I spend few hours (it was not in my plans) today helping a researched with one a bit tricky measurement in order to reply to a Reviewer 2. Oups, seems that the Reviewer 2 was right... #chemchat

Hmm, why this Et₂O is not fitting well? And why there are hydrogens on the oxygen? Trust chemists, they say... #chemsky #chemchat #crystallography

So, rich people, who used it in real life? With prices of computers hardware doing in interesting directions, I will probably keep it... #chemsky #chemchat

Wait, is it a common knowledge that "en dash" and "em dash" are called like this because of this ⬇️? A picture from Kate Morgan's post n on LI lnkd.in/p/eq3Xe6Dk

Yeah, I know that today is Nobel Prize in chemistry and so on, but still, I am back with the traditional guessing game. Try to guess - which #minerals are inside of these food-supplement-shaped objects? #chemsky #chemsky #SupplementsSaga #TaurateCurse (links are in the alt-text)

How easy to work with real professionals - I asked couple of questions, one "What it could be?", with very vague characterization that I had - got exact answer in couple of hours. On my second question I got very direct answer "I don't know",

In order to celebrate #Quartz' victory in #MinCup26 a 3D model is in the making (promised during round 1). It gets more complex by the unit and failing one connection will make it glass 😖. At this point very careful steps are being taken so progress is slow. Hopefully I will finish it on Sunday! 🤞🏻

♨️ Warming up Fourier Tiler with a new release, including Temperature param. in the crystal builder! Also: my fancy friends using macOS will not be left alone in this one 🫶 Have fun! ...and let's hope this new version makes the Reviewers happy 😏🤞 Get your copy here: github.com/stecanossa/F...

I received taurine, and we had Mg(OH)2 in the lab, so now I can do synthesis(crossed) memes; memes are better! Short reminder (volume VI, part 7) for those who did not followed #TaurateCurse series: #chemsky #chemchat #crystallography #SupplementsSaga

*Scratching head* It looks like I now have the knowledge to formulate a real scientifically driven a X-in-1 magnesium supplement. No-no-no, not yet another world best supplement – I can make the world _worst_ magnesium supplement! (It would be legal in most countries) Bad PR is PR, isn’t it?

I remember that cooking onion soup involves a glass of wine, but what exactly should I do with it? #chemchat

I accidentally made a Halloween decoration - a TA asked to print a cyclodextrin with a guest molecule for school activities. But the pumpkin style was accidental, I picked colours randomly. #chemchat #crystallography

Can you imaging such phrase from pharma? "The starting materials are never used up completely, so there is always leftover starting material, which is allowed, otherwise no substances could ever be produced for healthcare and food supplements. As long as those materials are harmless." #chemsky

Moving to rather something positive, because except food supplements "professionals", I am dealing people who care about their work and doing exiting things. Thank to EU office of @rigakuoxfordxrd.bsky.social, on (very long) Monday I had opportunity to try their electron diffractometer, Synergy ED.

Back to greedy food supplement chemists - who can afford them? Maybe be a corporation like Nestle, for example? Well, seems yes, but only part-time, for some products - let me show. The product #1 from Pure Encapsulations is Magnesium Bisglycinate. #chemchat #chemsky #SupplementsSaga

Nikolay Tumanov@ntumanovxray.bsky.social · 4w ago

Do know what is the most well-paid profession? Do you think it is a CEO or some kind of an AI Software Engineer? Nope, not at all – it is food supplement chemist, they are asking _so_ much that almost nobody can afford them. #SupplementsSaga #chemsky #chemchat

Ouch... This is a brand from Nestle, btw. (A post coming soon.) #chemchat #SupplementsSaga

"Thank you for your email. We are unable to open two of the attachments you sent. Please could you send them in a different format so our Quality Team can have a look at the results." Pdf, I send you a pdf! It took them to 2 months not open a pdf. #TaurateCurse #SupplementsSaga #chemchat

A long 16-hours working day is over and I have a beautiful mug at the end. Ah, ànd few nice shiny crystal structures too! #crystallography #chemchat

Me: I am sure it is an anhydrous phase. A picture of “anhydrous phase”.

We have that much of the impurity of citric acid in the sample. Guess, a particle of which phase we selected first for ED? #crystallography #chemsky #chemchat

Do know what is the most well-paid profession? Do you think it is a CEO or some kind of an AI Software Engineer? Nope, not at all – it is food supplement chemist, they are asking _so_ much that almost nobody can afford them. #SupplementsSaga #chemsky #chemchat

"Fake-Of-The-Day" This one is boring - just another "magnesium taurate", part 31. Today I have Mg taurate from Mattisson: www.mattisson.nl/magnesium-ta... As any other "magnesium taurate" supplements, it contains zero of magnesium taurate. #TaurateCurse #SupplementsSaga #chemchat #chemsky

A tenure-track position in biochemistry at University of Mons (UMONS), Belgium: web.umons.ac.be/fr/job/un-ch... French is not required from the start. #chemchat #chemsky

So into round 2 of #MinCup26 and I'm going to keep with my 'what's the more interesting crystal structure' criteria. I have always had a thing for 3-fold symmetry so am a sucker for the trigonal carbonate groups - #Azurite gets my vote over #Sphalerite today.

Mineral Cup & Ore Cup@mineralcup.bsky.social · 4w ago

#MinCup26 Round 2 Match 1: It’s a visually-striking start to Round 2 as deep blue pigment #Azurite is against lead- and zinc-rich #Sphalerite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

"Fake-Of-The-Day", special episode 3. The last fake form of magnesium supplements: magnesium lysinate glycinate. Absolutely zero information in the literature. From the chemical name it is Mg2+ connected to one glycinate anion and one lysinate anion. But what it is reality? #chemchat

Ok, team #Azurite, it is time to close the gap and win this round! For the rabbits! Medieval rabbits. Medieval killer rabbits, to be precise. Do you know that mineral was used for blue pigment to paint the shield? Yep, azurite!* *most probably.

Mineral Cup & Ore Cup@mineralcup.bsky.social · 4w ago

#MinCup26 Round 2 Match 1: It’s a visually-striking start to Round 2 as deep blue pigment #Azurite is against lead- and zinc-rich #Sphalerite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Pouring expensive liquids today or, in other words, playing a role of backup sidekick for helium refills of NMRs. #chemchat

Who cares about h-index and other similar metric, when there are real achivements! (thanks @ccdc.cam.ac.uk for pdf of the report) #CSDLeaderboard #crystallography #chemchat

Today my vote in #MinCup26 is for #Graphite - it is not only fancy pencils, but also important part of batteries. Look, we did In operando PXRD of a battery with graphite recently. And have more stories about graphite for next round. Vote #Graphite!

Mineral Cup & Ore Cup@mineralcup.bsky.social · last mo.

#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 16 It's a pair of industrially-vital minerals for the final match of the first round as tin ore #Cassiterite is up against elemental carbon #Graphite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

And here we go again... (3+1)-dimensional incommensurately modulated structure of organic molecule - modulation of orientation. Just now I need to go from stage "I know all these words and can wave hands about it" to "make final structure", because publication is coming. #crystalography #chemchat