beautiful day for the FACT conference at UW! all actinides, all the time

Uruguay’s Renewable Charge: A Small Nation, A Big Lesson For The World Uruguay built a power grid that runs 99% on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. Here’s how its bold energy overhaul became a global model.

“Uruguay did what most nations still call impossible: it built a power grid that runs almost entirely on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. The physicist who led that transformation says the same playbook could work anywhere—if governments have the courage to change the rules.”

#NollaignamBan
During WWII Kay McNulty was one of the women who devised processing routines for the ENIAC machine, establishing how artificial intelligence developed. At the public launch in 1946 the women programmers were relegated to the role of hostesses. www.dib.ie/biography/mc...

Incredibly sad to hear of the passing of Dave Dixon on Friday. Dave was very supportive of me throughout my career, and I deeply appreciated his intellect, knowledge, and passion for fundamental science across the periodic table. A huge loss for the computational chemistry community #compchem

If you see this, post a random fact about yourself:

As a child, I danced on stage with Chuck Berry.

Accurate and Efficient Prediction of pKw in Aqueous Electrolytes Using Local Electrostatic Potentials The Kw = 10–pKw in aqueous electrolytes exhibit significant variations as a function of ion concentration. This behavior is not well-described by the Pitzer model, particularly at high concentrations....

last paper of the yr! 2025 saw the first papers from my group after moving to @utahchemistry.bsky.social. Glad we are finally back on track research wise and excited to keep on sharing all our new ideas! This paper shows an expedient new way to predict pKa's! #compchem

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Electron Density Transport During Chemical Reactions Statistical approaches are an increasingly powerful technique for characterizing changes in the electronic structure during reactions or molecular excitations. High-throughput studies in complex envir...

Fun new paper out today! A new tool to explore how electronic density changes during chemical reactions. #compchem

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Catalyst 2025

Check out the latest issue of the annual Department of Chemistry Catalyst magazine! special article on critical materials - highlighting all of the fantastic work of my colleagues.

issuu.com/universityof...

The casual disdain underlying the NCAR dismantling effort is hitting so hard. Just bottomless grievance wielding a buzzsaw. No curiosity. No forethought.

וְשָׂנֵ֤אתִֽי אֲנִי֙ אֶת־כָּל־עֲמָלִ֔י שֶֽׁאֲנִ֥י עָמֵ֖ל תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ שֶׁ֣אַנִּיחֶ֔נּוּ לָֽאָדָ֖ם שֶׁיִּֽהְיֶ֥ה אַֽחֲרָֽי

וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֗עַ הֶֽחָכָ֤ם יִֽהְיֶה֙ א֣וֹ סָכָ֔ל וְיִשְׁלַט֙ בְּכָל־עֲמָלִ֔י שֶֽׁעָמַ֥לְתִּי וְשֶֽׁחָכַ֖מְתִּי תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ גַּם־זֶ֖ה הָֽבֶל

Great dinner with colleagues at pacifichem! @luolab-utah.bsky.social @utahchemistry.bsky.social

Paramagnetic NMR used to probe covalent character of halogen bonds Assessing hyperfine shifts in paramagnetic NMR spectra provides new details on the covalent character of halogen bonded cocrystals

Scientists in Czechia have devised a new method to assess the covalency of halogen bonds.

Topology without tears Nature Reviews Chemistry - As scientists, our instinct is often to view physical systems within a Euclidean geometric space, defined by distances and angles measurable through techniques like X-ray...

Really enjoyed creating this primer on topology for Nat. Rev. Chem. I hope it demystifies fundamental concepts in topology and helps you see opportunities in your own research! #compchem #chemsky #topology
rdcu.be/eQLAn

fall is always an exciting time and I love engaging with prospective students! our Ph.D. program is having a virtual information session - come learn about our amazing science, supportive infrastructure and, perhaps most importantly, the famous Waffle Wednesday. #chemsky #gradschool

If anyone needs to know this, most plastic wrap in the US is made from polyethylene, but plastic wrap in Europe is made from PVC. This really matters if you are trying to make a decorative sugar dome for a cake after you saw them do it on a British baking show. #chemsky

The Python Software Foundation rejected a $1.5 million U.S. government grant because it required them to renounce all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

www.theregister.com/2025/10/27/p...

