Manny I. Fox Morone
mannyfoxmorone.bsky.social
Manny I. Fox Morone
@mannyfoxmorone.bsky.social
I edit stories and I wear tacky clothes @ C&EN ⚗️ News, features with freelance reporters: Pitch me. Formerly project, production, and people management. he|him
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
I love a good complex natural product. This one has two α-tropolones, 10 asymmetric stereocenters, and a a labile hemiketal. After a longstanding effort, chemists in Seth Herzon's lab have made (–)-gukulenin A. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social

cen.acs.org/synthesis/me...
A guide to making gukulenin A
3-component assembly builds a natural product that could fight cancer
cen.acs.org
November 13, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
It’s pretty exciting that we might see big auroral displays in Maryland tomorrow night! Last fall, I couldn’t believe how purple the sky got… anyway, if you’re interested in how CMEs and solar flares form, check out the story I wrote last month for C&EN! 🌌☀️
cen.acs.org/physical-che...
What causes space weather and how does it affect Earth?
The aurora borealis is a spectacle of space weather, but solar flares and coronal mass ejections have far more Earthly impacts
cen.acs.org
November 11, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
In 2024, Belén González-Gaya tagged along on a tourist cruise to get to Antarctica and study contaminants of emerging concern. Among the chemicals she found were a human metabolite of nicotine, and degradation products of an ingredient in sunscreen. cen.acs.org/environment/... #chemsky 🧪
To measure Antarctic pollutants, this researcher took a cruise
Belén González-Gaya recounts hitching a ride on a commercial cruise to measure contaminants in a remote region
cen.acs.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
Yes, there's lead in protein powders. No, there's no known safe level. But, exposure to trace amounts is inevitable, especially since plants naturally take up lead from the environment. And, people disagree on standards for manufacturers. Latest @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/food/food-in...
Why scientists found lead in protein powders
Consumers shouldn't panic
cen.acs.org
October 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Leading up to Halloween we ask, Why do some gummy brands rock, and why do others feel like you're chewing plastic?
🎃🍬👻 Read my little explainer for @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/food/food-in...
October 28, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
"Inclusive design doesn’t just widen participation; it expands the very structure-function relationship of science itself. We all stand to gain from that."

#NDEAM #DisabledInSTEM #chemsky 🧪
cen.acs.org/careers/dive...
The tools we build become the questions we ask
Why inclusive design is good for more than access—it expands the boundaries of discovery
cen.acs.org
October 9, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
Years ago, when I began my journey in STEM, I never would have imagined chemists with disabilities like myself would ever been seen as "trailblazers".

Now, I am so grateful that the @acs.org and @cenmag.bsky.social have celebrated chemists with various disabilities in this years Trailblazers issue!
September 16, 2025 at 1:13 PM
I admit that when i started working on this project with @kvasquez.bsky.social, i didn’t think i knew any chemists with disabilities 🧵1/ cen.acs.org/people/profi... @cenmag.bsky.social
Trailblazers: Chemists with disabilities rethink how we do science
C&EN’s 2025 Trailblazers issue, curated by guest editor Mona Minkara, looks at how chemists can solve problems in new ways
cen.acs.org
September 16, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Did you know Dorothy Hodgkin had a disability? I did not! This is a little taster before @cenmag.bsky.social drops our big Trailblazers package featuring chemists with disabilities in Sept: cen.acs.org/careers/dive...
8 chemists with disabilities who left their mark on history
Scientists with disabilities ascended to the forefronts of their fields long before labs were accessible and civil rights were codified
cen.acs.org
August 27, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
Researchers have developed a spray that can keep fungi at bay. The nontoxic solution forms an extremely hydrophobic surface coating that makes it harder for fungi to latch on to a surface and kills them if they do take root. cen.acs.org/materials/co... #chemsky 🧪
Nontoxic sprayable coating prevents fungus growth in 2 ways
Food-safe fatty acids keep fungi off surfaces and kill them on contact
cen.acs.org
July 4, 2025 at 12:29 PM
When you run 20 reactions on a stirrer plate, are they all *actually* stirring? Read @markpeplow.bsky.social's latest in C&EN:
cen.acs.org/research-int... @cenmag.bsky.social
How magnetic stirrers could be reducing your yield
From the lab that found impurities on your stir bar—your flask’s placement on a stirrer plate can mess with your reaction too
cen.acs.org
June 17, 2025 at 7:04 PM
This story will likely take you less time to read than it does to charge an EV. Check out @samlemonick.bsky.social's tech update in C&EN: cen.acs.org/materials/el... @cenmag.bsky.social
Can new chemistry make EVs that charge in 5 min or less?
Battery start-ups and larger labs scrutinize materials in every part of electric vehicle systems, especially anodes
cen.acs.org
June 13, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
Nitrogen allotropes are rare. A new one just dropped. Read about the work from Peter R. Schreiner, Artur Mardyukov, and Weiyu Qian in my latest piece for @cenmag.bsky.social

