Neil Withers
neilwithers.bsky.social
Neil Withers
@neilwithers.bsky.social
Features Editor for Chemistry World, Twitter refugee. Tractor fan
Can't wait to see the write-up of the MOF/[porous] coordination polymer/whatever nomenclature debate on the BBC!!!
October 8, 2025 at 11:17 AM
I always say that although the Nobel gets criticised it is definitely good for one thing: getting some proper chemistry* in front of people's eyeballs, once a year.

So it's great to see this real in-depth reporting from the Guardian:
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Oh.

*and biology
October 8, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Electrons go wheeee
October 7, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Well that's perfectly clear.

WTF??
September 24, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Well that's perfectly clear.

WTF??
September 24, 2025 at 12:59 PM
NB, I have evidence of him defacing RSC property (OK, signing his own book in the library) for future blackmail
August 12, 2025 at 1:31 PM
It’s amazing who you bump into on a sunny day in London… #ChemSky
August 12, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Congrats! Please enjoy my Venn diagram that proves the potential existence of Wout van der Poel(s)
June 18, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Yes indeed - although I always assume it’s by Joseph Wright! And here’s what the Bedlam furnace looked like in 2023. (I grew up ~15 miles away and now inflict the regular visits I had as a child on my own kids!)
June 3, 2025 at 8:31 AM
I’m not convinced by some of the chemistry in one of the museums though - that’s not how atomic numbers work!
June 2, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Here’s the bridge from some more recognisable angles
June 2, 2025 at 3:08 PM
The streets of Ironbridge (and Coalbrookdale) are paved (well, kerbed) with iron (if you look closely right at the bottom of the pic)
June 2, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Amazed /impressed to see while re-reading The Log from The Sea of Cortez that John Steinbeck knew perfectly well that scientific discovery isn’t neutral, but ‘warped’ by race and personality.

Page 2!! 1941!!
May 2, 2025 at 4:34 PM
These fields covered in solar panels are so dammed ugly, aren’t they?

Oh no wait, those are crops covered in plastic, as is increasingly common.
May 2, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Here’s one I prepared earlier!
May 2, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Then we had this visitor to our hedgehog house later on
April 29, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Cutting edge chemistry in this week’s Phoenix comic!
February 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Mostly Seville, plus some lemons and homegrown yuzu
February 17, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Here’s last month’s batch!
February 17, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I share a birthday with one of the incredibly famous people in this pic
January 13, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Marmalade! (I forgot to mention or indeed photograph the boiling, slicing, water and sugar, reboiling steps)

Happy new year everyone.
January 6, 2025 at 11:15 AM
What do you get if you mix 1kg of Seville oranges, 450g of lemon and 150g of *home-grown* yuzu?
January 6, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Such sad news about Fraser, what an incredible figure in world chemistry. I feel lucky to have known him, and those he raised and mentored who then influenced me: his daughter Ali and @stuartcantrill.bsky.social
December 31, 2024 at 4:09 PM
Thanks to all the writers, and of course our wonderful art & design team. I’ll leave you with a few of my signature woeful sketches that various artists turned into fabulous images this year!
December 20, 2024 at 11:35 AM
With the 12 laureates looking back, there's a great quote from Bob Lefkowitz about a reaction from a chemistry blogger to 'yet another biologist winning'...
October 3, 2024 at 11:22 AM