Mark Levin
@levinchem.bsky.social
Professor of Chemistry
University of Chicago
Single-Atom Skeletal Editing
(Interspersed with doomposting and AI skepticism)
Husband, Dad, Crossword Addict
http://levingroup.uchicago.edu
University of Chicago
Single-Atom Skeletal Editing
(Interspersed with doomposting and AI skepticism)
Husband, Dad, Crossword Addict
http://levingroup.uchicago.edu
Pinned
A true pleasure to host Koji Kubota @uchichemistry.bsky.social for a stop on his Merck Banyu Lectureship Award Tour!
Reposted by Mark Levin
![[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]
JANET:
Ugh...
LIZ:
What's up?
JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!
LIZ:
Have you tried...
AI peas?
JANET:
AI peas?
LIZ:
They're peas with AI!
[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].
LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas
JANET:
What
LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]
Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?
[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]
LIZ:
Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine
[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]
LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!
JANET:
What
LIZ:
Shut up
LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow
From opening the bag of peas
to boiling the peas
to eating the peas
To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.
JANET:
Is it really necessary to-
LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET
[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:
AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiayqa37f7kik7l7s7fbtfp2sir5ckb662ry2lylinyjrfa2rkvvka@jpeg)
Reposted by Mark Levin
Science as practiced in its best form is that if you disagree with it, you set up an experiment that would disprove it. If you can't do that, you shut your fucking mouth and learn something.
JD Vance: "Science as practiced in its best form is that if you disagree with it, then you ought to criticize it and you ought to argue against it."
November 12, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Science as practiced in its best form is that if you disagree with it, you set up an experiment that would disprove it. If you can't do that, you shut your fucking mouth and learn something.
Reposted by Mark Levin
having the unmistakable urge to blog about the epstein documents by doing a taxonomy of creepy elite email writing styles
DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT TO MY EDITORS
DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT TO MY EDITORS
November 12, 2025 at 9:57 PM
having the unmistakable urge to blog about the epstein documents by doing a taxonomy of creepy elite email writing styles
DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT TO MY EDITORS
DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT TO MY EDITORS
Reposted by Mark Levin
Reposted by Mark Levin
No idea if this is the case here, but a city council member in my suburb said that our many vacant downtown storefronts were due to a tax law that allows landlords to write off losses from vacant properties, so if they don't get the rent they want, they can make more money by letting it sit empty.
Call in the troops to solve the commercial real estate crisis in our swanky downtown cores
You can’t make this shit up, folks
You can’t make this shit up, folks
November 11, 2025 at 4:17 PM
No idea if this is the case here, but a city council member in my suburb said that our many vacant downtown storefronts were due to a tax law that allows landlords to write off losses from vacant properties, so if they don't get the rent they want, they can make more money by letting it sit empty.
Reposted by Mark Levin
The NMR section is my favorite.
November 11, 2025 at 6:32 PM
The NMR section is my favorite.
Reposted by Mark Levin
PSA for people with NIH grant periods starting January 1st (including most NIGMS MIRAs): your RPPR is due Saturday, but they haven’t sent out the usual automated reminders, presumably due to the shutdown
November 11, 2025 at 1:20 AM
PSA for people with NIH grant periods starting January 1st (including most NIGMS MIRAs): your RPPR is due Saturday, but they haven’t sent out the usual automated reminders, presumably due to the shutdown
Reposted by Mark Levin
Opinion | Actually, don’t let them eat cake
November 8, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Opinion | Actually, don’t let them eat cake
Reposted by Mark Levin
Someday I will not have to write about Sarepta Therapeutics and their ineffective drugs that never should have been approved by the FDA in the first place.
This is not that day.
This is not that day.
Sarepta: Enough, For God's Sake
www.science.org
November 5, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Someday I will not have to write about Sarepta Therapeutics and their ineffective drugs that never should have been approved by the FDA in the first place.
This is not that day.
This is not that day.
Reposted by Mark Levin
Do an experiment? No darling I don’t think so
November 5, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Do an experiment? No darling I don’t think so
Reposted by Mark Levin
Mike Johnson: It’s True. I Am Tuning Out The News Cycle To Focus On Self-Care
Mike Johnson: I Am Tuning Out the News Cycle to Focus on Self-Care
Don’t ask me about the news. I am protecting my mental space.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Mike Johnson: It’s True. I Am Tuning Out The News Cycle To Focus On Self-Care
Reposted by Mark Levin
Yeesh
SCOOP: Arena BioWorks, an ambitious biomedical institute backed by billionaires, abruptly shuts down www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/a... via @statnews.com
Arena BioWorks, an ambitious biomedical institute backed by billionaires, abruptly shuts down
Exclusive: Arena Bioworks, the buzzy research institute that launched with $500 million to support a decade of scientific R&D, is abruptly shutting down, STAT has learned.
www.statnews.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Yeesh
Reposted by Mark Levin
Warning. ⚠️ If you are writing an NSF GRFP, new this year, you need official transcripts to apply. Beware. They will not review applications without official transcripts. ‼️
November 4, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Warning. ⚠️ If you are writing an NSF GRFP, new this year, you need official transcripts to apply. Beware. They will not review applications without official transcripts. ‼️
Reposted by Mark Levin
A device exploded inside the Goldenson Building in Harvard’s Longwood medical campus early Saturday morning, according to a message from the Harvard University Police Department to University affiliates.
