BlakeT

PhD fellowship in Organic Synthesis and Supramolecular Chemistry The Department of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen invites applicants for a PhD fellowship in Organic chemistry with a particular focus on supramolecul

I have a fully funded PhD position available in my group in Copenhagen: candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

a cartoon of homer simpson is holding a newspaper that says old man yells at cloud Alt: a cartoon of homer simpson is holding a newspaper that says old man yells at cloud

Today is shaping up to be a real “professor yells at cloud” kind of day. And the cloud is mostly AI.

Why would anyone need so many magnets if not for mind control?

Two possibilities, methyl is shorter than methylpropyl so comes first alphabetically. Or, methyl has the lower locant number. Both seem to be supported by IUPAC alphanumerical ordering. Which, I had to go look up. 😁

I estimated the pKa for sarcosine’s CH2 at 33.4 from calculated proton affinity. This should be in the ballpark 30-35 pKa. You might deprotonate it with LDA or another very strong base.

Teams is great for education. I love it. {with so much sarcasm} But you might be able to create an email list in outlook then add that to teams. 🤷‍♂️

Baking soda, no way. Sodium bicarbonate, must be for chemistry lab stuff.

Cluster of six pink bulb eggplants on a vine, still green and unripe.

Small raised garden bed that is overflowing with a cornucopia of eggplants in three different varieties.

Garden is doing great. I may have planted too many eggplants this year. Oh well!

I’ll take a Menard’s over a Buc-ee’s. 🤣

Bruker Icon Automation will not accept ‘ in sample names. The sample just fails. I am shocked that students have to learn this lesson every year.

What does a PI do? Purchasing and Ideas.
I stock the lab with supplies and crazy ideas #chemsky

Even that one is suspiciously metallish.

I ran out of pots and there’s still a tray of seedlings left to transplant. I may have started too many vegetables again.

Hi #chemsky #scisky folks--I'd love to collect some community responses to this cut-back on GRFP awards for @cenmag.bsky.social story. If you have thoughts about the situation, please please get in touch--and share with your network!

My DMs are open, and I'm also reachable by email or Signal :)

Should a science resume be cut to one page for undergraduate internships or research technicians? Or for grad school. What resume advice would you give for a new scientist? @chemjobber.bsky.social #chemsky

Close up of a paper towel folded up and stuck under the foot of a very expensive instrument.

A+, and here is the paper towel shim to prop up our wobbly SampleXpress cassette.

It’s metal time for me. I can’t spend all day screaming but my playlist can.

Hasn’t happened in a while. I’m checking on the building air supply next. Pressure on the main line was dropping with the eject air running, which didn’t seem right. 🤷

We have the big 60 slot cassette which is great for undergrad labs. When it’s working.

Yeah. It tries to work after replacing the cassette but eventually fails. I may try removing and replacing it a few times to see if that loosens up a stuck part. I can sort of get manual ej/in to work with the cassette off.

Yes, mostly because I wanted to try it out. Reset after that gives the same error. The sample lifts but will not catch in the holder.

Error message on SampleXpress screen, The sample release could not be deactivated.

Bruker NMR SampleXpress users, has anyone seen this error? We can’t eject or change samples right now. #nmrsky

This but getting data off an old instrument workstation. #chemsky And every computer has a different version of the proprietary software.

Isn’t there a fable about calling out the emperor when he walks naked through the streets?

Or support your regional ACS meeting!

At least three choices including brown sugar cinnamon.

Our building got a vending machine this year. It has pop tarts, my greatest weakness.

What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF

A long post about what’s happening to the science funding agencies in the US and why. As mentioned, this one just kept getting longer even as I kept stripping curse words from it.

www.science.org/content/blog...

EXCLUSIVE: NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with Trump’s orders Grantee accounts remain frozen, while union accuses NSF of ignoring rules governing peer review

Exclusive: NSF this week began to search through billions of dollars of grants the agency has already awarded for anything touching on topics that President Donald Trump has criticized. And NSF has blocked grantees and trainees from accessing funds while the review is underway. scim.ag/3El0NZh