New paper on arXiv arxiv.org/abs/2602.07183. We show that the aging of precipitate membranes and chemical gardens controls pattern formation by favoring growth at freshly formed regions. This time dependence follows stretched exponentials that transition to a scale-free power law.

great idea!

Marangoni convection meets chemical waves in the BZ reaction, where small pillars cause flower-like patterns. New paper from a collaboration with Azam Gholami, Detlef Lohse, and others. advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Today in our #RareDiseaseThursday spotlight: Argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency (ASSD), a urea cycle disorder caused by pathogenic variants in ASS1, impairing the conversion of citrulline+aspartate to argininosuccinate. This leads to long-term neurological damage.

Some thoughts on grading ... if you want to see how ThermoTutor is doing it, check out thermo-tutor.qwyzzee.com #HigherEd #Chemistry #STEM #college #thermodynamics #pchem

My photo is in Discover magazine! Looks great 😀

Congrats Wen! 🎉🎉➡️FSU chemist earns $2.1 million NIH grant to investigate molecular causes of disease: news.fsu.edu/news/science...

Over the past summer, I built an AI-powered learning platform for thermodynamics students. It’s called ThermoTutor. Here’s a short manifesto on what it does and why I think it’s useful: thermo-tutor.qwyzzee.com

Quick introduction to ThermoTutor. Get personalized thermodynamics tutoring with instant feedback and follow-up conversations. This 3-minute demo shows how ThermoTutor works, from problem selection to grading to asking follow-up questions. #chemistry #studyhelp #pchem

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) uniquely powers both the TCA cycle & electron transport chain. SDH mutations cause SDH deficiency, disrupting energy metabolism & leading to developmental delays. #RareDiseaseThursday

KARS1 encodes lysyl-tRNA synthetase. Biallelic KARS mutations cause KARS syndrome, a severe disorder that affects multiple organs, particularly the nervous system. #RareDiseaseThursday

Our new paper describes a synthetic "cell" that moves over superhydrophobic surfaces. It consists of an H2O2 drop and a chemical garden tube that spins like a propeller or orbits around a large internal O2 bubble; bursting causes repeating cm-scale motion. @softmatter.rsc.org doi.org/10.1039/D5SM...

The abstract submission deadline for our symposium is TODAY! Submit your abstract at sermacs-swrm2025.abstractcentral.com/submission before it’s too late; I hope to see you all in sunny Orlando this October!

Congratulations to Julia and Adwaith for completing the 2025 Young Scholar Program and research symposium. It was a joy having you both in lab and we are very proud of you!

List of so-called "chatGPT words". This is annoying ... do we look "suspicious" now if we write any those?! I have already cut back on the longer em dash -- 😠 www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/h...

Transaldolase deficiency is a rare metabolic disorder affecting the pentose phosphate pathway, leading to liver dysfunction, growth delays, and skin abnormalities. It’s caused by mutations in the TALDO1 gene. Early diagnosis is key to managing symptoms. #RareDiseaseThursday

The bony-eared assfish has the smallest known brain-body mass ratio of all vertebrates ... well, it has to be someone 😆 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%E...

Two salt stains formed when NaHCO3 (baking soda) drops 💧 evaporate. We used these amazing patterns to measure the hardness of tap water with 25 ppm accuracy. For details on this AI-powered photo 📷 method, see: doi.org/10.1021/acs....

Playing around with a modified Gray-Scott model. The unmodified version consists of two coupled nonlinear reaction-diffusion equations capturing U+2V -> 3V V -> P We are watching the time evolution of V(x,y).

🤔 What if classic probability puzzles could be encoded in chemistry? We mapped the Monty Hall problem into a deterministic chemical reaction network using mass-action kinetics. Curious? ... then check out our latest paper with @wenzhulab.bsky.social in @pccp.rsc.org doi.org/10.1039/D5CP...

We show that water hardness can be detected from simple photos using AI and large image libraries. As the limescale stains are faint, we amplify the effect of the Ca/Mg ions by reporter salts such as NaHCO3. Check out our paper in ES&T doi.org/10.1021/acs....

On #RareDiseaseThursday, learn about Ribose-phosphate isomerase deficiency: an ultra-rare autosomal recessive disorder causing leukoencephalopathy, developmental delays, and spinocerebellar atrophy. Fewer than 10 cases known; metabolic testing matters!

