywhere, right, and it's just you have to. You want to take it everywhere, so you want to bring it back into
its powdery form. So what happens is that you can boil off the excess acroygia and by and removing residual nitric acid by repeatedly heating with hydrochloric acids, so you might you will be able to obtain the solid tetrachloral oric acid. So you end up getting this salt right there. So now it's back into this powdery form that you can take it everywhere. At that time, I'm sure It's
very magical to think about. You can go from something shiny, beautiful solid and then go into a yellow solution, and then by doing some chemistry right there right to be able to transform it back into a powdery form so that you can take it everywhere.
Yeah, Rebecca had pulled up some PDF slides to show me a pile of powdered gold, which surprisingly looks less like a glitter bomb and more like desiccated mustard. So chemically, in a muggly way, how do you completely reverse the spell?
You want a beautiful shiny gold again, you can selectively reduce it with sulfur dioxide or hydrozene. You can get back to the shiny gold and then you can make your gold rings or any other things. So it's just think about the gold cycle from solid to liquid to the powdery form and then reduce it back to you know, the elemental gold of the shiny gold, and then use
it again and go through the cycle. It's very I really do believe, you know, if I were living at that time, I don't know what woman Okay, in medieval time, I don't know how many there might be some female scientists. I'm sure that there were, you know, a great female scientist. But to be able to see that and work on that would be just very magical.
Side note, first chemist ever Tapoti, a perfume maker in Babylonian Mesopotamia three thousand years ago. She was not a man, folks now, the first woman to win a Nobel prize, Madame Curie speaking of nobels and spells and gold and sorcering with Regia.
But it was actually used with the Nobel metal, which was yes, it was used on that because during World War Two, two of those gold medals, because at that time German prohibited the export of these noble metal outside the country. Nazi Germany did not allow people to do that. And yet the two Nobel laureates would not like their medals to become something other than what they really want.
So they actually gone through this process and ended up having converted into the powder and then ship it out and then after the war was over, it was recasted back as the metal, basically exactly going from this to this process. So you can see what the process I mentioned here was clearly useful. It was a chemist to help them out to physicsist wanting to have their metal not be destroyed or they wanted it to be shipped out,
But how you can disguise it? How can you in what form that you can ship no precious metal out when it's clearly prohibited and illegal to do so. So I think these type of methods are very could be useful.
Less Yeah, little Nazis are the worst trivia. So the golden Nobel Prizes belonged to Maximan Low and James Frank and Hungarian chemist George de Hevesy dissolved them in a beaker of aqua regia as the invading forces were literally marching the streets of Copenhagen. This dissolved gold remained on a shelf for years, despite the laboratory getting ransacked by Nazis, who left the beaker untouched. Because Nazis represent extreme ignorant evil ps. If you're like, man, can you imagine being
smart enough to win a Nobel Prize? I will never be that perfect. I just want you to know that. On theofficial Nobelprize dot org site, on the very website that affirms the story, there is an easy to miss typo. So let that be a lesson that perfection doesn't exist, but perseverance through obstacles and failure.
Does of course we are scientists chemist physics, as we like to talk about Nobel prize. Who doesn't want to have one? I mean, I know most people will not have one. I'm sure we're all aware of that, but doesn't mean we have a tiny small amount of hope that if you would like. I think most would like to have one. So you can see before ninety eighty is actually two hundred grams of twenty three carrot gold. Twenty four carred gold is pure gold, so that's a
lot of money. But later on it's changed. Now it is just one hundred and seventy five grams of eighteen carrot gold. Played it with pure gold, but actually it's green gold. Basically it's a silver gold alloy. If you have heard of what green gold is, basically silver gold alloy.
So they've made it a little bit cheaper, yes, correct, So.
Nobel price is beyond the value of a Nobel prize to the person who received it is a lifetime's work beyond that worth fifty three eighty US dollars, Yeah.
Which is a think what my two thousand and seven prius is worth. So it but it's much more than that it's the fact, it's the.
