How do stickers stick?
1/27/202625 min
Stickers are everywhere. They label our groceries, cover our car bumpers, and decorate our notebooks. But how do they stick? We’ll zoom in on a sticker to see how a special glue helps a sticker cling to a surface. Plus, we’ll hear about stickers that can help people heal from surgeries. We’ll also find out what kind of stickers Bob collects, and guess a new Mystery Sound.
Guest: Phillip Messersmith, professor of material science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
Want to support Brains On and all of the shows in the Brains On Universe? Sign up for Smarty Pass. You'll get ad-free episodes of all our shows, bonus content, virtual hangouts, discounts on merch and more!
Click here for a transcript of this episode.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[upbeat music] Lemonada. [upbeat music] Brains On Universe.
Amira· Host0:10
You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.
Molly Bloom· Host0:15
[upbeat music] Sometimes they're faces.
Amira· Host0:18
Or flowers.
Molly Bloom· Host0:19
They can be unicorns.
Amira· Host0:21
Or price tags.
Molly Bloom· Host0:22
Some are sparkly.
Amira· Host0:24
Others glow in the dark.
Molly Bloom· Host0:26
Some of them even smell.
Amira· Host0:28
[sticker crinkling] Mm, this one's blueberry.
Molly Bloom· Host0:31
We're talking about stickers, and there's a million and one uses for them.
Amira· Host0:35
From labeling groceries and decorating water bottles- To wearable name tags, or even patching up holes inside our bodies!
Philip Messersmith· Guest0:42
So imagine a patch, and then the surgeon just presses it onto the tissue, and it sticks to the tissue. So it's kind of like an internal bandage.
Molly Bloom· Host0:52
That's sticker scientist Phil Messersmith. We'll hear more from him later. Plus, we'll tell you how stickers do the one thing they're most famous for: stick to stuff.
Amira· Host1:01
So tag along for this episode. Stick with us. Don't peel away too soon.
Molly Bloom· Host1:07
[upbeat music] Hey, Sanden, what you doing?
Sanden Totten· Panelist1:12
Gardening. You know I love it! The fresh air, [exhaling] the dirt between your fingers, [exhaling] the stimulating conversations with worms.
Mark Sanchez· Panelist1:21
Post-modernism is a deconstruction of the grand centralities sought out by previous generations.
Sanden Totten· Panelist1:26
Uh, you said it, Wormy. [laughing] Uh, but