Richard Van Noorden
@richvn.bsky.social
7.9K followers 2.1K following 400 posts
Features editor, Nature. E: r⟦dot⟧vannoorden⟦at⟧nature⟦dot⟧com or richardvannoorden⟦at⟧protonmail⟦dot⟧com. Signal: richvn.01 . (Currently on parental leave, to April 2026).
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Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
taliskimberley.bsky.social
Desperate decision by the BBC to kill off Science in Action. 😔
peaseroland.bsky.social
Science in Action, coming up, in which I get to revisit, thanks to this week's #NobelPrize, my enthusiasm for 3D organic framework structures, with archive of Omar Yaghi and commentary from @philipcball.bsky.social

And share with listeners that the prog dies in 3 weeks
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...
www.bbc.co.uk
richvn.bsky.social
Definitely — I want to know how Yaghi‘s desert water-harvesting works out …
richvn.bsky.social
one reason we ran the feature in July is that Svante‘s application was a ‘surprise, at least one MOF is finally hitting the industrial-scale market’ moment!
richvn.bsky.social
I agree that the Committee write up is too bullish on the commercial status (as is Yaghi, ahem, though it’s kinda his job to promote his companies and the possibilities). It’s fine to mention applications and it’s proven that synthesis ‘can be’ scaled for some MOFs, but these are def the exceptions.
richvn.bsky.social
See also worksinprogress.co/issue/gettin... for materials timescales from academia to industry. Not that I’m batting for MOFs — it is unclear if they will be commercially widespread. but it’s not atypical to take this long.
Getting materials out of the lab - Works in Progress Magazine
Inventing new materials is only the first step. Getting them into mass production and use is just as hard.
worksinprogress.co
richvn.bsky.social
Lowe‘s lab experience can’t be compared to the eg BASF-Svante process to make CALF-20 (the one that’s now made on megaton scale and used in filters — albeit sure it’s unclear if it will outcompete other adsorbents).
richvn.bsky.social
They definitely have not yet lived up to expectations, but on the other hand, it typically does take decades for new materials to become industrial successes.
richvn.bsky.social
Basf-Svante process first at commercial scale as article says. Other applications are commercial (a company sells them) but niche scale.
richvn.bsky.social
On everyone‘s list for years! the industrial scale commercialisation is more recent of course - I wonder if that caught the Nobel Committee attention.
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
kms163.bsky.social
So excited for this Nobel! Fabulous. And do read my feature unpicking what these materials are being used for.
richvn.bsky.social
A Chemistry Nobel for the invention of MOFs! Here’s a great article on what these materials are and why they’re now being used to eg harvest water and suck up carbon dioxide. Congrats to Kitagawa, Robson and Yaghi! #ChemNobel
By @kms163.bsky.social | @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
richvn.bsky.social
A Chemistry Nobel for the invention of MOFs! Here’s a great article on what these materials are and why they’re now being used to eg harvest water and suck up carbon dioxide. Congrats to Kitagawa, Robson and Yaghi! #ChemNobel
By @kms163.bsky.social | @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
nature.com
BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit"

Stay tuned for more.
A Nobel medal
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
neilwithers.bsky.social
The laureates' 'prize-earning' papers in Phys Rev Lett, Phys Rev B from 1985 + 1987 have 276, 342 and 518 citations [Scopus] - low for Nobel-winning work, maybe?
[1/2]
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
nature.com
This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists for discovering a class of immune cells that help to prevent the body from attacking its own tissues

go.nature.com/3VNrH1s
Medicine Nobel goes to scientists who revealed secrets of immune system ‘regulation’
Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi discovered cells that protect the body from autoimmune diseases.
go.nature.com
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
gbrumfiel.bsky.social
Well gang, it's happened: OpenAI has built a platform filled exclusively with fake, AI content.

I've been playing with it for a few days, and I think it's safe to say we're basically kissing reality goodbye.

Here's the story: www.npr.org/2025/10/03/n...

And some thoughts 🧵
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
sungkim.bsky.social
I know people are submitting AI-generated papers and some are AI-assisted, but…

There were 26,646 new submissions to arXiv in September 2025.
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
maxkozlov.bsky.social
EXCLUSIVE: In her first interview all year, Susan Monarez, CDC director for only 29 days, tells me why Trump/RFK fired her and where this is all headed.

The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
www.nature.com
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
maxkozlov.bsky.social
NEW: Nature trained AI to predict which NIH grants from 2014 would have been cut if the Trump admin had its way back then — and what science would have been lost to history.

"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden
elisecutts.bsky.social
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. 🔭🧪

Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.

I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
Reposted by Richard Van Noorden