Mastodawn

SellaTheChemist Jun 13, 2025

A little more about why I returned the #RoyalSociety Faraday Prize, with a question for everyone to ponder. #Musk

https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/why-i-returned-the-faraday-prize-to-the-royal-society/4021668.article

Why I returned the Faraday prize to the Royal Society

Andrea Sella explains how inaction over Elon Musk's membership motivated him to act

Chemistry World

Das Jun 13, 2025

@sellathechemist Thank you! For all your #SciComm !

John Robinson Jun 13, 2025

@sellathechemist Bravo!

John Faithfull 🌍🇪🇺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🧡✊🏻✊🏿Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Perfectly put ☹️👏🤬

@FaithfullJohn Thank you, John. Thank you.

Knud Jahnke Jun 10, 2025

Thank you!

Dr Susi Arnott Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Impressed, while sympathising with your heavy heart
Ping @CrispinHughes

FediThing

Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Thank you, awesome respect. You are standing up for humanity in science 👏

Pauline von Hellermann Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist This is very impressive indeed. Also: congratulations on winning it in the first place!

@pvonhellermannn I'm yesterday's man. So rather than leaving the lump of base metal in a drawer, using it like a piece of pavé seemed a more effective option… 🤣

Dagnabbit, Pascaline! 💥Jun 10, 2025

Perfect pavé and sabot!

@pvonhellermannn

Derek Black Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Absolutely right. Well done!

@sellathechemist https://archive.is/MBbO8

Ret Jun 10, 2025

eLearningTechie Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Bravo! Thank you for doing the right thing. RS's inaction on this is indefensible.

Dr Susi Arnott Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Jumping the paywall with this link:
https://archive.ph/MBbO8

Dagnabbit, Pascaline! 💥Jun 10, 2025

@SusiArnott

Thanks, I had been looking for it and I think others may have as well 😊

@pascaline @SusiArnott Sorry - I htought I'd provided the shareable link.

Dagnabbit, Pascaline! 💥Jun 10, 2025

It's fine, really 😊

@SusiArnott

John Carlsen 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇪🇺Jul 1, 2025

@SusiArnott @sellathechemist

I too found that link past the FT paywall:

"Royal Society prize winner returns award in protest over Elon Musk

Andrea Sella is latest scientist to express dismay over UK science academy’s refusal to criticise tech billionaire"

by Michael Peel and Anjana Ahuja in London

https://archive.ph/MBbO8

SellaTheChemist Jul 1, 2025

@johnlogic @SusiArnott Thanks for spreading the word.

Ruth Mottram Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist I don't think congratulations is quite the right word - but thankyou for the courage to do this and to do it so publicly.

Martin Vermeer FCD Jun 10, 2025

@Ruth_Mottram @sellathechemist Wow! Didn't see that coming. Sadly, not in any position to do something similar 😏

@martinvermeer @Ruth_Mottram We all do what we can with what we have. But is it really courage? What is the downside? I look at the people standing in front of militarised riot police, or under fire from tanks, drones and missiles and standing firm. They are the brave ones. I"m just an old guy talking the talk, hoping it nudges a few others to do the right thing. Not really brave.
The upside for me has been the outpouring of love and support. Not a single negative response online. Astonishing!

Martin Vermeer FCD Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist @Ruth_Mottram I know, right? I just have my toots here. And then I send some money every month to Ukraine, which I can do as I have a good pension. Not even worth boasting about.

Dorothy Bishop Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist I had same: far more congratulatory emails for resigning from RS than I had for being elected!
You may get a few weird people turning up in your emails, but for me ratio of positive to negative was around 19:1. And the negative were not impressive.
I think the RS really underestimates the strength of public opinion on this issue.

@deevybee At the moment, the ratio is infinite. I have not had a single neutral response from social media.

Amusingly I had one very flat reply to the email that I sent a few people out of courtesy, to make sure they knew what was coming.
My naughty mind now infers things from that response that I won't put out in public but which make me giggle like a schoolboy… Nothing like meta-data to help fill in the blanks, right?

Khleedril Jun 14, 2025

@sellathechemist @deevybee " Nothing like meta-data to help fill in the blanks, right?"

There are two types of people in the world:

1) Those that can extrapolate from incomplete data,

SellaTheChemist Jun 14, 2025

@khleedril @deevybee and…… ? 🤣

(I plan to plagiarise that one!)

