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moraigmonkey.bsky.social
Fiona McMillan
@moraigmonkey.bsky.social
1.3K followers 3.6K following 400 posts
Personal account but share lots of fantastic work of RSC member networks - views all my own.
Lover of my kids, chemistry, Lego, Scotland and amazing but tiny museums.
Also vocal about autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia, Star Trek and crochet.
Posts Replies Media Videos
moraigmonkey.bsky.social
Fifty years of Chemistry - coming up at Burlington House on 10 March celebrating 50 years of the RSC Historical Group. Speakers include @rsc.org Past Presidents Gill Reid and Lesley Yellowlees and textbook legends Peter Atkins and Jonathan Clayden.
#chemsky #chemchat
www.rsc.org/events/detai...
Fifty Years of Chemistry – Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the RSC Historical Group
The Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BA, United Kingdom
www.rsc.org
January 30, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Physics is under the cosh, Astronomy and Chemistry in peril, Geography is losing territory, English, Modern Languages and History are among the many shrinking UK disciplines.

Surely it's time to have a concerted, structured conversation about universities and the national research base.
resprofnews.bsky.social Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 2d
UK physics research and science facilities face ‘substantial’ cuts.

Major cuts will hit UK science facilities and government research grants for physics and astronomy over the next four years, Research Professional News can reveal.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
UK physics research and science facilities face ‘substantial’ cuts - Research Professional News
Exclusive: Science and Technology Facilities Council seeks £162m cost savings, with existing projects facing axe
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
January 29, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
iop.org
New Science Technology & Facilities Council (STFC) letters confirm major funding reductions to areas including particle, nuclear and astrophysics, with a similar process expected for national facilities and labs. While investment in quantum, AI and green tech is welcome, the IOP warns cutting (1/3)
Image of a researcher looking through a microscope with text overlay that reads 'Our response to vital science cuts announced by Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
January 29, 2026 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
rscnucleicacids.bsky.social
Happy new year! We have some exciting news, the registration and abstract submissions for the 22nd Nucleic Acids Forum 2026 are now open! Join us on the 10th of July at Burlington House!
Hurry before it sells out! 🧬
www.rsc.org/events/detai...
22nd RSC Nucleic Acids Forum – 2026
The Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, Piccadilly, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BA, United Kingdom
www.rsc.org
January 29, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
scoutj.bsky.social
🧶Hellbent to Help is here. I’m dyeing a limited run of deep red yarn to pair with the Melt the ICE Hat. For every skein sold, $18 goes to Minnesota’s Immigrant Rapid Response Fund. One skein, one hat, one person kept warm, a little bit of resistance knit right in. LFG
finchmod.com/products/hel...
If you’ve been with me for a while, you probably remember Purls, Chucks & Zero F*cks, the colorway I dyed to raise money for the Harris/Walz campaign. Y'all proved how generous and badass this community can be, so it feels right to show up again. Hellbent to Help is a limited red colorway I’m dyeing to pair with the Melt the ICE Hat pattern. The red yarn at the top of the graphic is the color of this yarn. It’s a gorgeous crimson red, very similar to the hat in the pattern. It’s currently "drying" in barely-above-freezing weather, so I’ll post photos as soon as it’s ready. “Melt the ICE” hats, inspired by Norwegian resistance in the 1940s, are being knit and worn in solidarity with immigrant-led and immigrant-supporting organizations in Minnesota. People are sharing, wearing, and donating these red hats through local yarn shops and community organizers, and a whole lot of hats are going straight to folks who need them most. I can’t organize protests, but I can dye yarn, and this is the best way I know to make a difference. For every skein of Hellbent to Help sold, 18 dollars goes to the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund (IRRF), launched by the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota to support immigration-related emergencies. The fund is working to raise millions to support Minnesota nonprofits on the front lines serving Somali, Latino, and other communities, and to provide fast, community-led support to immigrant and refugee families in crisis. My goal is simple: I want to use every bit of undyed yarn I have left to raise as much money as I can and feel like I made a difference, even if it’s a small one. And I would love for you to join me in not feeling quite so helpless. Make something warm, whether you keep it, donate it, or hand it directly to someone, and help send real support to people who need protection right now.
January 27, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
royalastrosoc.bsky.social
Time is running out to submit nominations for this year's RAS Thesis Prizes ⏳⏰

Each year the RAS recognises the best PhD theses in astronomy and geophysics completed in the UK, with three prizes up for grabs.

