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ScienceSational
@sciencesational.bsky.social
I appreciate science's practical aspects, but I prefer knowing and learning more stuff just because it feels good.
Selected Science Writing — Enrico Uva

🧪 Origin-of-life & Biochemistry Changing Ideas About The Origin Of Life Autumn Leaf Chemistry: More Than Just Eye Candy 🧬 Basic Chemistry Specific Heat: a Beautiful Characteristic Property Even When Pure, Water Is Blue Relativistic Effects In Your Wedding Ring…
Selected Science Writing — Enrico Uva
🧪 Origin-of-life & Biochemistry Changing Ideas About The Origin Of Life Autumn Leaf Chemistry: More Than Just Eye Candy 🧬 Basic Chemistry Specific Heat: a Beautiful Characteristic Property Even When Pure, Water Is Blue Relativistic Effects In Your Wedding Ring McGill University OSS Articles Teaching is also Learning | Office for Science and Society A Call To Teach Chemistry | Going on a Date | Why Scary Lab Accidents Happen
uvachemistry.wordpress.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Iridium, Why Was it Named After a Goddess?

What got me thinking about iridium this morning is that it's currently at $234/gram---more expensive than gold. Its volatile price, has gone up by a factor of 7 between 2018 and 202. It is influenced by the growing demand for iridium in the aerospace,…
Iridium, Why Was it Named After a Goddess?
What got me thinking about iridium this morning is that it's currently at $234/gram---more expensive than gold. Its volatile price, has gone up by a factor of 7 between 2018 and 202. It is influenced by the growing demand for iridium in the aerospace, electronics, and medical sectors. No other element is more resistant to corrosion than iridium, and only its "cousin" osmium is more dense.
uvachemistry.wordpress.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Sherlock Holmes: "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."
February 11, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Sunday morning formula. Can easily be derived by induction. For n = 0,1,2,3...
February 8, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Oak forests are now rare due to human exploitation, with old-growth forests—those with very large, long-lived trees and abundant deadwood—comprising only 1% of Europe’s forests. Deadwood, often dismissed as “useless,” stores carbon, enriches soil as humus, and supports countless saproxylic organisms
Wouldn’t God Love Oak Forests?
I was a friend's mom's funeral yesterday wondering about the existence of God. If there is a God, I thought, wouldn't he prefer that we prayed under trees instead of converting forests into oak pews? Oaks have caught my attention since I was 5, even though a relative ridiculed my fascination with acorns, something she thought was meaningless and commonplace. A White Oak can live for at least six centuries, and the genus,
uvachemistry.wordpress.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:09 PM
December 25, 2025 at 11:56 AM
This reminds me of Sagan's book, Cosmos, which I read in my youth. It also featured a proof of why the root of 2 is irrational.
December 24, 2025 at 10:31 PM
The Search for Truth: Why Do We Value It?

A friend of mine asked several interesting questions. Something I've always found strange: the universe didn't have to be intelligible, yet it is. Why? Why does mathematics map the physical world so uncannily?  Wigner called it ‘the unreasonable…
The Search for Truth: Why Do We Value It?
A friend of mine asked several interesting questions. Something I've always found strange: the universe didn't have to be intelligible, yet it is. Why? Why does mathematics map the physical world so uncannily?  Wigner called it ‘the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics.’ Is that just a brute fact — or something deeper? Even when a truth is inconvenient, we still feel as human beings, obligated to assent to it (or search for it) .
uvachemistry.wordpress.com
December 23, 2025 at 12:38 PM
December 6, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Corny #sciencehumor Apparently neutrinos have mass. I didn’t even know they were Catholic; I was going to tell you a time travel joke, but you didn’t like it; Did you know Mr. Spock had 3 ears? Left, right and the final front ear; Why didn't the photon have any luggage? He was traveling light.
November 13, 2025 at 9:00 PM
November 8, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Robert Bateman(1) spent 20 y teaching Geography in high school. He chose the discipline as an excuse to be outdoors. (2) was originally an abstract artist (3) has never had his works displayed at the National Gallery (4) his foundation uses art to promote a connection to nature and the environment.
November 7, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This is may have served as the inspiration for the #BatSignal: In 1875, from the roof of the Siemens Halske factory in Berlin, electrically-generated rays were bounced off a large mirror and projected onto dark clouds while an awe-stricken crowd looked on. (Shown: 1875 Scientific American article)
November 7, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Oceanus Procellarum is the largest of the #Moon's seas, and the only one classified as an 'ocean', its area is greater than that of the Gulf of Mexico on Earth. All "mare" are large, dark basaltic plains formed when ancient lava-flows filled impact basins. Photo credit: greg dunlap
November 5, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Superb symposium included Weissman's insights into in vivo CAR T therapy's advantages over in vitro; serendipity's role in the mRNA vaccine development; #RKJr 's dangerous hepatitis B policy; Joe's witty intro to #vaccines and a lot more @mcgilloss.bsky.social www.youtube.com/live/tmF0CDq...
The Genesis of the COVID Vaccine: The Path to the Nobel Prize (Trottier Symposium)
YouTube video by McGill Office for Science and Society
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:14 AM
In vivo CAR T therapy for killing cancer cells has several advantages over the ex vivo approach www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi... Nobelist Drew Weissman described it at the 2025 Trottier Public Science Symposium last night @mcgilloss.bsky.social
October 22, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Cooking tips( temperature& pH included) to encourage Maillard reactions, which enhance appearance and especially the taste of food containing protein and sugars.
Something tasty fresh out of the owen 🔥