Amount of work, the honor, and also the amount of work to go into that to you know, to continue to believe your own idea, because a lot of times when people first started, even if you were to ask a few of them, a lot of them, perhaps my thought, oh, I didn't think the idea would work out, but I just kept you know, in the initial trials things were not working. I could have given up, but you know, but I persevere again and again and eventually believing one's
own idea and eventually be able to get there. I think there are a lot of that kind of story if you interview different you know, Nobel Laureates. I think not every singles career. It's just like, oh, saal through Okay, I came up with this idea and I tried it and it worked. It continued to work, work, work. It's
not always like that. Of course, there are cases that like that, but there are also cases that in which people you know, truly have to persevere it to really you know, got a lot of challenges, but they were not giving up, so they just continue to work at it and ended up becoming successful in doing what they set out to do.
So, including JK. Rowling who started this. Look on it in a napkin, I know, in a coffee shop.
JK. Rowling's writing to you know broad impact on so many people, and I think it's amazing. Oh my, she is amazing.
Do you hope one day to meet oh my gosh, I maybe he can help me with Yeah, I feel like enough tweets, With enough tweets, perhaps one Rowling will learn of doctor Las homageous to her.
Do you think.
Also, on the topic of napkin drafts, I've looked into this further, and Rolling says that she had the first ideas for the Harry Potter series while on a train from Manchester to London, which had been four hours delayed. Also, JK. Rowling's parents met on a train. Two reasons perhaps why trains and terminals might make such charming appearances now ps, train nerds, please see the Ologies episode Pharaohechronology for more
shockingly kid friendly information. Anyway, JK started writing the books by sketching the characters, perhaps on a napkin, and then wrote much of the rest of the books in cafes as a single mom herself nursing one cup of coffee for hours while her newborn slept in a stroller nearby. It seems that the scientific method of a hunch followed by trial and error plus determination works not only in the lab, but also while staring at a blank page.
On Rowling's website, she shared her struggles and advice, and she says it took her seven years to write and publish her first book because she was convinced it was rubbish. She continues, just giving the pep talk of the century, writing, fear of failure is the saddest reason on earth not to do what you were meant to do ultimately. Wouldn't you rather be the person who actually finished the project you're dreaming about, rather than the one who talks about
always having want to do ultimately? In writing, as in life, your job is to do the best you can, improving your own inherently dimitations where possible, learning as much as you can, and accepting that perfect works of art are only slightly less rare than perfect human beings. Pop quiz how much did I cry while working on this episode? So inspired by her? If you guessed a truly embarrassing amount, and thank god you are alone, hive points to your
house as long as we're getting mushy. Each week we donate to a cause of the ologists choosing, and this week Rebecca chose PBS dot org. And PBS provides content and experiences that inspire, inform, and entertain over the air, online, in the community, and in the classroom. Nearly fifty percent of their funding comes from individual donors and viewers, So a donation went to PBS dot org in Rebecca's name.
That donation is made possible by having sponsors. And here are a few words about them before we talk about spells and technology.
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All right, let's get back into it.
And now what about spells and technology?
Yes, spells and technology. Even though I end up not picking all the spells that are the most you know, commonly used, but I picked the ones in which I can talk a lot about the science. Yeah, give me some of them, for example, like impervious. Impervious is a spell that that is used to make sure that you
know substances such as water will not affect it. Of course, it was used very much when Harry was playing a quidditch game, So impervious basically making sure that my glasses will stay perfectly fine in the rain, just like Harry's glasses when he was playing quidditch in the third year right Prisoners of Azkebaon he was playing in the storm.
Right, okay, side note, if you haven't seen or read it, Harry is being pummeled by rain. It looks like CNN hurricane coverage, just lightning chased by ghostly dark dementors in the sky. I do not know what kind of liability insurance Hogwarts has, but it cannot be cheap.
So what do we have? Is that impervious actually used on other occasions as well in the book, But I think the most famous example that people relate to is the one I talk about Harry's glasses. You know that hermionees. Basically, it's always the smartest ones, like impervious. You know, Okay, your glasses are fine, go window quidditch match, Okay, don't complaint, stop it?
Okay, So how do you get your glasses from fogging up?
For me?