For info and to nominate now, visit: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
January 26, 2026 at 10:03 AM
moraigmonkey.bsky.social
I'm trialling the new Outlook app for work, now that I've worked out how to turn off Copilot it's a lot less stressful - the omnipresence of it all was making me quite cross.
January 26, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
privateeyenews.bsky.social
Bayeux Tapestry coming to Britain

From the new Private Eye, out now.
January 26, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
admirablewomen.bsky.social
Jane Richardson was born #OTD in 1941

+ Developed the Richardson (ribbon) diagram to represent proteins' 3D structure (becoming a standard representation for protein structures)
+ MacArthur Fellow, 1985
+ Elected, Nat'l Academy of Sciences, 1991
+ President, Biophysical Society, 2012

#WomenInSTEM
Vibrant color portrait of Jane S. Richardson, the visionary biophysicist and artist who revolutionized structural biology with her invention of ribbon diagrams. She gazes warmly at the camera with a bright, knowing smile that radiates quiet brilliance and decades of curiosity. Her silver-blonde hair woven with gentle waves. Large, elegant dangling earrings catch the light, and she wears a richly patterned brown blouse embroidered with intricate turquoise paisley motifs and delicate beadwork that echoes the molecular elegance she has spent her life depicting. Behind her floats a luminous, dreamlike backdrop of glowing molecular structures--interlocking hexagonal and ribbon-like forms in electric blues, teals, and greens--blending science and art in a single, living canvas. Hand-drawn and hand-colored (by Jane Richardson) scientific artwork known as a Richardson ribbon diagram (or “ribbon model”), one of the iconic visual inventions of Jane Richardson that transformed the way we see and understand protein structures. A graceful, three-dimensional tangle of protein backbone ribbons twists and spirals through space, rendered in soft pencil lines and luminous watercolor hues. Smooth golden-brown coils represent α-helices that curl like elegant ribbons, while broad teal-green arrows trace the flat, pleated strands of β-sheets slicing through the molecule with directional purpose. Thin, looping golden threads connect the secondary structures, creating a delicate, almost dance-like choreography of biology’s hidden architecture. The entire form is framed by a simple olive-green mat and dark border, giving the drawing the quiet dignity of both fine art and precise scientific illustration—a timeless bridge between molecular reality and human imagination.
January 26, 2026 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
jensfoell.de
LinkedIn probably wasn’t the best channel to post this, but I stand by it
A LinkedIn post from my profile, reading: “It's a very simple equation, really: Science communication needs to be accurate, it needs to be authentic, and it needs to be transparent. If you're not doing it that way, you're not doing science communication at all. In addition, *good* science communication is inclusive, it's ethical, it's sustainable. If you're not heeding these things, you're not doing science communication right. Which is why I am profoundly shocked by ostensibly reasonable people promoting the use of chatbots for science communication. Their use decreases factual accuracy. It decreases transparency. It decreases authenticity. Those things are true regardless of *which* chatbot you're using and regardless of *how* you're using it. Plus, the tech is not sustainable, not inclusive, not ethical. The promotion and use of Al chatbots is already damaging science communication and, if taken to the extreme, will be capable of quickly destroying it. Not through the rise of evil Al, but through ignorance on part of the users, rapidly destroying the trust that science communicators have been able to build over decades. Everything I will ever publish will be written by humans, and by humans only. If science communication goes the way of the robots, it will go there without me.”
January 26, 2026 at 6:23 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
davewalker.bsky.social
The enemy - how they travel
Black and white drawing titled ‘The enemy - how they travel’. Picture of small boat, which is crossed out. Picture of private jet - not crossed out.
January 23, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
rsc.org
Join our @errantscience.com #RSCPoster live webinar & pick up some tips for designing your poster. 🎨 The webinar is sponsored by the School of Chemistry& Chemical Engineering @unisouthampton.bsky.social

