Tom Sheppard

Graduate students!
Lecture or poster at the 39th Annual RSC Heterocyclic and Synthesis Group Postgraduate Symposium?
Thursday 18 Sept 2025 in Oxford
8 lectures by final-year postgraduate students
Attendance is free (registration mandatory)
www.rsc.org/events/detai...
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The High Court judgement regarding Palestine Action's proscription and the enforcement of the order today from is the most extreme application of terrorism legislation we've yet seen in this country. It's so extreme, in fact, that it's causing the law itself to become openly incoherent. Thread🧵🔽

I guess you've heard some bad jokes about Fibonacci sequences?

Well, this one is as bad as the last two you heard put together.

A man wrapped up against the cold, surveys a frozen plain

The secret German weather station on the Arctic island of Svalbard. Part of the 'Weather War'.

The team, led by Lieutenant Wilhelm Dege, were the last German troops to surrender in WW2, finally doing so FOUR MONTHS after Germany had officially surrendered.

It was not for want of trying. /1

Still true:
*Britain is a success story
*Most of its cities are doing astonishingly well
*Multiculturalism is popular
*Mass immigration has not led to social disintegration
*Nostalgia is increasingly weird
*Britain is incredibly safe
*Levels of social cohesion are high
Don't let them gaslight you.

Social media and connecting with our community

I have poked the @rsc.org on X/Twitter a bit over the years (sorry folks...), but huge kudos to them for leaving what has become even more of a toxic and hateful platform www.rsc.org/news-events/... 👏 #chemsky

Nothing bad happens if someone doesn't iron their clothes. It is a total eco-hostile waste of time and energy (both human and literal). There should be a worldwide campaign to outlaw it. People could opt to wear a little badge that shows "I'm creased because I care".

Have never yet made it to one of the lochs on Arran, but this looks amazing!

Whatever the history, it's an amazing spot. Ended up there close to sunset a good few years ago because we set off on the walk v late and it was spectacular!

Agreed, but they are somewhat different in character;)

I'll concede that also looks lovely!

The Redpoint one has always been a favorite place - with the sun shining on the sea it's an amazing spot.
I know the name but i don't think i've met him!

TIL: When the Original Star Wars Trilogy finally aired on Chilean TV in 2003, the network spliced custom beer commercials into the films themselves to avoid cutting to commercial breaks.

these additional scenes turn Obi-Wan & Luke into raging space alcoholics who are constantly shotgunning booze.

This is definitely one of my favourite stiles anywhere! Always a spectacular place to visit....

@ajbw.bsky.social

About 10 of the tracks are great in my view (mostly at the beginning). Enjoy!

A mixture of my favourite tracks from them. I find Zen Arcade as a whole a bit too much...(though it has some great tracks). New Day Rising is my favorite album i think.

I am trying not to consciously acknowledge that i have almost 650 exams to mark this year (you can that is going well....)

Marking exam papers (2nd of 3 exams this year;) and listening to Hüsker Dü to keep up my momentum..... #Academia #Chemsky

WOKE MARXIST POPE

Young man, there's no need to feel down, I said
Young man, pick yourself off the ground, I said
Young man, 'cause you're in a new town
There's no need to be unhappy

It's fun to shout at the

Unlocking Lactonase Enzymes as Biocatalysts for the Deracemization of Chiral γ‐Thiolactones Lactonases, a class of metalloenzymes that exhibit catalytic promiscuity, have been extensively studied from a biological perspective, yet their application as biocatalysts remains underexplored. In ...

Our work on lactonase biocatalysts is finally out in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social. Congratulations to our team (Jingyue and Michele) @uclchemistry.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk and pur collaborators at CNR Milan and Zymvol. #biocatalysis #greenchemistry #sulfur

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

And the island itself is a very special place....

Hadn't heard of that one but i love a lot of the Arran ones....must check it out as it sounds great!

Masataka Taketsuru - Wikipedia

This is an interesting tale: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masatak... (doubly interesting for those of us who are whisky fans and work in organic chemistry:)!) Longmorn not a bad place to learn....

The quantity of UK goods exports is lower now than in 2016 or 2021.

The UK is the only country in the G7 that has this record. #Brexit

Welcome to Brexitland, US, in which waywardness is described as "strategic uncertainty", restrictions on trade boost performance and self harm is lauded....

Spoiler, it does not end happily

www.ft.com/content/342d...

Brexit led to 1,500 deaths a year as EU nurses left UK, study finds Quality of care dropped as staff were replaced with less experienced nurses, researchers at the University of Surrey say

🚨🚨 #brexit's disastrous impact on the #NHS led to 1485 extra deaths per year, according to a new academic study, particularly due to qualified EU nurses leaving and being replaced by more unskilled staff. #brexitshambles www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

"On the doorstep people don’t make a distinction between graduate visas & small boats"

This is:

a) objectively wrong (plenty of polling evidence)

b) suggests utter contempt for electorate's thought processes

c) is a dreadful way to make policy

Otherwise fine
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

What is Britain's favourite swear word?

F*ck: 24%
C*nt: 11%
Sh*t: 6%
B*llocks: 6%
B*gger: 3%
Bl*ody: 2%
Tw*t: 1%
B*stard: 1%
D*mn: 1%
D*ckhead: 1%
Feck: 1%

yougov.co.uk/society/arti...