Students from the Americas (North, Central, South or Caribbean) interested in doing a PhD in Organic Chemistry in the UK - get in touch with me about opportunities to join our research group at @bathchem.bsky.social via applications to the David Parkin Scholarship! www.bath.ac.uk/campaigns/fu...

Skye light

A week away from the autumn equinox and we're blessed with this... Layers of gold, a whisper of cool wind, moth wings and a soothing peace. I hope you can find solace wherever you are. Sunset views across the croft and sea to Skye.

I don’t really understand the FlashScore app’s commitment to being the last bastion of brilliantly terrible tabloid-style pun headlines… but why not.

Working on some academic writing about "bad shark movies," and feeling sad because the bubble may be about to burst. Sure, 2-headed, 3-headed, 5-headed, and 6-headed shark attack were classics. But where can they possibly go from here? 7-headed shark attack? No way, that's preposterous.

WTF? Really cool story.

Amazing!

Well I never... a rainbow appeared before sunrise, created just by the light of an orange and red glow in the east. There's a first time for everything. I've certainly never see such a thing before.

So the lectern photo is genuine - it was taken at St George's Day celebration earlier this year. This is what Starmer said standing there. Seems spot on to me. He should say it again.

Yeah yeah, crawling with tourists blah blah. But that's because it's just an incredible place....Magical photo!

I can

Labour's cowardice in the face of extremism iandunt.substack.com/p/labours-co...

Farage is content with allowing people to be murdered and tortured. I'm not on that side and never will be.

Extremely gratifying to see so many people replying with their own favourites, and even more so imagining the bewilderment of people who have never heard of The Far Side.

I agree with a lot in this article. The secret weapon is a referendum on European accession. This would be transformative. And Labour does sorely need a game-changer. A 🧵io

Graduate students! Lecture or poster at the 39th Annual RSC Heterocyclic and Synthesis Group Postgraduate Symposium? Thursday 18 Sept 2025 in Oxford 8 lectures by final-year postgraduate students Attendance is free (registration mandatory) www.rsc.org/events/detai... Please share

The High Court judgement regarding Palestine Action's proscription and the enforcement of the order today from is the most extreme application of terrorism legislation we've yet seen in this country. It's so extreme, in fact, that it's causing the law itself to become openly incoherent. Thread🧵🔽

I guess you've heard some bad jokes about Fibonacci sequences? Well, this one is as bad as the last two you heard put together.

The secret German weather station on the Arctic island of Svalbard. Part of the 'Weather War'. The team, led by Lieutenant Wilhelm Dege, were the last German troops to surrender in WW2, finally doing so FOUR MONTHS after Germany had officially surrendered. It was not for want of trying. /1

Still true: *Britain is a success story *Most of its cities are doing astonishingly well *Multiculturalism is popular *Mass immigration has not led to social disintegration *Nostalgia is increasingly weird *Britain is incredibly safe *Levels of social cohesion are high Don't let them gaslight you.

I have poked the @rsc.org on X/Twitter a bit over the years (sorry folks...), but huge kudos to them for leaving what has become even more of a toxic and hateful platform www.rsc.org/news-events/... 👏 #chemsky

Nothing bad happens if someone doesn't iron their clothes. It is a total eco-hostile waste of time and energy (both human and literal). There should be a worldwide campaign to outlaw it. People could opt to wear a little badge that shows "I'm creased because I care".

TIL: When the Original Star Wars Trilogy finally aired on Chilean TV in 2003, the network spliced custom beer commercials into the films themselves to avoid cutting to commercial breaks. these additional scenes turn Obi-Wan & Luke into raging space alcoholics who are constantly shotgunning booze.

This is definitely one of my favourite stiles anywhere! Always a spectacular place to visit....