Exactly? That's what I'm gonna say. Rainax, right, if you think rainex or any or aquapell I would not recommend that for glasses, but Rainax is very good for your car right for the car windows, the windshield, and same with aquapel. It's basically they have these polycylock sayings have functional groups that end in buying to the OAG group on the glass surface and therefore making it the service chemistry that you basically making it difficult for polar solvents such as rain water to wet the.
So products like rain x have compounds called polysyloxanates that have functional groups that bind the glass surface and that changes the surface chemistry making it harder for solvents like water to wet the surface. And aquapel is another product that has fluorinated compounds and that binds the glass surface. So windshield wizardry with magic for muggles. Now another way
the impervious spell could work via chemistry. Rebecca says to turn your eye or rather your SEM scanning electron microscope toward lotus leaves.
The lotus effect is that if you think about looking at a lotus leaf up close, it's beautiful and green, you can, but if you look at it under an SEM and like you see, you will see that they have these lone tufts. Tufts are sticking out, so it's actually not flat. It basically have these little tough sticking out.
And that's one of the reasons why you never really look at to see lotus leave being super dirty because of using this nanostructuring, having this nanostructuring effect that enables the water to just like roll off and taking the dirt, the dirt, the soil particles and whatnot with it, so you can see the rain the water and then just go away, right if you think about that, And that's due to the nanostructuring the unique surface of that lotus leaf. So from afar we cannot see that. But people now
that's research, right, you know. The fact is that people first of all have to build powerful microscope to be able to see it. If not, you wouldn't know, right. So by seeing that, they're like, wow, okay, why how does that happen? Having these small little nanostructures, these little tough sticking out. How could this be a self cleaning technology? You know? So once people figure out, you know, the science behind that, they use it to do a lot
of things. I think they have a paint called Lotus son. We actually got some sample in the lab that they gave it for free because I mentioned about that I'm using this for outreach and for education. And you can pain the wall and then when it drives, it will have these little spikes nano features or micro features sticking out, so that if you paint the wall and then the rain, which is so that dirt and all these things will not stick, especially if for the outside of the house
is very important. Right, So again you can think about it's paint that's derived from information people obtain when they study lotus leef.
When water drops on these ultra hydrophobic lotus leaves, these are nalumbo plants, lotus plants, it beads up and it looks kind of like a ball is just sitting on the surface. And it turns out that the more boingy and ball like the water droplet looks is an indicator of how hydrophobic the surface is. So imagine the difference between a bowl overturned on a countertop versus a partly deflated basketball on the countertop versus a pretty much fully
inflated basketball. So the angle of contact between the droplet and the surface even has different names. Wenzel is the kind of flated ball shape, and Cassie Baxter is the rounder droplet. So does anyone need a pen name for a fantasy or sci fi novel you're newly inspired to write?
May I suggest Cassie Baxter? Okay. Side note that lotus technology exists in hydrophobic shirts, which is perfect if you're a proud slob who can't do an impervious spell, or if you just want to google hydrophobic shirts and watch people intentionally spilling barbecue sauce on themselves then marveling in wonder.
Rebecca explains, And they also have a nonostructure shirt as well. We actually have a shirt that is it's in the lab. If you spray water on it or your coffee, it just strips, It will completely not absorb. It's again because of the texture of that shirt. How they actually make that fabric is using utilizing the lotus effect.
As well, And so that's like impervious.
It's impervious absolutely, and that's how look at it actually not impervious because they have a few spells such as you know, scourgefy and Turgio. It's also about self cleaning how to In Harry's world, they have that when things get dirty I've always wanted to use. But you can see we also have self cleaning technology right there, right then, So which one is actually better? I have to say?
I think ours is actually high up there? You know, hey, this is not bad, right A paresium versus al sodium hydroxide.
Yeah, oh, that's amazing.
So that's one of the spells that I covered quite a bit.
Aposium by the bye would be the incantation behind that invisible ink from earlier, and that can be used to reveal invisible writing or invisible illustrations. Hermione attempted this charm again on Tom Riddle's diary, to no avail, as there was nothing written in it. Also, Rebecca is the best. She gave me the pen with the invisible ink and the base to revive it, and I kept it as a keepsake in my purse all through my road trip journey.
