Road sign seen in front of a bar:

“Two helium atoms walk into a bar…”

“He, He…” 😂

#Joke #Humor #Chemistry #Science

From a colleague in my dept. - preprint on ArXiv

Can Agents Price a Reaction? Evaluating LLMs on Chemical Cost Reasoning
https://arxiv.org/html/2605.07251v1

#Chemistry #Science #LLM #AI

A quick chemistry demo I'm setting up to show some students later this month.
Catalytic oxidation of Acetone by copper.

First, get an old copper penny (new copper clad steel ones don't seem to work as well)
Drill a small hole and fix it to some stiff wire.
#Chemistry

Today in the classroom:

Back to school after I extended the long weekend for some much needed rest. We have this week and next remaining.

First year chem will watch a video on modern lithium ion batteries to round out electrochemistry. We may do some cyanotypes tomorrow, but I need to get my act together and prep lab materials.

Second year chem may synthesize aspirin today...or clean the lab. Not sure which yet.

#chemistry #teaching 

✨🔬 For a long time we knew #gold stayed shiny because it resisted #oxygen.

Researchers at #Tulane University recently mapped the #physics behind this trait, and they found that surface #atoms on the metal rearrange themselves into a hexagonal structure that blocks #oxygen molecules from reacting.

👉 https://gizmodo.com/scientists-identify-atomic-trick-that-keeps-gold-shiny-2000761911

#chemistry #science #metallurgy #jewelry #elements #research #metals #education