Marking exam papers (2nd of 3 exams this year;) and listening to Hüsker Dü to keep up my momentum..... #Academia #Chemsky

Young man, there's no need to feel down, I said Young man, pick yourself off the ground, I said Young man, 'cause you're in a new town There's no need to be unhappy It's fun to shout at the

Our work on lactonase biocatalysts is finally out in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social. Congratulations to our team (Jingyue and Michele) @uclchemistry.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk and pur collaborators at CNR Milan and Zymvol. #biocatalysis #greenchemistry #sulfur onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

The quantity of UK goods exports is lower now than in 2016 or 2021. The UK is the only country in the G7 that has this record. #Brexit

Welcome to Brexitland, US, in which waywardness is described as "strategic uncertainty", restrictions on trade boost performance and self harm is lauded.... Spoiler, it does not end happily www.ft.com/content/342d...

🚨🚨 #brexit's disastrous impact on the #NHS led to 1485 extra deaths per year, according to a new academic study, particularly due to qualified EU nurses leaving and being replaced by more unskilled staff. #brexitshambles www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

"On the doorstep people don’t make a distinction between graduate visas & small boats" This is: a) objectively wrong (plenty of polling evidence) b) suggests utter contempt for electorate's thought processes c) is a dreadful way to make policy Otherwise fine www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

What is Britain's favourite swear word? F*ck: 24% C*nt: 11% Sh*t: 6% B*llocks: 6% B*gger: 3% Bl*ody: 2% Tw*t: 1% B*stard: 1% D*mn: 1% D*ckhead: 1% Feck: 1% yougov.co.uk/society/arti...

Almost every line of this story would have been simply unbelievable a few months ago: —Pioneering cancer researcher; —*Arrested* at airport in Boston; —Now indefinite ICE detention in Louisiana; —"Crime": not declaring some frog-embryo samples for research. Read it. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Happy Easter from Chemistry Cat 🧪

If Jesus had focused more on kitchen table issues and less on unpopular outcasts like lepers and prostitutes, he might have won more support from white working-class Judeans.

Applications for our MSc in #Sustainable #Chemistry are still open. See the link below to apply and join @uclchemistry.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk and study #greenchemistry #biocatalysis #biomass #vslorisation #biotechnology www.linkedin.com/posts/daniel...

Very much enjoyed the @rsc.org Fluorine Group Meeting yesterday and today. Many thanks to the organisers for the opportunity to present our new work in #fluorine chemistry, and great to hear about lots of fantastic work going on elsewhere.

Parliament, not the Supreme Court should have decided today. I've written about why that's so problematic and why I fear today's judgment will be used to further delegitimise trans people, even though that is not what the Court intends. goodallandgoodluck.substack.com/p/why-i-worr...

“No single decision is to blame” for UK universities' dire financial situations, writes @rostaylor.bsky.social. “But many trace [the crisis] back to a decision made by chancellor George Osborne in December 2013.” www.prospectmagazine...

It is easy - I know, I've done it - to be snarky about the world's, and in particular the UK's, response to Trump. But. in truth. it is difficult to know how to respond when an erstwhile friend is behaving, at best, oddly. There are, I'd venture, some lessons from... Brexit. 🧵 1/11

Quick reminder: Le Pen wasn't found guilty because the French courts hate democracy. She was found guilty because she broke the fucking law. open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

Not so early morning hound outing. Rays. Reflections. The sea.

Thinking about doing a masters degree in Chemistry? Applications are still open. Read more here: www.ucl.ac.uk/chemistry/st... #chemistry #postgraduate

Pink morning, Loch Clair #Scotland #Torridon #Highlands www.damianshields.com

What does the B stand for in Benoit B. Mandelbrot? Benoit B Mandelbrot.

Viennese whirl Custard cream Malted milk I am not taking questions.

Thanks to the more than *1100* members of the scientific community who have signed the letter to insist that the Royal Society remains true to values that we all hold dear but that Musk FRS has ridden roughshod over. Please keep signing & sharing. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

New post just out: "Technology vs Democracy" On the origins of Muskworld's ideology, which it's so much more dangerous than merely stupidity or corruption, and what might stop it. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...