Weeks later, I was home taking measurements for a new refrigerator. They took the note with me to the appliance store and the paper was blank. So muggle trubs. Now what other spells does Rebecca cast through chemistry?
I have the congentivitius curse. It's basically a curse that caused great pain to the victim's eyes. So that was used by Victor Crumb during the Goblet of Fire tribeizard tournament. He used this curse to affect the dragon's eyes. It was also mentioned in other books as well. But what we have is, of course pepper spray cap sasan, only
old cap Sasan exactly. So I spent time talking about, Yeah, they have the congentivitius curse to affect people's eyes, and we have one that's even better cover your nose and mouth as well. Actually it's a milkus membrane. So it's basically it's cap Sasan. It's cap Sasan is from you know, it's a compound from chili straight. And when you basically all the pepper spray got different concentration of cups Cap saysan. Some could be pretty high. Most will have around two
to ten percent of oleo cap saysin. But doesn't mean the higher the merrier. Actually you want it, you know, you want the fluid to be really light so that it could penetrate the membranes on your nose and eyes quicker. At the end, this is a defense and perhaps offense. You want it to act work very fast. Okay, you could just even if you have to, like I'm sure
Victor rum will try on that dragon. You really would like that to be fast, seriously, Okay, So we talked about the ingredients which is called oc or oleo resin cap sayism. You could see that actually when you if you have one, I have quite a few. I don't have one with me, but I have pepper spray and actually different you know, different concentration of that as well, and you could see that. And I just basically spend time describing what's cap saysin and how people actually have
done a lot of work to even isolate it. I mean, I'm sure at the start of the human time when we know how to eat some sort of a hell opinion or that you realize, wow, this thing is spicy. Wow, this thing is spishy, and you know, it takes a lot more science and chemistry and to work up to actually figure out what's the compound isolate a compound that it's a molecule that is responsible for this for this feeling. Right, So actually gone through a lot related to analytical chemistry.
I'm in electual chemis but I'm also an analytical chemist because I like to analyze what's in you know, food or different type of complex samples. I want to know what's in there.
PS.
If you have not ever scorched your own eyes or mouth on a hot pepper, you may not know that scoval units measure hotness, with a bell pepper being a zero jalapino going up to thirty five hundred scovo units. Habernarow, which has reduced me to tears, ranks on average a quarter million scoval units. So what is the wizardy Dragon's
Breath pepper? Rated at two point five million scoval units, nearly doubling the sculls of former record holder pucker Butt Farms Carolina Reaper pepper, which itself has sent people to the hospital.
So Dragon's bread peppers must.
Be the muggles answer to the conjunctivitis curse. Yes, not so fast. Pucker Butt Farms takes the lead again with owners Smoke and ed Curry, cultivating a new not even commercially available pepper X that hits the three million mark, surpassing Dragon's Breath. PS. Why does cap sayson hurt so much? Oh, it triggers the same pain receptors that think you're literally burning alive, which is why you start sweating. Also, you release endorphins and dopamine. So in lieu of a spell
that keeps you chipper, just pack hot sauce in your bag. Now, how do they know how hot is hot? Aska chemist?
So they compare to you know, ghoes pepper, hobinaros and knows starviion peppers and all sorts strike. So you can see that's actually in order to obtain those information, they actually have to analyze, mostly using chromatography, to be able
to separate and then quantify. When they make a mixture of this chili pepper, they have to first of all, digests the sample and then they have to clean it up and then inject it into an instrument and then look at separating these different species because the fact is the sample food samples are very complex, right, you got tons of things in that, or you can do that for the buffalo wowings.
And that's all analytical guys.
Yes, absolutely, And actually I would like to mention that I think two years ago or maybe even more that because I teach the class called you know, analytical chemistry basically the instrumental analysis class. Two years ago or so. One student actually studied the amount of capsaicin in different types of chilis. And he likes chili himself, like eating,
he eats spicy food. And also he grew this chili, and he wanted to study when the chili pepper that's from home, when he processes differently dried in the oven versus other methods, will it change the amount of capsaican in it? And also of his grown different environment, like different type of soil, will it affect the same chili plant? Will it affect the fruits which is this chili? Purpose the amount of capsaican in there? So it's actually really fun.