Matan H. Josephy and Laurel M. Shugart report.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Matan H. Josephy and Laurel M. Shugart report.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Authorities Investigating Explosion on Harvard’s Medical Campus, Believed To Be Intentional | News | The Harvard Crimson
A device exploded inside the Goldenson Building in Harvard’s Longwood medical campus early Saturday morning, according to a message from the Harvard University Police Department to University…
www.thecrimson.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:11 PM
A device exploded inside the Goldenson Building in Harvard’s Longwood medical campus early Saturday morning, according to a message from the Harvard University Police Department to University affiliates.
Matan H. Josephy and Laurel M. Shugart report.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Matan H. Josephy and Laurel M. Shugart report.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Mark Levin
@ninaluong.bsky.social is really upping her costume game this year. And she can still work in it!
October 31, 2025 at 3:21 PM
@ninaluong.bsky.social is really upping her costume game this year. And she can still work in it!
Reposted by Mark Levin
quite literally everything i hear about the economics of this feels insane, especially given the big issue of the tools not doing what boosters say they will do. so many details make me feel very not good!
October 30, 2025 at 11:43 PM
quite literally everything i hear about the economics of this feels insane, especially given the big issue of the tools not doing what boosters say they will do. so many details make me feel very not good!
Reposted by Mark Levin
So, if that's true, is there some kind of shot you could take, to help prevent autism?
Breaking news: A new study says children whose mothers had covid-19 in pregnancy faced higher risk of autism and developmental issues.
Study authors said the findings don't prove that covid-19 causes these conditions, but signal an association with them.
Study authors said the findings don't prove that covid-19 causes these conditions, but signal an association with them.
Covid in pregnancy tied to autism, developmental issues, study says
A study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology analyzed more than 18,100 births in Massachusetts of children born to women who contracted the virus starting in the early months of the pand...
wapo.st
October 30, 2025 at 9:27 PM
So, if that's true, is there some kind of shot you could take, to help prevent autism?
Reposted by Mark Levin
Looking for some mad science journalism this Halloween? Look no further than 🩻Spooky, scary skeletal editing🩻
(and more chilling chemistry news from @cenmag.bsky.social)
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Sk...
(and more chilling chemistry news from @cenmag.bsky.social)
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Sk...
three skeletons are dancing in a cemetery in a purple background
Alt: Four animated skeletons are dancing in a cemetery in a purple background
media.tenor.com
October 30, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Looking for some mad science journalism this Halloween? Look no further than 🩻Spooky, scary skeletal editing🩻
(and more chilling chemistry news from @cenmag.bsky.social)
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Sk...
(and more chilling chemistry news from @cenmag.bsky.social)
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Sk...
Reposted by Mark Levin
Professor Emeritus Axel D. Becke @dalhousieu.bsky.social has passed away at age 72.
October 26, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Professor Emeritus Axel D. Becke @dalhousieu.bsky.social has passed away at age 72.
Reposted by Mark Levin
For those who are wondering about grant proposal reviews in the USA
October 21, 2025 at 12:27 PM
For those who are wondering about grant proposal reviews in the USA
Reposted by Mark Levin
Yes, this is accurate.
October 21, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Yes, this is accurate.
Reposted by Mark Levin
Maybe its not really theft because they needed them to train their AI
Thieves steal jewels from Louvre in Paris, media reports reut.rs/43u2cX1
Thieves steal jewels from Louvre in Paris, media reports
A robbery has taken place at the Louvre museum in Paris early on Sunday, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said, with the newspaper Le Parisien reporting several thieves have stolen pieces of jewellery from the Napoleon collection.
reut.rs
October 20, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Maybe its not really theft because they needed them to train their AI
A true pleasure to host Koji Kubota @uchichemistry.bsky.social for a stop on his Merck Banyu Lectureship Award Tour!
October 21, 2025 at 1:24 AM
A true pleasure to host Koji Kubota @uchichemistry.bsky.social for a stop on his Merck Banyu Lectureship Award Tour!
New @chemrxiv.org, a collaboration with @honggen-wang.bsky.social and group alum, now asst prof. Myojeong Kim: the first true catalytic interception of isodiazene-generated primary-amine-derived radicals. The key is an N-F reagent that enables productive chain carrying!
doi.org/10.26434/che...
doi.org/10.26434/che...
October 21, 2025 at 1:14 AM
New @chemrxiv.org, a collaboration with @honggen-wang.bsky.social and group alum, now asst prof. Myojeong Kim: the first true catalytic interception of isodiazene-generated primary-amine-derived radicals. The key is an N-F reagent that enables productive chain carrying!
doi.org/10.26434/che...
doi.org/10.26434/che...