I love my Henry Eyring Theory Center peeps - what a fun Halloween party! #compchem

Mineral dissolution by dimeric complexes | PNAS Mineral dissolution is typically thought to occur by the detachment of monomeric building blocks of the crystal structure, although direct evidence...

Very proud of this great paper - a perfect synergy of experiment and theory! Congrats to postdoc Qing Guo ! #compchem #chemsky Mineral dissolution by dimeric complexes | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Age and gender distortion in online media and large language models - Nature Stereotypes of age-related gender bias are socially distorted, as evidenced by the age gap in the representations of women and men across various media and algorithms, despite no systematic age differences in the workforce.

A much neglected point of discussion in LLMs.
search.app/Prk5u

Monica Olvera de la Cruz brings chemical simulations into the real world This researcher unites theoretical and experimental science using physics, biology, and chemistry

Monica Olvera de la Cruz brings chemical simulations into the real world

This computational chemist unites theoretical and experimental science using physics, biology, and chemistry. #HispanicHeritageMonth

cen.acs.org/materials/po...

Σ3(111) Grain Boundaries Accelerate Hydrogen Insertion into Palladium Nanostructures Grain boundaries (GBs) are frequently implicated as key defect structures facilitating metal hydride formation, yet their specific role remains poorly understood due to their structural complexity. He...

New Nano Letters paper online! We studied the #hydrogen insertion into Pd nanostructures enriched with well-defined Σ3(111) #GrainBoundaries. PdGB exhibits dramatically accelerated hydriding and dehydriding kinetics compared with Pd nanoparticles! pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US Rutgers historian Mark Bray is trying to flee to Spain after after an online campaign from far-right influencers was followed by death threats. He was turned back at the airport on his first attempt.

BREAKING:

"Just landed."

Mark Bray confirms to me this morning that he and his family did, on the second attempt, make it out of the US and to Spain

www.wired.com/story/mark-b...

Creation of the Separation Archive for Elements (SAFE) Database Published in Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange (Ahead of Print, 2025)

ML requires databases - this has been severely lacking in chemical separations - but no more! Introducing the Separations Archive for Elements (SAFE). Super proud of a great collab with Los Alamos Natl Lab and Fordham University #machinelearning #chemsky

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Every Artist Has a Favorite Subject. For Some, That’s Math. - The New York Times share.google/GEnaHYPrqFWj...

Congratulations to the recipients of this year's Distinguished Alumni Award, Dr. Hyung Kyu Shin, Dr. Michael Hunnicutt, and Dr. Sally Hunnicutt!

Read more about the event and each of our awardees:

www.chemistry.utah.edu/awards/2025-...

IPAM NSF funding status - IPAM Latest Updates: We have been notified that the suspension of our NSF grant DMS-1925919 has been lifted. However, at present NSF is not issuing new awards to UCLA. Frequently asked questions: 1. What i...

#chemsky #compchemsky Happy Sunday. I wanted to make this case again for IPAM at UCLA.

www.ipam.ucla.edu/news/nsf-fun...

If you work in our field, chances are that an IPAM program contributed to the science you do at some point. AI/ML, molecular science, materials, ...

Consider supporting them.

Health clinic to host Idaho Falls public meeting to help downwinders apply for compensation • Idaho Capital Sun In Idaho Falls, a public meeting will discuss a reinstated federal program that compensates people affected by nuclear weapons testing.

Under Congress’s reauthorization of the program through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, all of Utah and Idaho are considered affected areas. That means people who have certain cancers and lived in Idaho for 12 months between 1951 to 1962 are likely eligible for compensation.

How Universal Child Care Could Change the Economy

Universal childcare wouldn't just relieve working families of a massive cost burden. It improves the whole economy.

"There are a lot of reasons building a child care system that works for everyone is important to our children, to parents, to employers and to economic growth."

Another consequence of the loss of twitter is missing news like this in real time. I came across the obituary while updating my slides for GenChem. The great Darleane Hoffman died earlier this month at 98. A true giant of the field.

chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/darlean...