* millimolar. aka millimoles/liter

inhales

Complex 1a was prepared according to well-known synthetic procedures. The reduction potential of the complex was increased due to the nephelauxetic expansion of the occupied FMOs induced by photolytic epimerization of the auxiliary tetrahydrophosphazolidine sulfide ligand to enable a strongly σ-donating dihaptic coordination mode.

translation: we made molecule 1a, we shouldn’t need to tell you how, it’s obvious, lmao, git gud. the molecule became less likely to gain extra electrons because shining light on it made one of its weird-ass totally-not-bullshit parts wiggle around a bit so that it could bind more strongly to the metal atom through two of its own adjacent atoms, making the metal atom’s relevant electrons floofier.

single thread go brrr

It happens in industry, too, but often it’s even the stakeholders’ fault :) I’ve still got so many reports to write…

Papers!

(jk my company mandates it after unilaterally deciding to stop paying for endnote and forbids other software im miserable send help)

In grocery stores in many parts of the US at least, it is extremely hard not to find bread in plastic bags. Even the one of 3 near me that has its own bakery puts the bread in a plastic bag, and then in another bag that is paper with a plastic “window”, and the paper part has a PE wax lining for god knows what reason.

I feel your pain on sodium; anything convenient always has absurd amounts. One suggestion is street tacos with low-sodium tortillas (for me usually corn, though storebought suck and are bitter if not steamed immediately before serving) if you are willing to prep the toppings in advance. Lunch the day of is about as much effort as assembling a sandwich: reheat toppings on tortillas, and then add freshness (e.g., cilantro, citrus juice, raw onion). Chopped onions and lemons last maybe a week in the fridge but lose a bit of their pungency.

For prep, I add a bit of oil and black pepper to chopped veggies like bell peppers, hot peppers, onions, garlic, or corn and char broil the lot in the oven. I also usually presoak 1 cup of black beans and then blast them in my instant pot for 1 h with 2.5-3 cups water, half an onion, a couple cloves of garlic cut in half, and a bayleaf or two (don’t bother chopping anything, remove before serving). Then, I add 3 oz tomato paste and mexican-adjacent seasonings and simmer until it thickens up. I like this premade salt-free spice blend, but I ran out recently and am using 1 tsp cumin, 1.5 tsp ancho chili powder, 0.5 tsp each of smoked paprika and hot chili powder, and < 0.25 tsp salt. The same mixes go well on e.g., chicken breast prepped however you like if you also want meat on your tacos.

If you’re looking for ways to cut sodium but are annoyed by blandness, I’ve found that smokey things like paprika and the char on the veggies can go a long way toward compensating for reduced salt. Nutritional yeast is also maybe 70% of the way there umami-wise to high-sodium cheeses like parmesan.

Also also, if you are reducing sodium for blood pressure reasons, and if you are not on ACE inhibitors, salt cut with potassium chloride (“low-sodium salt”) can help, as can foods rich in potassium like tomatoes and beans. If you are on ACE inhibitors, check with your doc; they make your body retain potassium and can cause problems if you eat to much of K.

Sorry for the long post, it’s 01:00 and my rambling got the better of me.

something to do with liquid nitrogen? /s

A French-American guy (grew up in US) in my school described an encounter at a zoo when he was a young. Apparently, he ran up to the exhibit and shouted, “look! it’s a daddy fuck and a mommy fuck with a baby fuck!”, much to the chagrin of his parents.

Hot take: calories are the more intuitive energy unit. “How much energy it takes to heat 1 mL aka 1 g water 1°C” is more relatable than “how much energy it takes to move a 1 kg mass 1 m while accelerating that mass at 1 m/s/s”.

kcal = Cal is silly though

Side note: I know that the heating water thing is problematic because it depends on T, P, and purity (yay thermo), which is why these days cal is defines in terms of J. That does not change my opinion.

But… but… muh thulium…

jk all lanthanides are the same don’t @ me physicists

also Ce(IV) catalyst stans

also also total synthesis tryhards who think SmI2 is ever the right call

Phosphorus, sulfur, …?

Most chem PhDs don’t even know the whole thing lol. We had to memorize just the symbols in high school, but positions weren’t required. In my grad-level inorg course, the first test was a blank table that we had to fill in, but even then the f-block and transactinides were not required.

Mitochondrion

I mean… just rotate it 90 degrees ((()))

Oh, I’m sure this’ll end well.

/s

Corpse, Corps, Horse, and Worse

I will keep you, Susy, busy,

Make your head with heat grow dizzy;

Tear in eye, your dress you’ll tear;

Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.

banger poem

Best I can tell from quick internet searches: Old English: wīfmann/menn (“female person/s”). The w rounded the following vowel giving a wo- pronunciation, which for some reason (umlaut?) stuck for the singular but not the plural. The spelling of the plural changed to match that of the singular in spite of the pronunciation.

* Everything here carries the caveat “in some dialects, …” because English

Nah, reach is a huge advantage. I’m not sure how rapier fencing differs from regulation sabre/epée/foil, but here’s my 2 cents from that perspective:

Smaller people are not, as a rule, substantially quicker than larger. If you see any difference in your experience, it’s likely a selection bias (shorter people have to be quicker to compete at the same level). The shorter person must enter the strike range of the taller person before the taller person comes within theirs and must be significantly quicker or more skilled to overcome that dead space. If the taller person can maintain a proper distance, gg. Taller people can also lunge farther, giving a wider active range.

Targeting is a smaller issue than you make it out to be; footwork and maintaining balance, which reposition the core, are at least as important as leaning to dodge, and advantage the taller person (longer legs = more movement range). If the taller person is coming from above as you say, they can just continue their slash (sabre) downward toward that less mobile core, or squat a bit deeper if the arc won’t reach. If instead you were referring to a poke, they’re either already targeting the torso anyway (foil) or whatever body part is most easily reachable (epée; still often torso, but cheeky wrist/arm strikes can be something of an equalizer here), and anyway they are already striking at a range that the shorter person cannot, making a successful counterattack more difficult.

Besides reach, a height difference is brutal when it comes to sabre fencing; the shorter person is restricted to targeting arms and torso (can’t reach the head easily), so the taller person can anticipate strikes from fewer angles. The taller person can come from any direction and has gravity on their side for own overhead strikes. Those suck to defend against.