Craig Bettenhausen
@craigofwaffles.bsky.social
370 followers 64 following 280 posts
Science business journalist on staff at Chemical & Engineering News covering sustainability, specialty chemicals, industrial gas, and a fair amount of etcetera.
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craigofwaffles.bsky.social
This is off topic, but it seems like mopping with a single bucket should, at best, flatten the distribution of grime on the floor. What am I missing?
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
The photographer at House of Scientista got me on-brand, taking notes for potential coverage in @cenmag.bsky.social during #ClimateWeekNYC
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
I used to know back in my lab days, but I have forgotten that part of my laser-table lore.
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Oh, I forgot you're a laser person. Where do you shop for optical filter material? I want an IR-NIR-pass filter for an art thing and I am striking out other than poorly-described AliExpress listing and $$$$$/cm2 options.
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
The menu at the House of Scientista event at #ClimateWeekNYC. I think I'm in the right room here :) @scientistas.bsky.social @cenmag.bsky.social
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Quick #chemsky poll: If I say marine fuel "bunkering", do you actually know what that means? And would you want a short explainer?
#energy #ClimateWeekNYC #boats #decarbonization
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
"This levy on luxury avation is not a silver bullet, but it is a bullet,"--Benoit Faraco, French Climate Ambassador, on the climate impact of a proposed multinational tax on private jet flights #ClimateWeekNYC
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
"80% of the world is still moving incredibly fast on the energy transition,"--Jon Creyts, RMI at #ClimateWeekNYC
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
"The atmosphere doesn't care how many solar panels we build. it cares how many fossil-fuel burning plants we don't," Tzeporah Berman, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative at #ClimateWeekNYC
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Trouble with 2nd-day news coverage is there are SO MANY threads one could pull on. Here's my tug on the situation with Air Liquide and #Russia. #Ukraine #industrialGas #chemicals #industry #history #war
cen.acs.org/business/inv...
Putin seizes Air Liquide assets in Russia
Roughly $700 million in property is taken from French industrial gas firm
cen.acs.org
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
I didn't have time to work up these photos properly before press time, but here are a few snaps from the visit.
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
*BTW this lead-in the encapsulation of my favorite thing about being a science/business reporter.
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
I got to see a cool #science thing and now I get to tell you about it*:
Not obvious from the article is that I got to HOLD one of Franklin's original prints of the X-ray diffraction pattern of DNA. My job rocks at times. #chemistry @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
Science History Institute library acquires original Rosalind Franklin materials and other artifacts
The library’s History of Molecular Biology Collection includes written materials, X-ray prints, and photos related to the discovery of DNA
cen.acs.org
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Importantly, this is now part of a publicly accessible archive at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia. #history
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
I unexpectedly got to see and hold an original X-ray print by Rosalind Franklin today of the chemical structure of DNA. So that was wild. #chemistry #science
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Hey, #chemsky people who'll be at #ClimateWeekNYC, wanna meet up for a drink and tell me about what you're working on? web.cvent.com/event/ddd39e...
Attendee Information - C&EN NYC Event Series
web.cvent.com
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Carbon capture and sequestration is controversial as a #climate solution. It's moving ahead anyway, and I'm trying to stay on top of it from a journalist perspective.
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Northern Lights has begun injecting CO₂ into geological storage off the coast of Norway. So far, cement and waste-to-energy are the customers signed on to reduce their carbon footprint by this route.
#CCUS #CO2

Read more in C&EN @cenmag.bsky.social

cen.acs.org/environment/...
Northern Lights injects first carbon dioxide for storage
The North Sea project will eventually dispose of 5 million metric tons of CO2 per year
cen.acs.org
Reposted by Craig Bettenhausen
mineralcup.bsky.social
Was it quietly grinding on your soul that the #MinCup25 bracket was off-center and oh-so-slightly asymmetrical? We fixed it!

No changes to the matchups, it’s just a lil bit more polished.
Alt text:  A sports-style elimination bracket of 32 minerals labeled "Mineral Cup 2025". Text below reads, "Daily voting takes place on www.MineralCup.org in September. Campaign on your favorite social media using #MinCup25."

The starting matches are, in chronological order: chrysotile versus pectolite, stibnite versus okenite, jeremejevite versus haüyne, calcite versus perovskite, silver versus baryte, carpathite versus leucite, sanidine versus hematite, pollucite versus tugtupite, kosmochlor versus azurite, dioptase versus wavellite, titanite versus thortveitite, zunyite versus molybdenite, topaz versus kyanite, cuprosklodowskite versus ikaite, taenite versus nontronite, and paddlewheelite versus mannardite.
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Dang, it happened again. I wrote the word "climate" so many times prepping for NYC Climate Week that it stopped looking like a real word. kli-mah-tay. NYC Clamato Week, idk.

Apparently, this is called semantic satiation. #climate #writing
Reposted by Craig Bettenhausen
cenmag.bsky.social
In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host @craigofwaffles.bsky.social speaks with Chemical & Engineering News business reporter Alex Tullo about the most recent release of C&EN’s Global Top 50, our annual list of the top 50 chemical firms. cen.acs.org/business/Pod... #chemsky 🧪
Podcast Building C&EN’s Global Top 50
Go behind the scenes of the Global Top 50: The winners and losers of the chemical industry—and what it means for the rest of us
cen.acs.org
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
Grimly funny as that clip is, a correction:
The target of one new ARPA-E program, ROCKS, is get to a 1-2 year timeline on starting a new US rare-earths mine. It takes 10 yrs now.
And the other, MAGNITO, aims to find much more powerful permanent magnet compositions. cen.acs.org/energy/ARPA-...
ARPA-E offers funding for magnetic materials and rare-mineral recovery
US Department of Energy offers $60 million for drilling and analytical technologies, materials science
cen.acs.org
craigofwaffles.bsky.social
I maintain that "F@#%g magnets, how do they work?" Is an entirely reasonable question.