cen.acs.org/materials/in...
A new nitrogen allotrope has been created at last
Chemists string 6 nitrogen atoms together to make hexanitrogen
cen.acs.org
June 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
When is a knot not a knot? Enter perplexanes, molecules my mind is not meant to understand.
Read @markpeplow.bsky.social's latest in ‬C&EN:
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Pe... @cenmag.bsky.social
June 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
See how @laureloldach.bsky.social covers the news LIVE for @cenmag.bsky.social 👀
Covering this morning's Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing on the FY26 budget request from NIH.
June 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
In 2020, we hoped this wasn't going to become an "evergreen" story so soon.
Back in 2020, when protesters gathered around the country calling for the end of police brutality and were met with tear gas and pepper spray, my colleague @craigofwaffles.bsky.social reported on the chemistry of such riot-control agents. The story still seems pertinent: cen.acs.org/policy/chemi...
Tear gas and pepper spray: What protesters need to know
Experts discuss the use and chemistry of the riot-control agents and how to neutralize their effects
cen.acs.org
June 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
Nominate a chemist with disabilities for C&EN's Trailblazers 2025!

Please tell us about your chemistry heroes, mentors, mentees, and inspirations—or nominate yourself.
👉 cenm.ag/nominatetrai...

#chemsky 🧪 #phdsky #academicsky #STEM #phdchat #academicchatter
June 3, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
Meanwhile in the rest of the world, they are celebrating scientific progress instead of dismantling it. (Hong Kong based prize for a Munich based researcher)

cen.acs.org/people/award...
Shaw Prize honors cryo-electron tomography innovator
Max Planck Institute biochemist Wolfgang Baumeister will receive $1.2 million
cen.acs.org
May 29, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
I am grateful to @rowanwalrath.bsky.social, @helenbranswell.bsky.social, @melodyschreiber.com and all the other reporters covering this today for giving me a chance to book a CVS appointment today before the bottom falls out, which would leave my 3rd trimester unboosted

cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
US CDC drops COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for children and pregnant people
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sidesteps advisory committee in changing immunization schedule
cen.acs.org
May 27, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Chili peppers are holding back their true power. Read
@samlemonick.bsky.social's latest in @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/food/Hot-pep...
Hot peppers have 3 chemicals that actually make them less spicy
Farmers might be able to breed less-pungent chilis by boosting the levels of these compounds
cen.acs.org
May 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
Here's a Q&A with chemical oceanographer Sambuddha Misra for Chemical & Engineering News @cenmag.bsky.social

cen.acs.org/environment/...
Sambuddha Misra spotted a doubling in the Indian Ocean’s lead levels
The chemical oceanographer reconstructed a 24-year history of pollution
cen.acs.org
May 23, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
Nominate this year's @cenmag.bsky.social Trailblazers! We will be featuring the work of chemists with disabilities and highlighting how they make their workspaces accessible. Before June 4, use this form to tell us about who inspires you—maybe even yourself? :)
forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...
Microsoft Forms
forms.office.com
May 19, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I'm helping lead @cenmag.bsky.social's Trailblazers 2025, and I want you 🫵 to nominate a chemist with disabilities for us to feature. Before June 4, fill out this form and recognize a chemist who inspires you: cenm.ag/nominatetrai...
Microsoft Forms
cenm.ag
May 12, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
This engineer drives a water-cleaning lab around the US

Tzahi Cath's lab on wheels turns effluent from wastewater treatment plants into drinkable water
cen.acs.org/environment/...

#ChemistsCelebrateEarthWeek #CCEW #EarthDay2025 #EarthDay
This engineer drives a water-cleaning lab around the US
Tzahi Cath's lab on wheels turns effluent from wastewater treatment plants into drinkable water
cen.acs.org
April 22, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Manny I. Fox Morone
This is the best-sourced reporting on what we should all call the Colossal Dire Wolf Debacle™️ from now on. Chapeau to @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social over at @cenmag.bsky.social for shedding some light on what went down...

#ExtinctionIsForever

cen.acs.org/biological-c...
Dire wolf debate raises concerns on scientific overhype
Even de-extinction advocates say that Colossal Biosciences’ claims are misleading
cen.acs.org
April 11, 2025 at 11:06 PM