It's one of the students in my class who did a project like that.
Rebecca kind of hooks people into chemistry by letting them study things that they already love. And in her analytical chem class, one student is analyzing what makes Chanelle number five perfume smell like Chanel number five perfume and why imitations are a little off the nose nose but the analysis shows I suppose.
So that's why analytical chemistry and analytical science is very important, and that's why this class that I'm currently teaching the students get to spend half of their semester analyzing things that they're interested in, whether it's about you know, perfumes, real versus imitation. So it's really fun, especially when you have thirteen, twelve students, etc. And each one come up with something that's drastically different.
Another student is testing a different olive oil to see if the amount of antioxidant polyphenales correspond to better taste, although they're not allowed to lick anything inside the lab itself. Now, if this episode has taught you anything, don't drink a
beaker full of apparel for so many reasons. Speaking of feeding, one thing about the Harry Potter series I find challenging is that I end up slowly reading the feast scenes and even though I don't even know what treacle is, I'm starving and I'm taking a break to go stir putting mix with a splash of coffee creamer and toss in some corn pops. I am a kitchen dragon and my fuel is carbs.
Now.
Rebecca said that one aspect of the course is, of course, food science, starting with none other than the kaleidoscope flavors in a bag of jelly beans.
Yes, we actually have that. I talked about the process of how jelly beans are actually made. I talked about the process of not only that, is that in food science, one to one may not be may not equals to two. So if you mix a few flavors together, you will completely actually taste a different flavor. And the jelly Bellies people they know that. They absolutely know that. I think it's everything is top secret, very proprietary. It's because they
did a lot of work. For example, I looked up their process when I talked about jelly beans for my food chemistry lecture. They really they analyze, like for example, making the pomegranate jelly bean, they really analyze the juice from the real pomegranate and they use they use, you know, separations. They use separation techniques such as chromatography. They use mass back to analyze what's in there, and they want to
know what's the concentration. Each of these compounds is called the components of this pomegranate juice and sea can they recreate that in the lab into this jelly bean. So you can see the scientific process to make a flavor that is so close to the real thing. It's a lot of work.
Okay, side note, I fell into a deep badger hole and I think this would be odo laryngology. But I believe a man by the name of Ambrose Lee heads up jelly belly flavor science. Boy, howdy would I like to ask that smart person stupid disgusting questions. Meanwhile, Rebecca explains.
Basically, as they design new flavors, they will have the people actually, you know, hold maybe have a bite of the real thing and then taste that bean and then got to be the same. So they actually have gone through very you know, I think is really rigorous process in terms of for food science. It's amazing, I think, to really understand what's in there so as to recreate it.
Jelly bean charged okay here, but you can see they actually encourage you to eat a chocolate and then I think, yeah, and then something like that a strawberry and a blueberry and becomes a thing else. And then if you want a honey Dell melon, you go with a cantalop and green apple.
I can eat a whole banana split if you do exactly, if you.
Do it right, you see, And that's why they themselves. I think it's really amazing. I mean I could see why people think jelly bellies are not the cheapest jelly beans you could find around. But yet if you think about the kind of processing, you know, these people, the creativity that they be put in is very amazing, and I think I could see creativity, I could see amazing science in anything. I really can see that. I think
that's how why people think. How I can correlate just some sci fi books of Harry Potter or some books to science, it's because you can see that just in terms of you look at how much food chemistry and food science got into how people think about each type of combination, and each of them takes a lot of time to actually develop that bean, this bean and then try out under what conditions you can how humans perception of tastes. Yeah, you know works, It's amazing. Okay, chew
on this. Some people have more taste buds than others. But each taste bud has receptors for salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. So that notion that only certain parts of your tongue can taste things that is flint flam friends, that was very harmony of me.
I'm sorry.
And so what do you do in the class.
