And then I got excited about complex organic molecules

Thanks @craigofwaffles.bsky.social for having me on the pod to talk about molecule earrings, pyridine abuse, and the benefits of having people out there who are really, really obsessed with specific elements!

Thanks so much to @bribarbu.bsky.social and @cenmag.bsky.social for highlighting our recent work! 😊 @tkschramm.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social

Ever since I read Tim Cernak's "Medicinal Chemistry Gone Wild" Perspective, I knew I wanted to profile him for a @cenmag.bsky.social story! Many months later, here is that story: cen.acs.org/synthesis/me...

And the Ig Nobel in Physics goes to this delicious work (which I wrote about back in February) unlocking the secret to making clump-free cacio e pepe! cen.acs.org/food/food-sc...

Probably worth me directing people to Max's story from back in May, again. 🧪 cen.acs.org/biological-c...

I ended up writing a short explainer about TPO and why people shouldn't be freaking out about it: cen.acs.org/safety/consu...

It so was hard to imagine having successful career in science as a disabled PhD student that eventually I just left. Who could have guessed that years later I would help create a magazine issue dedicated to highlighting Trailblazing disabled chemists! cen.acs.org/people/profi... #DisabledInSTEM

The EU recently banned TPO, often used in gel nail polish as a photoinitiator to kick off the curing process, because of reproductive toxicity. Read more about the chemistry of gel polish and its main safety concerns (hint: not TPO) in my story from 2 years ago: cen.acs.org/business/con...

"Even without outright misconduct, structural incentives in academia often reward behavior that undermines students. Faculty careers advance on the basis of publications, grant funding, and prestige...even well-intentioned advisers can fall into this trap" ~Emily Mane

Behind every bond is a brilliant mind. Organic chemists make the molecules, but they also make the difference. Share your journey, research, its importance to society and your thoughts on how we can expand the reach of organic chemistry. Help us #AmplifyOrganic

So great to catch up with my dear @cenmag.bsky.social friends, and meeting some for the first time 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 @bribarbu.bsky.social @laurahowes.bsky.social @ginacvitale.bsky.social @cdellamore.bsky.social #ACSFall2025

If you like this carbon allotrope, you’d better put a ring on it (or three)💍 cen.acs.org/physical-che...

if you're in DC, come hang out with me this evening! I (well, DCSWA) will pay for your ice cream!

Looking for some #Fridayfun? Check out @bribarbu.bsky.social's latest #Newscripts column on adventures in #alchemy. cen.acs.org/education/sc...

My latest @cenmag.bsky.social newscripts column is inspired by my friends: Veronica and Allison, whose love for a touchscreen game at a museum inspired this whole column, and Jaclyn, the reason I can't mention the LHC without also mentioning the 2016 weasel incident cen.acs.org/education/sc...

"How shall we test out our new waterproof glue?" "Oh, I don't know, how about we glue a rubber ducky to a rock right next to the ocean?" "Great idea! And we can take really dramatic photos of the duck getting hit by waves! The press will eat that sh*t up!" cen.acs.org/materials/bi...

From now on you may address me as "lady wizard" please and thank you

Turning old plastic into new plastic is really, really hard. Products made with dyes, flame retardants and other toxic chemicals create a health hazard when heated for recycling, severely limiting the products you can make from recycled plastic. (Published Aug. 2024)

Why Dungeons and Dragons Is Good for Your Brain www.scientificamerican.com/video/why-du...

na na na na na na na na na, bat labs cen.acs.org/biological-c...

@cenmag.bsky.social's website got a makeover! 💅💄✂️ Check out the fresh new look of cen.acs.org, now with 200% more hexagons!

I’ll be there! (because I planned it!) please come hang out!

Tax records from eighth-century city of Nara indicate that various foodstuffs such as mandarin oranges, seaweed, and sauce made from a Pacific fish called bonito were used as tax payments. cen.acs.org/analytical-c... #chemsky 🧪

Although molecular machines garnered a Nobel Prize in 2016, ones that operate autonomously on chemical fuels are still rare. Researchers at the University of Bristol unveiled a new one this week--read about it here and watch an animation in my latest @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/materials/mo...

