Ada McVean M.Sc.

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🐧 The Humboldt penguin is named after Alexander von Humboldt who has been called the father of ecology, geography and environmentalism.
He has over 20 other namesake species, from squids (Dosidicus gigas, the Humboldt squid) 🦑 to skunks (Conepatus humboldtii) 🦨 and lilies (Lilium humboldtii) 🪷

It’s easier to assume that anyone advocating for vaccines is simply bought by Big Pharma, rather than face the more complex reality: pharmaceutical companies can behave badly at times, and still sometimes align with genuine public health goals.

Stickers, enamel pins, and embroidered patches in trans pride, intersex inclusive progress pride, and non-binary pride colours. The shape of the design is the loop-de-loop emblem of the Dropout show Game Changer, and each design has the words "we've been here the whole time" written on it

Stickers, pins, and iron-on patches are all now available for my queer Game Changer designs! Thank you so much to @samreich.bsky.social & @dropout.tv for the kind permission to make and sell these! Every sale really helps with my own trans expenses and creating more queer art 🏳️‍⚧️ canopyrobin.etsy.com

The chaga fungus conk (fruiting body of shelf fungi) is coloured black by melanin, the same molecules in humans’ skin, hair and eyes
👁️🍄‍🟫👁️

That’s the same toxin found in fugu and blue ring octopuses!

This newt won’t stay in this bright red juvenile stage forever! Once they grow for a while they will turn green with a yellow stomach.
Until then, even if their bright colour brings predators knocking, their status as walking tetrodotoxin sponges will help keep them safe.

Wordle meets the periodic table: Five games to test your chemistry knowledge Love Wordle and chemistry? Combine the two with these daily chemistry-themed word games

Looking for your next chemistry word-game fix? Mason Wakley guides you through a variety of options, with insight on difficulty levels, as well as video examples showing you what to expect.

If the charging port on your iPad costs 250$ to change...

... is your iPad really "repairable"?

What did I find?
@depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social

Unlike the vast majority of daisies, seaside daisies are somewhat succulent. It helps them retain water and survive in their native coastal bluffs, beaches and dunes.

There are no chipmunks in the UK*

*natively. Though there is a smallish population of Siberian chipmunks (which look quite similar to Eastern chipmunks like these) that were brought into the UK as pets and released

Losing sleep over pesticide exposure Managing exposure risks

Farmers and researchers across the world are experiencing disturbed sleep patterns associated with exposure to a variety of chemical pesticides. And while putting the pesticides away would be a simple solution, it's impractical - they are too useful.
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/losi...

Their berries’ flavour is in Chambord, but their young shoots can also be eaten, raw or cooked. The leaves or the bark of the root can be made into tea.
And of course their berries are used for jam, vinaigrettes, cocktails or baked goods amongst so many possibilities!

While researching black raspberries I learned a new word: glaucous. They have a waxy, whitish bloom that can be rubbed off.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

Slugs are mollusks. Most of them have evolved to no longer have shells, but keep a remnant of it inside themselves. It serves as calcium storage!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollusca

Kind of like how tortoise is just what we call turtles that live mostly on land, a slug is just what we call any shell-less gastropod.
Neither tortoise nor slug corresponds to any specific phylogenetic group.

See also- toads and berries.

“I have a horse; her name is Berta. She’s a grey and she is an Irish draught. They have a very nice temperament and it’s nice because I’m not a very good rider. I mean, I’m a decent rider, but I don’t compete.”

It was a joy to talk to Nora for In Situ for @chemistryworld.com!

Overlooked documents shed new light on double helix discovery Rosalind Franklin was more than just a 'wronged heroine'

Happy birthday Rosalind Franklin!

The narrative around photo 51, the misogyny she faced and her premature death, have reduced Franklin’s story to wronged heroine. In reality, she made huge contributions to the elucidation of DNA’s double helix.

Read more in @chemistryworld.com

Scientists have developed a morphine analogue that has all the pain-relieving effects of the natural compound but less of the side effects – just by swapping a single atom.

Will HIV prevention get where it’s needed? Gilead and its partners' efforts to distribute generic lenacapavir could be derailed by cuts in international aid budgets

US approval of Gilead’s 6-month HIV preventive injection is a huge advance. But will it get where it's needed?
The highest risk of HIV infection is in lower income countries, and cuts to international aid budgets risk derailing generic supply agreements. www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/will...

Not the most sensitive one, but it definitely goes from green to more purple or brown and even pink.

The flowers are edible and taste flowery, delicate and fresh.
Last spring I picked a bunch and used some in baked goods, and made lilac simple syrup (which was yummy, and a colourimetric pH indicator!) and lilac sugar (which was gross but pretty).

his BRAIN turned to GLASS and it's the first example of a natural organic glass EVER 🤯

Infographic on the chemistry of ice cream. Ice cream is formed from fats, proteins and emulsifiers, which in combination stabilise air bubbles in ice cream. Small crystals are needed for smooth ice cream, and air makes up 30-50% of ice cream's volume. A range of flavouring compounds are used. Stabilisers, often extracted from seaweed, are added in small amounts to reduce the rate of melting.

It's #NationalIceCreamDay!

Discover how science shapes the smooth, creamy texture of ice cream in this infographic: www.compoundchem.com/2015/07/14/i...

#ChemSky 🧪

Lilacs can be any colour from purple to pink, white to blue but their flowers tend to give a green dye. Lilac leaves can provide a green or brown dye, depending on the plant.

Also, Syringa vulgaris (Common lilac) is hermaphroditic, and one of my favourite smells in the world.
🪻

Serial femtosecond crystallography reveals protein dynamics in real time Proteins are constantly moving, but our structures of them are static. Clare Sansom talks to the researchers using free-electron lasers to make time-resolved structures

What if we could watch proteins move in real time – see photosystem II turn water into oxygen, for example? Thanks to cutting-edge techniques like serial femtosecond crystallography and XFELs, scientists are doing just that.

Mammoth task of identifying legal ivory made simpler and cheaper by isotope analysis Technique could help authorities tell legal mammoth ivory from poached elephant ivory

Yes it seems insane to me that ivory from EXTINCT mammals that is mined out of sensitive permafrost (often causing severe environmental damage) is legal, but none the less, that is true.
Read more in my latest for @chemistryworld.com: www.chemistryworld.com/news/mammoth... #ChemSky #ScienceSky

Mammoth task of identifying legal ivory made simpler and cheaper by isotope analysis Technique could help authorities tell legal mammoth ivory from poached elephant ivory

Ancient mammoths and modern elephants lived in vastly different environments, so the isotopic signatures from their tusks vary accordingly.
By looking at the hydrogen-2 and oxygen-18 ratios of ivory, we can tell what kind of animal it came from!
www.chemistryworld.com/news/mammoth...