Follow @chemistryunwrapped.bsky.social for more content

@chem.uzh.ch #chemsky @chemsky.bsky.social
Ever WONDERED why perfectly seared steak, roasted coffee, or baked bread SMELL so irresistible?👃🔥

It’s not just cooking — it’s chemistry at work! ⚗️

The secret is called the MAILLARD reaction, and it’s the science behind flavor.

@chem.uzh.ch @michaljuricek.bsky.social
October 18, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by ScienceSational
💫 Celebrate the festival of lights safely, and let the chemistry of joy shine bright!

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy Diwali filled with love, light, and laughter. #RSCIndia #ChemSky #Diwali2025
October 17, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Reposted by ScienceSational
Consumers in New Mexico and beyond may soon see a new warning label put on everything from nonstick pans and furniture to cosmetics and baby clothes that contain intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). cen.acs.org/policy/New-M... #chemsky 🧪
New Mexico proposes world’s broadest use of PFAS warning labels
The state’s proposed requirements have not been done anywhere else and stem from a 2025 law that also outlaws PFAS in certain products
cen.acs.org
October 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
'Love #nerdyFacts. The chemistry consultant for the Breaking Bad series, organic chemist Donna J. Nelson from Oklahoma State University, was also 2016 ACS President and is currently on the Scientific American's board of advisors. Not every chemist gets their pic flashed on 7th Av! I ❤️ NY. #chemsky
October 18, 2025 at 11:45 AM
#chemsky Bierling found that among smells perceived to be disgusting, those containing only 1 compound scored 67%; spices 42%. The categories with the most pleasant smells were sweet, scoring 88%, followed by bakery& fruit(44%), whose smells consist of many compounds. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A dataset of laymen olfactory perception for 74 mono-molecular odors - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - A dataset of laymen olfactory perception for 74 mono-molecular odors
www.nature.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:42 PM
The author criticizes both alarmist narratives, which emphasize worst-case scenarios, & dismissive ones, which treat pesticide fears as mere “scare stories”.

It's not a “science vs. vibes” thing— public concern is more than irrational emotion; it's a legitimate risk perception. #pesticides
October 11, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Robert Bunsen was the co-inventor (along with Kirchhoff)of the flame spectroscope.The invention relied on the Bunsen burner, developed by Bunsen after asking the university mechanic, Peter Desaga, to build a prototype that improved on Michael Faraday's version . uwaterloo.ca/chemistry/co... #chemsky
October 11, 2025 at 2:37 PM
"I’m a former creationist. Here’s why ‘follow the science’ failed." archive.ph/2025.09.23-0...
October 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Merely because she was a woman, PhD Maria Goeppert Mayer, spent 1930 to 1960 without a permanent paid post. But 3 years later, she was the cowinner of the #Nobel Prize in #Physics for realizing that spin orbit coupling of nucleons led to magic numbers-why oxygen is more common than elements 3 to 7.
October 3, 2025 at 2:15 PM