They're only manila when they'e from the Philippines, otherwise they're just sparkling envelopes.

Yes, I (definitely not a hypocrite) wrote an entire paper about how important it is to make sure chemistry pre-lab videos are perfect because they only get updated once a decade, then knowingly filmed a concentrated acid handling sequence with a fuzzy camera lens.

Saddened to see the “anyone but England” attitude of some of my fellow Scots today. Some of the stuff I've seen nearly made me choke on my Ćevapi

Quick question: Is it "for fucks sake" or "for fuck sake" ? It's for a quote for a petition so has to sound professional.

Michael O’Neill@michaeloneill.org · 3mo ago

I've tried to collate the public data on Nottingham's teaching to help everyone make some noise about the proposed redundancies. Please sign the petition if you feel able. www.michaeloneill.org/blog-1/2026/5/16/nottingham-redundancies-briefing-data

We did another open-access thing, this time hopefully useful for schools! Paracetamol titration, and how to Not Buy The Expensive Cerium Bit You Normally Need. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Cost-Effective Titration Analysis of Paracetamol for Schools

Synthesis/analysis of paracetamol (acetaminophen) is a common school or introductory synthesis project, but even the simplest known quantitative analysis (hydrolysis, followed by titration with cerium...

pubs.acs.org

It's truly an Aprilmas miracle - this time, the ACS allowed an "outwith" to slip through the editorial process unchallenged! Attached is a screenshot of a word without a line through it, a totally normal thing to do.

Patrick Thomson@patrickthomson.bsky.social · 12mo ago

With the decline of paper money and the "I'll have you know it's legal tender" conversation, us Scots need a new friction to export, so once again I find myself saying "it's a real word, albeit rarely used outwith Scotland"

Top tip, don't create a CHEMISTRY outreach activity where you have to solder a hundred and fifty of something. #SpectroscopyInAnEnvelope

Greg: I put it to you, Pandora, that your approach to the task of literally just holding a closed box is basically that of - and I've written it down - "a baffled old grandma who can't remember where the top of the stairs is" Pandora: I did it though! Alex: We do have one more bit of footage

Ned Hartley@nedhartley.com · 5mo ago

Greg Davies: Great task, well done. Didn‘t eat a thing. Persephone: Thank you. Alex Horne: Ah. Well. Let’s take another look at that pomegranate.

Excellent trip up to Dingwall Academy with @sci-drscott.bsky.social to run some Science CLPL, and deliver the first round of Spectroscopy In An Envelope instruments!

The talk to your friends app and the witness the horrors app being the same app is not great for the mental health is it

Robert Jenrick complaining that the country is broken is like Fred West complaining that his patio is uneven.

We did a thing! A depressingly-necessary message. Chemists, do as much as you can to support teachers and schools, or the student pipeline dries up and departments close. With @sci-drscott.bsky.social and colleagues. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

One year since I posted this. One year since everybody treated it like a joke. One year of watching my back. Tell me: have you seen much of Harry Styles this past year? Tim Davie's gone a bit quiet too, hasn't he?

Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up. I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.

Watching THE GREEN KNIGHT again

They missed a trick not calling a rival parcel service "Prometheus" with the slogan "We'll make sure your de-livering happens every day!"

Merry Christmas one and all! As always, here's Picard letting it snow and making it so. youtu.be/oiSn2JuDQSc?...

Captain Picard sings "Let it Snow!"

YouTube video by James Covenant

youtu.be

Starting tomorrow- join us for the ultimate organic reaction bracket #ReactionRunoff hosted by the ACS Organic Division @organicdivision.org Round 1 from Dec 10-11 and new rounds every 2 days #ChemSky #ChemChat #AmplifyOrganic

Benzene ring hiding in the Lego!

Explore our case studies on making chemistry workspaces more accessible for disabled scientists. As part of our Disability-Inclusive Laboratories in the Chemical Sciences report, the library offers 29 examples to inspire change. Read the case studies & share your own: https://rsc.li/486SU67 #ChemSky

Chemistry should work for everyone. However too many chemists still face avoidable physical & cultural barriers every day The @rsc.org NEW report shares lived experiences & solutions for accessible labs #ChemSky Let’s build science for everyone #InclusiveLabsRSC Read the report rsc.li/4ijV3yN

I know it's my fault for not maintaining separation of accounts, but half the time I play D&D as "Dr Patrick Thomson, Strathclyde (he/his)" and half the time I'm in work meetings as "Grognog Bloodpuncher" and honestly it works better both ways.

They're also responsible for one of the best emails I've ever received, when the college office sent out a plea for sightings of Professor Biscuit while conveniently forgetting to mention that he was a cat...(I won't comment on how often a similar email might have gone out about human Professors...)

I am delighted and surprised, or as surprised as you can be when you remember putting in the paperwork!

"Not impacting the student experience" my arse. The IAD, like any Academic Development, compounds investment in the student experience by making researchers marginally less shit at teaching. They're also how I ended up in my current career. thetab.com/2025/10/31/e...

Excl: Edinburgh University begins compulsory layoffs with department set to be axed

Seven staff in the Instute for Academic Development are set to lose their jobs when the department closes

thetab.com

Oh GREAT, the one transformation that our introductory organic teaching says we can't easily do in one step.

Scott Bagley@bagphos.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Maloney and Fier at it again this time with a neat concept for a one-reagent acid to aldehyde reduction #OrgLettASAP #MerckChemistry #ChemSky