Anna Slater

On the back of being quoted I was contacted by a research administrator at a different Uni. She wants to stay anonymous. She has worked on this call all weekend. She didn't feel able to say no. Nor did the researchers. Unlike them she will not benefit in any material way if her Uni wins this money.

Was a pleasure to speak at UoManchester today for the chemistry department #IWD event - thanks to the lovely organisers

As more GiveToGain posts appear a reminder that it is a made-up theme by a for-profit company which makes money from theme based goods but has no charitable donations on its accounts for the past 10yrs

The UN #IWD2026 theme this is: Rights. Justice. Action.

www.unwomen.org/en/get-invol...

Today’s reason (#873053) we were late to school: the kids were arguing over who got to have my copy of @chemistryworld.com …

Ah, the molecules I’ve cursed at…

WHAT A TIME.

text messages: Shake it - sh shake it - sh-shake it (you gotta) SHAKE IT LIKE A JOELAROID WICKSTURE

not sure my brothers appreciated it but at least it got our kids distracted for 5 minutes via virtual morning PE

text messages that read: Torches blazed and sacred chants were praised as they start to cry, hands held to the sky; In the night the fires are burning bright, the ritual has begun, Satan's work is done! WICKS, WICKS WICKS! The number of the beast! Sacrifice is Joe-ing on tonight (i.e., the lyrics of 'the number of the beast')

Text screenshot. In all caps, the following messages: Wicks My LIFE, its now or never I aint gonna live forever I Joe Wanna Wicks While I'm Alive

e.g.

Oh geez am going through my photo library from 2020 for a talk this Fri where I reference 'things that helped during trying times'
I totally forgot my increasingly unhinged attempts to make Joe Wicks/song lyric pun mash-ups

I keep hoping I will learn this sensible strategy - my impulsive lizard brain is currently winning out, but I have faith 😄

Ooh, thank you! I’ll check this out!

Should have gone for sangria in the park instead

I’d just started to think it might have gone to reviewers, but quick enough & no hard feelings :)

Ahh thanks Claire! Can’t win em all 😅

On my run home, Lou Reed’s Perfect Day and the starry sky were really helping me feel more one with the universe. Yeah, I thought. That was a long day, but I’m going to reap just what I sow 🎶

Then I made the mistake of opening my emails and what I sow is apparently DESK REJECTION 😂

I am definitely not a plasma physicist, but got into this via a chance discussion with James Walsh, who (luckily) is. thanks to the efforts of Patrycja & Matt plus @timeasun.bsky.social, we have batch & flow plasma reactors - let me know if anyone’s got a fun reaction they’d like to try :)

High-efficiency non-thermal plasma synthesis of imine macrocycles Macrocycles are candidates for wide-ranging applications, yet their synthesis can be low-yielding, poorly reproducible, and resource-intensive, limiting their use. Here, we explore the use of Non-Ther...

See eg pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a... for imine macrocycle formation

We’ve had lots of fun messing about with non-thermal plasma for chemistry…like anything, it’s not magic, but high energy/low temp combo opens very interesting possibilities. Needs to be understood & controlled better via interdisciplinary collaboration! It’s got huge potential (pun intended 😅)

Thanks for highlighting this, have just shared with our group - it’s nice to see Bluesky fulfilling the function of bringing me papers I want to read!

ooh hope they enjoy school! We’re at secondary school stage in sept and I’ve no idea how that happened 😱

The small, flat, grey face of a one-eyed shorthair cat can be seen poking out of a curled up white duvet which has not got a duvet cover on it and is going to become very furry as a result. She has made a purring burrito, a purrito if you will

As long as that somewhere is not “in the new duvet that I’d left airing out” I’m happy

Half term scene: there’s nothing like watching our 11 year old lovingly lump our tubby fluffbag cat about, back paws stuck out under her arm, both busily going somewhere ❤️

Point teaken

That’s a step too fir!

I’ll admit, it wasn’t a great oak

That couldn’t have been acornier

Leaf it out, the pair of you

Hope your day got better :)

Thankfully it is now 8pm here, but that was distressingly relatable 😅