#atoms&molecules

[sounds-void-fishy]

ik i said i was gonna sleep but then fanfic and my cat nemesis screaming. anyways thinking about how ever since i was a teen ive not wanted to have kids but wanted to foster teens cause id be too scared to fuck a kid up but my set of skills has always been on track to being that of someone good at fostering teens.

and like. idk being maggot granddyke has rlly scratched that itch? especially with the idea of maggot summer camp? i am so so so full of care. being able to teach and help and support. this is all stuff i always wanted to do. this is what i was trying to do school to. and im so grateful that i get to.

i think a lot about this elderly dyke when i worked at an old folks home who toasted me when i told her how honoured i was.

i think about the kids at my high school who tomorrow afternoon are having a st patricks day party with my mom because she is one of the adult supervision and how i started that pride club nine years ago and how having a legacy at 24 is beautiful and terrifying

i think about my roommates when i moved into my current place who were like seven and ten years older than me and declared themselves my parents, at a time when i was freshly out of inpatient and floating at best

i think about the actor at sleep no more, and me crying from the beauty of the connection of queerness

i think about a friend of mine who was a youth leader at my congregation when i was in high school who i thought was nonbinary when i first met them. they didnt realise until quite a bit later. they are one of my dearest friends now

i think about the only time i went to summer camp, a week of leadership camp. it was the first place nobody knew my birth name. where i used just they/them pronouns. it was the first place i learned of the beauty of physical platonic intimacy, where we would all cuddle, or be close while playing cards or reading my immortal

i think of all of us holding hands across the years and the time and the space. in my heart and my mind there is a hangmans tree, from peter pan. the inside is all hollow and infinitely large and there is space for all those i love.

in my soul we are at summer camp and i am yearning so deeply for that to be real in whatever way i can make it

[realtidepod]

miss u bae <///3

[jcmarchi]

Researchers detect a new molecule in space

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/researchers-detect-a-new-molecule-in-space/

Researchers detect a new molecule in space

New research from the group of MIT Professor Brett McGuire has revealed the presence of a previously unknown molecule in space. The team’s open-access paper, “Rotational Spectrum and First Interstellar Detection of 2-Methoxyethanol Using ALMA Observations of NGC 6334I,” appears in April 12 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Zachary T.P. Fried, a graduate student in the McGuire group and the lead author of the publication, worked to assemble a puzzle comprised of pieces collected from across the globe, extending beyond MIT to France, Florida, Virginia, and Copenhagen, to achieve this exciting discovery. 

“Our group tries to understand what molecules are present in regions of space where stars and solar systems will eventually take shape,” explains Fried. “This allows us to piece together how chemistry evolves alongside the process of star and planet formation. We do this by looking at the rotational spectra of molecules, the unique patterns of light they give off as they tumble end-over-end in space. These patterns are fingerprints (barcodes) for molecules. To detect new molecules in space, we first must have an idea of what molecule we want to look for, then we can record its spectrum in the lab here on Earth, and then finally we look for that spectrum in space using telescopes.”

Searching for molecules in space

The McGuire Group has recently begun to utilize machine learning to suggest good target molecules to search for. In 2023, one of these machine learning models suggested the researchers target a molecule known as 2-methoxyethanol. 

“There are a number of ‘methoxy’ molecules in space, like dimethyl ether, methoxymethanol, ethyl methyl ether, and methyl formate, but 2-methoxyethanol would be the largest and most complex ever seen,” says Fried. To detect this molecule using radiotelescope observations, the group first needed to measure and analyze its rotational spectrum on Earth. The researchers combined experiments from the University of Lille (Lille, France), the New College of Florida (Sarasota, Florida), and the McGuire lab at MIT to measure this spectrum over a broadband region of frequencies ranging from the microwave to sub-millimeter wave regimes (approximately 8 to 500 gigahertz). 

The data gleaned from these measurements permitted a search for the molecule using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations toward two separate star-forming regions: NGC 6334I and IRAS 16293-2422B. Members of the McGuire group analyzed these telescope observations alongside researchers at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (Charlottesville, Virginia) and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. 

“Ultimately, we observed 25 rotational lines of 2-methoxyethanol that lined up with the molecular signal observed toward NGC 6334I (the barcode matched!), thus resulting in a secure detection of 2-methoxyethanol in this source,” says Fried. “This allowed us to then derive physical parameters of the molecule toward NGC 6334I, such as its abundance and excitation temperature. It also enabled an investigation of the possible chemical formation pathways from known interstellar precursors.”

Looking forward

Molecular discoveries like this one help the researchers to better understand the development of molecular complexity in space during the star formation process. 2-methoxyethanol, which contains 13 atoms, is quite large for interstellar standards — as of 2021, only six species larger than 13 atoms were detected outside the solar system, many by McGuire’s group, and all of them existing as ringed structures.  

