Vance Williams

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits, report says A new report warns that AI poses a serious threat to children's cognitive development and emotional well-being.

The report offers a surfeit of evidence to suggest that students who use generative AI are already seeing declines in content knowledge, critical thinking and even creativity. And this could have enormous consequences if these young people grow into adults without learning to think critically. 🍎🎢

Landscape? This was a photo I captured of caffeine crystals several years ago. I foresee a lot more of this molecule in my life in 2026. #polarizedlight #microscopy #sciart #caffeine

Holiday baking 2025 involved a lot of this molecule #vanillin #polarizedlightmicroscopy #crystals #sciart #vanilla #chem #ochem #microscopy #2025

As 2025 draws to a close, some images that summarize my holiday preoccupations. First up, cholesterol crystals by polarized microscopy. Healthy eating was not a priority these last weeks of the year. #microscopy #crystals #polarizedlight #sciart #ochem

Beaded Images of Disease Explore the Impact of Colonial Trade In her series Trading, Saskatchewan-based artist Ruth Cuthand creates a visual metaphor that outlines how early settler/Native relationships influenced First Nation people’s living conditions and well...

Beaded #sciart by Ruth Cuthand for Indigenous Peoples Day www.thisiscolossal.com/2019/05/ruth...

Demonstrating linear dichroism in a synthetic sapphire #optics #polarizedlight #stem

A chiral nematic liquid crystal in transmitted and reflected light. #liquid #sciart #liquidcrystal #moodring

I am deeply saddened by this! I had the honor of having him as a professor at Queen’s. He was, beyond all his other accomplishments, a gifted teacher.

Crystals viewed by microscopy.

Acetaminophen crystals viewed by polarized microscopy. #tylenol #science

No grade 13 for me and exclude kindergarten— include all years employed at a university

Strange man with backpack looking excited and/or nervous

Excited for the first day of grade 49!

Mint leaves

Mint leaves under uv light showing red fluorescence

The night garden. My mint plant during the day and the same leaves at night under UV light. The red color is chlorophyll fluorescence. #fluorescent

Brings back memories!

Suspended stone circle II by Ken Unsworth at the AGNSW

Caution sign “throw caution to the wind”

At the AGNSW #sydney #art

Blue spring amongst verdant green landscape

Blue spring amongst verdant green landscape

Blue spring amongst verdant green landscape

Blue spring amongst verdant green landscape

Blue Spring walkway #freshwaterspring #aquatic #nature #newzealand #putaruru

Swamp hen (pukeko) grooming itself

Black swan dives while New Zealand scaup looks on

Swallow flying away

Fantail (piwakawaka) in flight

Today from New Zealand; bird butts of Rotorua! #swan #swallow #fantail #swamhen #birds #wildlife

Steam rising from the ground

Craters of the Moon, NZ. #steam #steamvents #newzealand

Trump quietly shutters the only federal agency that investigates industrial chemical explosions The Chemical Safety Board, a federal agency that investigates large-scale industrial chemical disasters, will close under Trump's orders.

Trump quietly shutters the only federal agency that investigates industrial chemical explosions.

Hazardous chemical accidents happen in the U.S. about every other day. Who will investigate them now?

grist.org/energy/trump...

#Politics #Environment #Chemicals #Pollution #Policy #Industry

Coalition Files Suit Challenging DOGE Attacks on Congressionally-Approved STEM Programs - Democracy Forward

A coalition of organizations representing educators and researchers (including the @aapthq.bsky.social) has filed a legal challenge to the recent mass termination of grants by the National Science Foundation (NSF). 🎢 🧪 🍎 👩‍🔬 #AcademicSky

Kaka (parrot) in a tree

Taking some time to appreciate the New Zealand wildlife! #kaka #wellington

Signature Events: Additional Events - The Chemical Institute of Canada Networking coffee breaks Poster sessions Analytical Chemistry New Faculty Discussion Forum Chemistry in Canada 2067 CSC President’s Event ChemiSTEAM – Putting the A(rt) in STEM Inclusion, Diversity, E...

Last day for submissions to this year's ChemiSTEAM competition! For more information and a link, please find details among the #CSC2025 signature events: www.cheminst.ca/conference/c...

Making mood rings in the lab. I should lay off the coffee before filming time lapse photos.

The deadline has been extended to 11:59 PM on Monday, June 9!

[Person with ponytail wearing lab coat hands balloon to another person in front of a springboard, a magnet hanging from above, and then a target] PERSON WITH PONYTAIL to Person 2: Rub this balloon against your head, then go jump past that magnet toward the target on the wall. [caption] Before the bathroom scale was invented, the only way to weigh people was mass spectrometry.

Mass Spec

xkcd.com/3094/

This is so stupid.

Exercise your right to vote today, Canadians! Own your democracy! 🇨🇦🗳️

Photomicrograph of a chiral liquid crystal

Chiral landscape. With teaching over for the year I can turn my attention to research! This polarized microscopy image was captured as part of a study into stimuli responsive chiral liquid crystals #sciart

Two flickers mating on a roof

Birds migrating in V formation

Signs of spring!