Craig Bettenhausen
@craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Science business journalist on staff at Chemical & Engineering News covering sustainability, specialty chemicals, industrial gas, and a fair amount of etcetera. My latest feature: cenm.ag/craigb
Fermentation has been tough to make work in the wide, fast-moving, high-margin middle of chemical production. I visited a site in Slovakia that seems to have it figured out: cenm.ag/fermas #chemistry #news #travel #manufacturing #biotechnology
Industrial biotechnology is working in Slovakia
Evonik’s Fermas industrial biotechnology plant could provide a blueprint for growing the bioeconomy
cenm.ag
Breakthrough Energy Ventures has a new #SAF investment fund backed by the airlines, and its first investment is in a nimble and efficient syngas-FT system from Lydian Read more in C&EN cen.acs.org/business/sta... #energy #news #investment
Lydian raises $43 million led by SAF-focused fund
Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ new airline-backed SAF fund led the round
cen.acs.org
The US has outsourced or procrastinated on big chunks of the #nuclear fuel lifecycle. DOE wants to build a set of campuses to address gaps. It's worth watching because these things will attract a lot of #science jobs and $. Read on in @cenmag.bsky.social lnkd.in/gMDbxT5f #energy #policy
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
Speaking of not-my-beat #science, the Captain Underpants movie has a surprisingly fact-based depiction of how #hypnotism suggestions work.
Feels like time-change haters (like me) can't decide: Settle for clearly inferior #DaylightSavings time? Agitate for #StandardTime? Sit this one and thereby just kinda roll the dice? Science brain wants to poke at the #science of it, but feeling some #fatalism
#Lightning struck during the #fireworks show in DC this past weekend. I had to know: were they connected? The answer is ... maybe. A quick write-up: cenm.ag/4boltsdc Next time, maybe I'll get the photos, but these are from AP Photo/Allison Robbert (top) and Colin Winterbottom (bottom). #news
Solstice makes a big move into electronic chemicals with the $14.5 million purchase of Element Solutions. Fluorochemistry is having a rough decade, but its still a powerful set of chemical tools. cen.acs.org/materials/el... #news #chemistry #semiconductors #AI
Solstice to buy Element Solutions for $14.5 billion
Honeywell spin-off invests further into electronic materials
cen.acs.org
Air Products axed its big blue hydrogen project in Louisiana, ending both the hydrogen/ammonia part and the carbon capture and sequestration that would have made it low-carbon. Read more in C&EN, with insights from Lux Research and Jefferies cen.acs.org/energy/hydro... #hydrogen #energy #CCUS #news
Air Products cancels blue hydrogen project in Louisiana
Decision also kills the related CO<sub>2</sub> sequestration site under Lake Maurepas
cen.acs.org
What does "vegan" mean to you, or to the chemical industry, when we're talking about cosmetics and personal care? Read more in my latest for C&EN cen.acs.org/business/con... #biotechnology #chemistry #news #cosmetics #personalCare #vegan #science #business
Some days as a #writer, you manage to stop yourself from changing "quickly wraps up" to "succinctly encapsulates."
Can #AI can bring real value in #chemistry discovery work beyond what other computational methods can do? The US gov is asking. $500 million from CHIPS wil go to SandboxAQ to apply AI simulation and screening to #semiconductor Qs: #PFAS, #magnets, catalysts, and batteries. lnkd.in/eFXty4fd #news
US gives AI firm $500 million for electronic-chemical discovery
SandboxAQ will look for PFAS alternatives, catalysts, magnets, and battery materials
cen.acs.org
West Chester University undergraduate Jake Gallahan and his instructor Kurt Kolasinski saw a familiar shape in the electron microscope image Gallahan made for a physical chemistry class project: the outline of Rammy, the school mascot. Read more: cen.acs.org/materials/na... #CENChemPics #chemsky 🧪
"... their simulated bodies typically stop just a few inches below the simulated desk that they're pretending to sit behind." Might be near the top of the list for favorite phrase I've convinced C&EN to publish this year. cen.acs.org/research-int...
Editorial: Are you a simulation? AI and the art of the interview
For science journalism, the source still matters more than the possibilities
cen.acs.org
Good news: The US is getting a new #sunscreen UV filter for the first time since 1996. Bad news: Products won't likely be ready till the fall. Unclear news: Getting this one through FDA was such a pain, nobody's sure if anyone will brave it with other molecules. cenm.ag/bemtwin #summer #chemistry
Art and science came together recently at the Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu in Baltimore. Follow C&EN reporter Craig Bettenhausen @craigofwaffles.bsky.social as he uncovers a wealth of local art pieces inspired by space: #chemsky 🧪
Me: I need to zen focus and write these 2 biobased chemicals articles. *gets face poison ivy*
Boats aren't quite chemistry, so I posted this from my alter ego. Or in blog form with ~20% better copyeditng : www.craigbettenhausen.com/2026/05/sigh...
Sights from a nuclear-powered merchant vessel
The flagship of Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace program was the NS Savannah, a nuclear-powered merchant ship, which is now docked in Baltimore,...
craigbettenhausen.com
Craig Bettenhausen Photography@studiobettenhausen.bsky.social · 3mo agoThe flagship of Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace program was the NS Savannah, a nuclear-powered merchant #ship. It carried passengers and cargo to demonstrate civilian use of #nuclear. The $$ didn't pencil out then, but the current price of oil makes it looks pretty good. #maritime #boat #photography 🧵
A new journal article in PNAS puts some hard numbers on geological H₂ - It's looking pretty good. My @cenmag.bsky.social colleague Prachi Patel's coverage gives useful context around potential sources of #hydrogen and #helium in existing mine sites. Interesting stuff! cen.acs.org/energy/hydro...
* Moleskine notebooks. It's not my beat, but is mole leather the implication here? The reality? #veganism #showerThoughts #MorePreciselyTrainStationWaitingRoomThoughts
This is an example of how a caption can elevate an already-excellent photo
Tom Hentoff@tomhentoff.bsky.social · 3mo agoSome gray catbirds migrate more than 2,000 miles from Central America to New York City to eat pepperoni pizza in Bryant Park. 🪶
Question on #cleaning for the #NYC crowd: The detergent pod ban New York was considering in 2024, that failed right? Y'all can still buy pods? #NewYork #laundry #dishwasher
ICYMI: Update on the helium scramble caused by the war in Iran. Asia is shopping for North American helium, supplies are getting shaky in Europe, and GCMS is hit harder for now than NMR. cen.acs.org/business/spe... #helium #chemistry #NMR #GCMS #Iran #news
Chemical & Engineering News
Chemical & Engineering News is a weekly news magazine published by the American Chemical Society, providing professional and technical news and analysis in the fields of chemistry and chemical enginee...
cen.acs.org
They’re here! Introducing the Talented 12 Class for 2026. These early-career scientists are taking on big global #chemistry challenges. Meet the 2026 Class: cen.acs.org/people/profi... #CENT12 #chemsky 🧪
Qatar's helium has been off the market since the war in Iran begun in February, and tight supplies have scientists who depend on superconducting magnets worried. Read more in @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/business/spe... #helium #Iran #NMR #chemistry #NMRchat
Sea shanties actually help people work together better. Plus they're awesome. :) www.popsci.com/science/sea-...
Sea shanties actually help people work together better
Centuries-old work songs still possess real psychological benefits today.
popsci.com