"OK, but what about absolute stereochemistry? I just realized that’s a thing." "Everyone knows ochemists are Sith lords, so that tracks"

By putting a carbon atom in place of a core oxygen, chemists constructed an opioid that blocks pain with less respiratory depression in mice. cen.acs.org/synthesis/me... #chemsky 🧪

I have one last thing to drop before i sign off for the weekend: A lil story about @sarponggroup.bsky.social's synthesis of morphine--but with a little core-atom switcheroo 🔄 that had a big impact on its pharmacology! cen.acs.org/synthesis/me...

"There are countless fascinating stories out there about molecules and the people who make and study them. And what better way to communicate why something matters than by telling a good story?" writes @bribarbu.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/acs-news/mee... #chemsky 🧪

After several weeks of nothing new out with my byline, y'all are going to get, like, 3.5 new stories from me in two days.

My latest feature for @cenmag.bsky.social is about organic chemists' continuing quest for ultimate control over molecular structures! 🛠️⚗️🔄💊 That's right...it's... the rise of the atom-swappers! cen.acs.org/synthesis/Sk...

It's hard to capture the National Organic Symposium in words. But @cenmag.bsky.social made my try, because it was the conference's 100th birthday ( it doesn't look a day over 49) and also it's my job to capture things in words which is why they paid for me to be there: cen.acs.org/acs-news/mee...

In the joke lies the kernel of truth that makes the headline good

I've been in this tiny box for about an hour and I'm obviously going insane

From @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social: 36 chem department chairs have published an open letter calling out recent federal policy decisions impacting science. cen.acs.org/policy/resea... #ChemSky @cenmag.bsky.social

Last Friday, the NSF unexpectedly expanded their list of graduate research fellows from 1000 to 1500 people. I spoke to a few of the newly named fellows about what it means to them to be offered this funding: cen.acs.org/policy/resea...

4) Even if nothing immediate comes from a research project, that project still employed people who spent money in their local economy, which is often in a poor rural area. And that project still trained future scientists who can work on other things in the future.

Mostly it's just the molecules and me

I recently visited a friend in TX whose slow-charging electric car seriously limited our range of exploration (especially given the sprawl down there). So it was cool to read @samlemonick.bsky.social's story about how scientists are trying to solve charging woes! cen.acs.org/materials/el...

Am I still a scientist, or just a science adjacent punk, she ponders...

Writing about organic chemsitry has gotten a lot more whimsical since I realized that named reactions are essentially the same as wizard spells like Tasha's Hideous Laughter in D&D. "I cast Suzuki's Cross-Coupling!" See?

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you don't know about. Unless they're fighting a horse-sized duck. Then you probably know.

DCSWA 🦆 Members: Join us on June 26 at Sonny's Pizza. There will be dairy free and gluten free options for those with dietary restrictions. No registration required. 📍Sonny’s Pizza is a few blocks from the Columbia Heights metro station. Address: 3120 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20010.

A couple of us on the science reporting team decided to start skeeting out some of the weird things our coworkers say on Slack!

Nominate a chemist with disabilities for C&EN's Trailblazers 2025 This year, the issue will profile the lives and work of groundbreaking chemists with disabilities and highlight how they make their labs or their work more accessible to them: forms.office.com/Pages/Respon... #chemsky🧪

@cenmag.bsky.social's annual Talented 12 package, featuring profiles of a dozen inspiring early-career scientists, is here!!!! This was my second year writing a T12 profile, and the first time I helped vet candidates and pitch who I thought should be in the final dozen. cen.acs.org/people/profi...

Hello #ChemSky friends--I'll be at NOS this year repping @cenmag.bsky.social! If you're gonna be there too and want to meet up, drop me a line!

Sequence-defined polymers that can "talk" directly to electronics could be the future of data storage. (This is not quite that. But it's a step towards that vision.)

can anyone tell me definitively if the personalized-CRISPR-therapy kid is a redhead? cen.acs.org/biological-c...