Learn about why peanut butter gets gum out of hair; why world-renowned climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe is so passionate about climate justice; and how gaslighting makes you question your sanity — along with some tips on how to protect yourself.
Learn about why peanut butter gets gum out of hair; why world-renowned climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe is so passionate about climate justice; and how gaslighting makes you question your sanity — along with some tips on how to protect yourself.
Why does peanut butter get gum out of hair? by Andrea Michelson
Additional resources from Katharine Hayhoe:
How Gaslighting Makes You Question Your Sanity by Ashley Hamer
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/climate-justice-101-w-katharine-hayhoe-why-peanut-butter-gets-gum-out-of-hair-and-how-gaslighting-makes-you-question-your-sanity
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why peanut butter gets gum out of hair; why world-renowned climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe is so passionate about climate justice; and how gaslighting makes you question your sanity — along with some tips on how to protect yourself.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Getting gum stuck in your hair can feel like a disaster — no amount of soap or shampoo will get it out. But there is a weird fix for this situation: peanut butter. It’ll dissolve a wad of gum in a matter of minutes. But why does PB work while soap and water are useless?
Well, both gum and peanut butter are hydrophobic, which literally means “afraid of water.” Because they’re both hydrophobic, peanut butter can dissolve gum and vice versa. Hydrophobic molecules are also called nonpolar — that is, they contain atoms with similar charges, so they aren’t drawn toward any particular direction. But H2O is a polar molecule because hydrogen has a slightly positive charge and oxygen has a slightly negative charge.
This is a great example of a basic rule of chemistry you may have heard before, known as “like dissolves like.” Put simply, this rule means that almost always, polar solutes can dissolve in polar solvents, and non-polar solutes can dissolve in non-polar solvents.
When nonpolar — or, hydrophobic — molecules are exposed to water, they stick together and form a membrane that prevents water from dissolving them. That’s why gum doesn’t dissolve in your saliva and why water is completely useless for getting gum out of your hair. It also explains why oil doesn’t mix with water, and interestingly enough, why you can’t get gum stuck in your hair if it’s already wet.
So if you’re unlucky enough to get gum stuck in your dry hair, the only way to dissolve it is with another hydrophobic material like mayonnaise, salad dressing, or, yes, peanut butter. The fats and oils in peanut butter are extremely hydrophobic. When you rub peanut butter into a wad of gum, the molecules that make up the gum base will stick to those fat molecules rather than your hair. Eventually, you’ll be able to smoothly remove the gum in big ol’ chunks. Just remember to wash your hair afterward.
CODY: A lot of people are passionate about slowing down climate change, and for a lot of different reasons. Today we want to zero in on one reason that you may not think about a whole lot, depending on your circumstances and where you live in the world. And like we mentioned last week, it happens to be a big reason why both today’s guest and one Ashley Hamer care so much about it. Katharine Hayhoe is a professor of political science and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. Last year she was named a United Nations Champion of the Earth, and her research has impacted climate policy at a federal and local level around the world. With that kind of resume, we had to ask her where her passion came from. What is it that got her so interested in her field of study?
[CLIP 2:54]
ASHLEY: By the way, that phrase Katharine used, “threat multiplier,” was actually coined by the US military. She told us the military is concerned about conflict over resource scarcity and shortages — which are caused by climate change. For example, climate change leads us to lose average of $5 billion a year on crops. And there’s the fact that rising sea levels could displace millions of people over the next century — and they’re gonna need a place to go. Like we said: climate change isn’t just an environmental issue. But like she told us last week: it’s not too late. If we stay positive and do what we can to help, then maybe we can save our planet. You can find links to more great ideas from Katharine Hayhoe, including her TED Talk, in today’s show notes.
We've all had disagreements with friends about whether something happened — you know, like, “you didn’t tell that joke, I told that joke!” But they're pretty rare and mostly friendly. But when a person tries to gain control over someone else by making them repeatedly question their sanity, that’s called gaslighting. It’s a type of manipulation that hard to overcome — but there are a few ways to protect yourself from it.
The term comes from a popular film from 1944 called "Gaslight.” A beautiful socialite, Paula, marries a charming musician, Gregory, and moves into her deceased aunt's mansion. Paula starts seeing lights flicker and objects go missing, and Gregory convinces her she's imagining things. In the end — spoiler alert! — you find out that Gregory actually murdered the aunt and he’s manipulating Paula to steal her deceased aunt’s jewels.
Like the villain of the film, gaslighters will create so much doubt in their victims' minds that they have no choice but to trust the gaslighter. These manipulators will often lie with such conviction that the victim questions their own perspective. Or they’ll turn accusations around in order to put the other person on the defensive. It’s like a cheater accusing their partner of cheating, or a parent telling a child an act of abuse never happened.
It often rears its head in family and romantic relationships, but can be just as destructive among friends and coworkers. And even the sharpest minds can fall prey to gaslighting. It often starts out as minor, barely noticeable events. You don’t even realize it’s happening. Without signs of obvious abuse, victims often end up second-guessing and blaming themselves.
So how can you avoid it? Well, the first step is knowing about what gaslighting is. And you do! Mission accomplished.
But it’s also important to maintain connections with people you trust. One tactic many gaslighters use to maintain control is separating their victim from their support network, often by causing conflict and spreading lies. But people on the outside are your best mode of defense. Take it from the movie: in the end, Paula figured out what Gregory was up to because a witness came forward to assure her she wasn't imagining things. Make sure you have a witness, too.
Let’s do a quick recap of what we learned today
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CODY: Today’s stories were written by Ashley Hamer and Andrea Michelson, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Scriptwriting was by Cody Gough and Sonja Hodgen. Curiosity Daily is produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!