Science Singles, what what.

I know this is late, but hey, it's been a bank holiday, and I've got a paper that needs writing.

This a top week for sciencey pop music. Behold:

Amylase by Cajun Dance Party


Science? This one is an absolute gift. Amylases are genuine enzymes (biological catalysts) with a genuinely important roles in physiology. No spurious links here, ho ho ho, no siree bob . The amylases (there are three different classes, alpha, beta and gamma) are enzymes that breakdown boring old starches into tasty, tasty glucose. You produce alpha amylase in your pancreas, to break down starches in your intestine, and in your saliva (see picture below) so you can start get the glucose form starch whilst you chew. Beta amylase is produced by plants, including ripening fruit, to break down their starches to sweet glucose. I'm not 100% sure what gamma amylase does. Something in the liver. Possibly to do with glycogen. Anybody?

Is is any good? La la la, jingle jangle, nice middle class boys and girls with messy hair, trendy jeans and guitars. So far so hip and down with the kids (gah, I'm getting old). "We need a catalyst" they sing. Ah, well, what catalyst would you like? Look, they are running through the country side. They must mean beta amylase, to ripen all that grain. "You're the catalyst that makes things faster, amylase will dry out the plaster". Huh? Amylase does what? How? Who? Where? Gah, I'm sure I'd know if this was balls if I'd just sat my GCSEs, as they have. Oh to be a teenager again. But not me when I was a teenager. Oh to be a popular, cool and attractive teenager.



Next are Múm and the improbably titles They Made Frogs Smoke Til The Exploded



Sceince? Obvioulsy Múm have been reading this research, "Adaptation of an amphibian mucociliary clearance model to evaluate early effects of tobacco smoke exposure" by Zyas et al, Respiratory Research 2004, 5:9, and then added they exploding bit to make it more exciting. Well done Múm for championing esoteric research articles that observe how bullfrog palates are affected by tobacco smoke.

Is is any good? Yes! Its like the happy dreams of a Texas Instruments Speak & Spell.