“Continued observations of large molecules and subsequent derivations of their abundances allows us to advance our knowledge of how efficiently large molecules can form and by which specific reactions they may be produced,” says Fried. “Additionally, since we detected this molecule in NGC 6334I but not in IRAS 16293-2422B, we were presented with a unique opportunity to look into how the differing physical conditions of these two sources may be affecting the chemistry that can occur.”

[cartoonscientist]

I'm as disappointed as anyone else that they cut out the reagent abuse subplot from the OG Re-Animator, but I do have to appreciate how now the audience is left to wonder whether Herbert is on speed or just an incredibly manic person

[irregularjohnnywiggins]

My absolute favourite 'Wow. You missed the point of this so much that I'm actually impressed how much you missed the point by' that I've encountered recently is someone claiming the ending of Hogfather is grimdark.

[tchaikovskaya]

If u will allow me to say something elitist and dismissive and frankly a little mean…

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Atomizer of history: How perfume research has shaped a century of scientific innovation

Is the quest for the perfect top notes responsible for some of the world's most influential scientific discoveries? A new article in the journal Isis argues that fragrance research has stimulated scientific endeavor for over a century, but that its contributions have been overlooked due to perfume's stigma as a frivolous, feminine luxury. In "Musk and the Making of Macromolecules: Perfumes and Polymers in the History of Organic Chemistry," author Galina Shyndriayeva demonstrates how tracing the history of perfume production clarifies and enriches the history of chemical innovation and industrial development. Leopold Ružička, a recipient of the 1939 Nobel Prize in chemistry, was granted this honor in part due to a discovery he made while working for a Geneva-based perfume supplier: the synthesis of muscone, or artificial musk. Musk, a vital ingredient in the production of perfume, was expensive and time-consuming to source in its natural form, as it involved the hunting of male deer in Russia and the Himalayas region, and the musk pouches of up to fifty bucks were required to generate a single kilogram.

Read more.

[cosmicportal]

A molecule is a group of atoms bonded together. Molecules make up nearly everything around you – your skin, your chair, even your food.

They vary in size, but are extremely small. You can’t see an individual molecule with your eyes or even a microscope. They are 100,000 times smaller than the width of a hair.

The smallest molecule is made of two atoms stuck together, while a large molecule can be a combination of 100,000 atoms or more. A molecule can be a repeat of the same atom, such as the oxygen molecules we breathe, or can be made up of a variety of atoms, such as a sugar molecule made of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.

[meteortrails]

oh and not ONLY did I get an A on my pathophys exam, I also started attending the classes I had skipped for a week without even needing external pressure!! I actually just sat myself down and did my ochem homework and turned it in even though it was imperfect and late!!! idk if these sound like victories when I put them like this but trust me they are LOL

[whats-in-a-sentence]

The fact that gases fill all available space implies that the individual gas atoms or molecules are free to move anywhere within their container (figure 6.1), and therefore the forces between them must be very weak. (...) Diffusing molecules undergo frequent collisions, so their paths are similar to that shown in figure 6.1.

"Chemistry" 2e - Blackman, A., Bottle, S., Schmid, S., Mocerino, M., Wille, U.

[sleep-nurse]

you should lay hima on the floor i think they would like that

careful to not get sick

[the-antiapocalyptic-man]

Professor Ray Palmer and grad student Ryan Choi, the Atoms (formerly Atom and Molecule). Following his divorce and his wife's induction into the cosmic Indigo Tribe, Palmer took a lengthy sabbatical from teaching to take a research trip into the Nanoverse. Ryan, having taken up the role of the Atom both in Ivy Town and the Justice League, eventually left to search for his old mentor, leaving his duties to fellow scientist Rhonda Pineda.

Notes: The laser swords were designed for Ray by Ryan when he was still operating as the second Molecule (succeeding Adam Cray, who was pressured to go work for Amanda Waller by his senator father). Ryan's a bit more practical and grounded than Ray, who tends to indulge his love of classic sci-fi fantasy more than he should irl.

Ryan's a full head taller than Ray just bc I think it's funny.

[lindahall]

Jean Perrin – Scientist of the Day

Jean-Baptiste Perrin, a French physical chemist, died Apr. 17, 1942, at the age of 71. 

read more...

[polarmolecule]

molecular geometry my sweetheart my baby. electron orbitals kill yourself.

[tumorhead]

learning that molecules form because atoms want to hold hands. peace and love on planet earth

[ficuscircus]

I guess maybe it's possible I might be playing it wrong and that's why every time I roll the dice I always come undone