Dorothy Bishop Jun 14, 2025

@sellathechemist One weird thing that’s happening to me that may be Musk-related is occasional deluges of automated messages on email from various help-desks that I haven’t contacted. The timing suggest they are probably from US and I suspect a disgruntled Musk fan. So far they are no more than a minor irritation, but let me know if you get anything similar

SellaTheChemist Jun 14, 2025

@deevybee Weird. And unpleasant. The anonymity is what makes it unsettling.

Stephen Royle Jun 14, 2025

@deevybee sorry to interject, but I also recently started getting these helpdesk emails (to my university address). I signed Stephen's letter but beyond that I don't think I'm a target of Musk fanboys. @sellathechemist

Dorothy Bishop Jun 14, 2025

@steveroyle @sellathechemist interesting!

The Tepid Emperor Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Respect.

glasspshr Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist thank you, Sella

Respect. 🙂

BashStKid Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Well done. I hope it’s not over the top to say this is a truer memorial to the spirit of Faraday than the medal itself.

Billy Smith Jun 10, 2025

Archive version here:

https://archive.ph/MBbO8

moooping Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Thank you for speaking up!

Mrinappropriate Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Well done. I respect and admire you for making this decision.

Mostafa Hussein Omar Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist mad respect 👏

@moftasa ❤️

AnneH Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Respect!

Ag Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Great respect to you for ‘doing the right thing’. Time now for the RS to grow a spine and do the right thing. I continue to wonder what Musk’s ‘technological innovations’ are. In particular, whether genuinely his, or simply those of his employees.

François 🇺🇦Jun 10, 2025

well done !!!!

Indyzign 🏳️‍⚧️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist well, as the saying goes “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

You are a good man, you have done something significant, and I wholeheartedly applaud your stance.

Robin Barton Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist This is courage and we can only hope more follow.

@Robo105 It's hardly courage. The brave people are the ones in the streets, and under live fire. And old guy with little to lose isn't brave. But maybe I can embolden others a little too.

Em & future cats 🇺🇦🐈🏳️‍🌈Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Thank you for doing this 🩷
I will remember you for what you did not only for sending back the award but also for what you do as a scientist 🩷

Em & future cats 🇺🇦🐈🏳️‍🌈Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist
I have another problem… why do they still have musk as a member? I think we all understand that he isn’t a scientist even in the abstract sense.
Is he there because he’s just a privileged white man with some British blood in him? Because there comes a point when we need to say no to these people. (I am not ignorant I know he still is a billionaire who likes to throw his money around to make other’s lives miserable) still….

@em_and_future_cats Well, that is kind of the heart of the problem, isn't it? I've carefully avoided telling them what exactly to do, but I suspect that they got themselves into this mess through a mix of starry-eyed fanboyness combined with hopeful sycophancy. And now they're trapped by their pusillanimity.
How's that for polysyllabic pomposity? 🤣

Man of Lard Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist Andrea, much admiration for your action (and to the others that have resigned from the RS in the wake of Muskgate). I can only hope that the RS reconsiders its position given the full-throated assault on science occasioned by a member's action - they really are misreading the public opinion on this one.

@manoflard Thank you. I think you are right and I shall say so in my reply to the RS.

Elisa Fadda-🔺Jun 10, 2025

@sellathechemist 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Thank you for your shining example of integrity and character! I truly hope more will follow

Martin Whitworth Jun 11, 2025

@sellathechemist Well done, Andrea. Lovely to meet you again at Cheltenham Science Festival but I now learn that you had an important issue on your mind. Glad that the festival provided the opportunity for you to consult with others.

SellaTheChemist Jun 11, 2025

@Martin_Whitworth Thanks. I was a little tense and preoccupied.

David Jun 11, 2025

Great science requires great activism

Colin the Mathmo Jun 11, 2025

@sellathechemist Adding my voice to those expressing respect ... I wish actions like this were unnecessary, but the Royal Society has absolutely failed to live up to its obligations.

Kudos.

SellaTheChemist Jun 11, 2025

@ColinTheMathmo

A luta continua; Vitória é certa.

(with apologies to Samora Machel whose Radio Mocambique I used to listen to as a teenager)

Colin the Mathmo Jun 11, 2025

@sellathechemist Vitória não é certa, mas precisamos continuar lutando.

Coragem!