👉 Tune in on the day via the RSC LinkedIn (https://rsc.li/49HZJL7) page to take part! #ChemSky
January 22, 2026 at 2:08 PM
moraigmonkey.bsky.social
Potential collaboration with @rsc-cicag.bsky.social ?
January 22, 2026 at 10:49 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
dorianlynskey.bsky.social
Every day we all have to think about one of the most irredeemable cunts in the history of the world. What’s he doing? What’s he said now? How will it affect your life? What will be left once he’s finished smashing it all up? It’s unconscionable
January 21, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
watsoncomedian.bsky.social
I realise, by the way, that Twitter's growth was eventually what killed it, so it's not about expanding for its own sake. But there ARE lots of interesting, non-toxic people who would enrich this place but have just not really thought about it.
watsoncomedian.bsky.social Mark Watson @watsoncomedian.bsky.social · 10d
Thinking about how slow some people (who would love it) have been to get on Bluesky, and it occurred to me Twitter was 5 years in before it really took on household-name status. I've persuaded two people to join today. I challenge you to do the same. (No dicks.)
January 21, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
gingertotty.bsky.social
*FUCK JANUARY SALE*

Not an excuse to stay in bed for five more minutes so I can pretend I am basing “productive” HONEST

ko-fi.com/dippyfish/li...

Have a browse in my ko-fi cave of wonders, full of art miscellany, originals, artists proofs etc

#artsale #art #januarysales #bsnm #mhhsbd #ukgiftam
Intergalactic Space FWOG prints - a frog drifting through a glorious galaxy Haggis Meeps and Tatties - for a daft muppety take on the forthcoming Burn’s Night tradish supper Little painted limpet shell with crab, fishes and seaweed - a tiny seaside vista One-off Edvard BUNch’s Scream canvas - A4ish. A test of my Bunnies in Great art piece based on the old master but reimagined with 100% more bunny
January 21, 2026 at 9:14 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
gingertotty.bsky.social
Some of the other random TINGS in the *January can fuck right off please buy my art* sale…

ko-fi.com/dippyfish/li...

#bsnm #artsale #art #miscellaneous #fuckjanuary #mhhsbd #ukgiftam
Flamingo floatie bunny print - a test for the bunny book I keep avoid illustrating 🙄 An artist’s proof of my Bunicelli’s Venus art The last MEEP linocut in ombré majenta and purple Spike Sillybollocks pissed off hedgehog stomping along going COCK!
January 21, 2026 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
chemistryworld.com
Exclusive: chemistry's international governing body is moving from its home of 25 years in the US to two cities in Europe.
Iupac announces it is moving from the US to a joint home in Spain and Italy
Dual headquarters decision a result of strong bids from both cities
www.chemistryworld.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
katherinettyson.bsky.social
“The old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy.

But from the fracture, we can build something better, stronger, and more just.”

- Mark Carney, Canadian Prime Minister

World Economic Forum (WEF), Davos 2026
January 21, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
callybeaton.bsky.social
Women’s bodies, other people’s countries - what is it about the word ‘no’ that Trump finds so difficult to understand?
January 20, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
altmetric.com
“She always worked hard. But we didn’t know anything about this until 2018 when it came out. Everything she did was secretive.“

Didn’t mom say anything when you used GPS?” Zebra asked. “She was concentrating on her map in the backseat!” Oglesby laughed.”

Untouchable.

thezebra.org/2025/03/13/m...
January 20, 2026 at 7:41 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
drbeth.bsky.social
What an amazing woman, what a life, what a gift to the world she was.
January 20, 2026 at 7:46 AM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
chemlibcam.bsky.social
#MentalHealthMonday #AcademicWellbeing
actionhappiness.bsky.social Action for Happiness @actionhappiness.bsky.social · 12d
A gentle reminder: feelings are real, even if “Blue Monday” isn’t.

However you’re doing today – you’re not alone.

You don’t need a special date on a calendar to deserve care. 💛

#mentalhealth #kindness #bluemonday #actionforhappiness
January 19, 2026 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
drclairemurray.com
This is one for all the #WomeninSTEM. If you are happy to, could you share some of the more awkward and unusual questions you have been asked? The ones your male colleagues would never be asked.

I'm running an event @helmholtz.de with the awesome Michelle Browne for #IDWAGIS
January 19, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Fiona McMillan
duncanweldon.bsky.social
If I was President of the United States, the last thing I’d do is start questioning territorial claims based on ‘people arriving in boats hundreds of years ago’.
January 19, 2026 at 9:05 AM