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase deficiency is a rare metabolic disorder characterized by impaired gluconeogenesis. Without this enzyme, the body can't maintain blood sugar, leading to hypoglycemia, lactic acidosis, and coma. #RareDiseaseThursday

Before and after. OpenAI just discovered chemistry ... pretty big step for integrating things

Exploring extreme conditions, former group member Pamela Knoll (now UK Centre for Astrobiology) is currently on a field trip to Iceland, collecting samples to understand what we can expect on other planetary bodies 🦠🌋🧫

Picture from my grad course last semester ... the Lorenz attractor. Every initial condition eventually ends up on this strangely beautiful object, following deterministic chaos.

This new paper studied whether multimodal GPT-4o can identify composition from salt stains left by drying solution drops. It got 57% correct; guessing gives 8%. Training images were provided. 1st author Deven Dangi was a high school intern at FSU! doi.org/10.1021/acso...

Playing with MATLAB’s SimBiology toolbox. The figure compares the smooth, mean‑field oscillations of the Brusselator (top panel) with the noisy, discrete‑molecule oscillations when only a handful of molecules are present (bottom). 2nd panel is from Wikipedia; A and B are in vast excess and constant

FSU campus this morning 🌞🌻

Wow! Adobe now gives helpful text hints about figures/images in pdf's 😮😁

I asked ChatGPT to make a four-panel cartoon illustrating the Langmuir isotherm. I can't wait to see how good this will be in a few years! #o4-mini-high #OpenAI #Chemistry #PChem

Happy Easter und frohe Ostern (with a yeast-based Cinnamon wreath, or "Zimtkranz" in German) 🐇🐰🐣

Amano shrimp vs spinach

Interesting interview with 't Hooft on quantum mechanics in Sci Amer. It starts a bit slow, but well worth the read. Among other things, he suggests that "superpositions of states are not real" www.scientificamerican.com/article/brea...

Our latest review on #TBCK and #TBCKSyndrome is out now in Frontiers in Biophysics!! We look into the multi-domain architecture of the protein and its cellular function, shedding light on how mutations can lead to neurological disorders. #Raredisease www.frontiersin.org/journals/bio...

Congratulations to Caitlin Padgett on receiving the Honorable Mention in the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program! We're incredibly proud of your hard work and achievements! 🥳🥳🥳

Read more: www.chemistryworld.com/news/robot-r...

A robotic drop imager can identify the chemical composition of salts from images of their dried deposits with almost 99% accuracy. How about you? Take a guess of what these salts could be, and then check below for the answer! www.chemistryworld.com/news/robot-r...

Just seen on Google Scholar: das "Innenrücktitelbild". What a wonderful German word for something unreal ... "inner back title picture" 😆

🖋️Hexosaminidase A deficiency leads to the devastating effects of Tay-Sachs disease, an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder. Understanding this enzyme is key to advancing diagnosis and treatment options.🧠 #TaySachsDisease #RareDiseaseThursday

Playing with the new image generation in OpenAI's GPT4o ... awesome how easy it is to integrate text now. These are one prompt creations. Prompt for image #4: "Create your own showstopper image with text. Something that really showcases your skills but is visually/artistically amazing"

Why is @acs.org putting www.crowdconnected.com tracking devices in our lanyards? #ACSFall2015

Wakulla Springs State Park 🐊🦆🐦🌴 about 20 minutes south of FSU ... alligators, manatees, and many incredible birds. The snake is a non-venomous Florida Banded Water Snake, in friendly coexistence with a bright green colleague. A beautiful sunny day at 75 F / 24 C 🌞

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

🧬 Meet SOD1, a crucial Cu/Zn metalloenzyme that protects cells from oxidative stress. Mutations in SOD1 are linked to a rare form of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, leading to motor neuron degeneration & paralysis. 🧠⚡ #RareDiseaseThursday #SOD1

A new machine learning tool developed at Florida State University can identify chemical compositions from images with 99% accuracy, potentially revolutionizing chemical analysis in various fields. doi.org/g88w5z

Mr. Amano 🦐

I had no idea that the ACS has a $1.6 billion investment pool 🤑💰 ... about $8000 per member t.co/Pm3rvrsCes