I have small old bags each one, have them to ask them basically to identify without looking at the chart. Can they even say that this is doctor Pepper, this is island punch. Because if they could, then they have done a great job. Then jelly Belly has done a great job, right, because that's the ultimate goal, right, you know, is to be able to eat that and realize that,
oh that's peach, that's not a mangle. It was quite fun in terms of but more so really want you want them to understand that getting something from an idea to a product, it takes a lot of work and a lot of times it will take will go through you know, a lot of you know steps to get to the right get to the what they want finally,
and a lot of science is involved. Actually I want to say it's simple jelly beans, but think about the time that people go into analyzing those spectra, whether it's the mass BAC or the HBLC, the chrome talk chromatograms. They really have to put effort into, you know, analyzing that so as to be able to get the product that is so well received. Even though I really dislike some of those flavors, those so had no I think one of my students gave that to me last Christmas
or something. Little, you know, some of them, I just I think I'm okay with the soap. I don't know how much I like the vomit. It's pretty bad that one earthworm is very okay. Pepper is actually I like pepper is actually perfectly fine. I could be tons of those, but some of them vomit was that those two I just I left. I left that at the bottom, and I just I think I chucked it.
So non wizards, you'll have to learn yourself some mass spectrometry that measures the mass to charge ratio of ions, or APLC high performance liquid chromatography if you don't have a magic wand handy oh, which left me wondering where does the wand would come in chemistry?
Wide two lots actually, because you think about the wand would okay, do you want to guess what this? This is? Of course not would, but uh but har is Harry's wand. Harry's wand is made from Hollywood, really holly, holly, holly plant, Hollywood, the elder wand and different type of elder trees. And we also ended up talking about different types like willow because willow is also wand wood. I believe that is
Harry Potter's mother Lily's wand is made from willow. And then there's other wands such as Lord Voldemort himself's original wand not the elder one. It's from yew trees, and you there's a lot of fooklaws related to it. But people also study these unique type of plants and be able to find, you know, again go through the analytical process to obtained chemicals that it could eventually be usedul
of finding cancers or all the others. A lot of times there's a lot of researchers actually doing a lot of research with different types of plants is to try to look at you know, plant derive, you know, anti cancer drugs or at least trying to understand that right. Very simple things such as you know, methysalusylate or salslic acid. You think about, you know, willow bar people use ma teas out of willow bark back in the days without knowing salsic acid type of compounds that.
Isn't the specific youw tree is used in breast cancer research. But that's a Voldemort would yes, voltimort a blond cure's cancer and my mind's blown. Right now, how do you how do you explain that.
It's because it's related to death and things like that. Yous are usually planted in the mythology. You trees are related to death and they plant it usually in cemeteries.
Wow. Yeah, that's amazing.
Cases of you buried with the body can protect the soul on this to the other world. So there's a lot of you know, mythology that you know Jqrowling, you know, she's clearly expert and incorporates that in her books.
So, oh my god.
That is So that's more divination, those more like you know, the myths and rituals, and of course this is what you're talking about. Yeah, it's taxo exactly, exactly pactly taxel. So there are poisonous but of course, but we can get something out of it, you know, not all poisons, I mean poisons a lot of things. Is that you look at it being poisonous. It's also those response, right,
it depends on how much you use. Basically, therapeutic windows very very small, so therefore you have to be very careful if you So therefore it is not telling people, oh, let's get some you bargain and chew on it. No, that's not a good idea. Everything has to be well controlled.
And but again but nonetheless, if you look at you know, how many people are trying to really study what's nature, what nature is offering, and then see what one could use to improve human life, whether it's about you know, for cancer as cancer drugs or not. So it's kind of neat, you see, that's one of the main part because taxil.
Everyone knows that exactly.
Oh, that's so fascinating.
For more on how the specific you treats cancer specifically, it's discovery in breast cancer therapies see last October Surgical Oncology episode. I promise it'll leave you hopeful, will you cry?
Maybe?
Will it be worth it? Definitely?
Okay, back to one.
So these are the one would that one was elder one, the holly, elm ye, vine, hawthorn, willow, walnut, and of course the course these other things that we don't have, but at least we can talk about the different one would. So it's all related to the Celtic three calendars as well. Basically, Harry's wand is because he was born July thirty first
and actually met just the holly Wow. And then Hermione was born between September two and September twenty ninth, and she has vinewood, so you can see these other things a JQ. Rowling, it's not random how she chose what type of wands that what would she chose for the trio main characters?
So would you be Birch Becazera Capricorn.
Yes, that is correct, She's all right. I don't know. Actually, willows also nice, and so I talk about you see, the holly tree name comes from holy. It repels evil, while you, which can achieve astonishing longevity, can symbolize both death and resurrection. The sap is also poisonous. And that's actually a quote from JK. Rowling when people ask why she ended up choosing you for Voldemort and Holly for Harry because the word comes from holy.
Okay, real quick, I was reading about how Professor Dumbledore had an elderwood wand and McGonagall had fur wand Hermione had vine wood, and I, a grown woman who hasn't even finished all the books, was like, oh, I need a wand I need to carry a polished foot long piece of wood in my purse at all times. This is the new me. Also, if you're curious about types of wood and haven't listened to the dendrology episode, I
honestly feel bad for you. That ologist is amazing, So listen to that while you kill time waiting for the second part of this Potterroalogy episode to come out next week. Yes, okay, tree chemistry, And so when you're teaching this in your lectures, is there any kind of chemistry that goes into analyzing what a wood is?
Oh? Yeah, I actually in terms of like rings, the growth and on the other I want it to you, but I want to focus more on the chemistry. Yeah, it's cool, but you see that leads to you. One thing is that this class, when I first started it,
I know we're going like not very heleniar here. That actually I was hoping that eventually there will be other professors in the school would be interested in a Muggle's Guide to Harry Potter's plantss, A muggles Guide to Harry Potter's linguistic because all the spells, many of them are Latin based. And then you can also have a Muggle's Guide to Harry Potter's a biology or zoology because you have all these fantastic bees, right, So I'll do the
chemistry portion and have other people do that. It would be wonderful if it's within the university. But of course everyone's busiest. You can see, it's quite a bit of work to get to research. You have to research both the science part and the non science part right to get people to be to correlate the two things straight.
So that was actually what I was always what I hope that it would be great to have this type of synergy, to have Nebraska you and l be Harry Potter related educational courses, you know, and things like that. Because it's a I cannot do all of them. I mean, I've been talking a bit about fantastic bees, looking at be able to talk about biology and things like that. But linguistic I can do that. I don't think I'm expert in plants either. You see, there are no plants here because I kill them all.
You've got a leaf over there not alive.
I'm only That's why I only have plastic stuff, okay, because the real ones are long gone.
Can I ask you some questions from listeners? But before we ask this smart person, you're smart and maybe hopefully at least a few blissfully stupid questions. You're just gonna have to wait a week. I'm sorry. Yes, this chat was so long I had to divide it into Meanwhile, you can listen to the Andrology or Surgical Oncology or Pharaoh Equnology episodes, or you can spend the time reading all the Harry Potter books, or watch all the movies,
or start your own novel. Next Tuesday, we'll learn more about her courses and we will fueld your questions to doctor Lie Now. You can also spend the week saying hi on Twitter or Instagram. We're at ologies on both, and I'm also on both at Ali ward Ali with one L and stickers and shirts, even some back to school inspired merch and backpacks are at ologiesmerch dot com. Thank you to Shannon Filters and Bondi Dutch for that. They are also hosts of the comedy podcast You Are That,
which is wonderful. Thank you to Hannah Liippo and Aaron Talbert for admitting the Facebook group which is full of wonderfuls. Hello to all the sub editors out there. To assistant editor Jarrett Sleeper of the podcast My Good Bad Brain, and he whose name shall be spoken Steve Ray Morris, who also hosts the percast and see Jurassic Right. Thank you for editing all these clips together. All Harry Potter films are Warner Brothers, so do go treat yourself to
those films. Bingjamal at once, tell your boss you ate bad shrimp, You're out for the week. Also, the theme music for this podcast was written and performed by Nick Thorburn of the band Islands, which is a very good band. So if you stick around till the end of the episode, I tell you a secret. And this week's secret is that I still have not bought out garbage can.
And also every time.
I walk in a bookstore or a library, I get so excited I immediately have to be okay.
Next week potter Ology Part two out by by.
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