Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
@ewcspottesmith.bsky.social
3.6K followers 2K following 400 posts
Ad Astra Fellow, Asst. Prof., School of Chemistry, @ucddublin.bsky.social‬ | Editor, @joss-openjournals.bsky.social | Personal: espottesmith.github.io | Research group (@coreacter.org): coreacter.org | orcid.org/0000-0003-1554-197X | All opinions mine
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ewcspottesmith.bsky.social
The calls are officially up for the @researchireland.ie postgrad/postdoc programs! I can sponsor one applicant for each program to work @coreacter.org @ucddublin.bsky.social School of Chemistry. Please reach out if interested, and please share widely!

⚗️ 🧪 #CompChem
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
jacs.acspublications.org
Congratulations to Prof. Omar Yaghi on being awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. JACS is honored by his enduring contributions as a visionary scientist & a dedicated Associate and Executive Editor serving the chemical community.

@ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @berkeleychemistry.bsky.social
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
sjjphd.bsky.social
Discussing this phenomenon w/ a group of profs. Someone morbidly joked, “& northern profs are fleeing the country.” The next person said…”even if we were all willing & able to abandon this place there are not enough jobs for us globally and the U.S. employs a huge # of international scholars too.”
‘Fear and hopelessness’: study finds one in four professors consider leaving US south
Survey by American Association of Professors shows nearly quarter of respondents are switching due to states’s politics
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
ams-software.bsky.social
🚀 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗺! Join us to develop methods & software for simulating vibrational spectroscopies of chiral molecules. 3-year EU Marie Curie position with attractive benefits. Apply here: www.scm.com/news/job-ope... #matsky #compchemsky
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
alondra.bsky.social
"It is not hyperbole to say that the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it. If any schools capitulate, the pressure will be enormous on all to fold. The only solution is solidarity and collective action against this effort at federal control over higher" ed.
philipncohen.com
Chemerinsky: The Trump extortion demands are unconstitutional as well as odious (gift link). Me: Any school that signs must be shunned, faculty affected must walk. No room for this.
Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
philipncohen.com
Chemerinsky: The Trump extortion demands are unconstitutional as well as odious (gift link). Me: Any school that signs must be shunned, faculty affected must walk. No room for this.
Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
cenmag.bsky.social
The 2025 #NobelPrize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal–organic frameworks.” Stay tuned for the full story to come! cen.acs.org/people/nobel...

#ChemNobel #Chem #Chemistry #chemsky 🧪
The 2025 chemistry Nobel goes to MOFs
Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi win the prize for developing metal–organic frameworks
cen.acs.org
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
drbeth.bsky.social
As I move further into my working life I discover that every question I want answered is a sociology question.

As ever, politicians would just like it if everyday folks stopped learning to ask questions and just did what the ruling classes told them to do.
outonbluesix.bsky.social
How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
ucu.org.uk
Imperial staff have had enough.

A 2% below-inflation offer from one of the wealthiest universities in the UK is an insult to every worker who keeps it running.

Today we strike for fair pay, decent conditions, and respect ✊🔥
Pickets Pickets Pickets Pickets
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
telescoper.bsky.social
Solidarity with colleagues at Imperial College who are on strike this week.
ucu.org.uk
Imperial staff have had enough.

A 2% below-inflation offer from one of the wealthiest universities in the UK is an insult to every worker who keeps it running.

Today we strike for fair pay, decent conditions, and respect ✊🔥
Pickets Pickets Pickets Pickets
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
tdwiser.bsky.social
We are hiring TWO TENURE-TRACK CHEMISTS (organic+inorganic) here at Truman State University (the #1 public regional university in the midwest...29 years running). Our Chemistry and Biochem/MolecularBio programs are @acs.org accredited.
#chemsky #chemjobs #chemistry #iteachchem
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
emilypont.bsky.social
Some additional info on the new list of axed DOE projects circulating.
- All 7 H2 Hubs
- All 13 IRA grants to convert at-risk auto plants to EV mfg
- 11 of 15 grants to speed domestic clean energy mfg in former coal communities
- 10 of 38 grants for battery materials
heatmap.news/politics/doe...
Trump to Axe All 7 Hydrogen Hubs, Bucking Bipartisan Law
A new list of Department of Energy grants slated for termination will hit clean energy and oil majors alike, including Exxon and Chevron.
heatmap.news
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
jgschraiber.bsky.social
Just an absolutely horrific self own, depleting the US of amazing students from all over the world who contributed to what used to make America great: its diversity, its openness, and its leadership in education.
nytimes.com
The number of international students arriving in the U.S. in August fell by 19% this year compared with last year — the largest decline on record outside of the pandemic.
Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August
The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.
nyti.ms
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
cantb.bsky.social
The AAUP and other labor groups sue the administration over its plan to charge $100,000 for every new H-1B. The AAU is not party to the suit, even though though its members among the largest employers of foreign academics. We’re seeing which groups are willing to let others take the heat.
Higher ed groups sue over Trump administration’s $100K H-1B visa fee
The surprise policy rolled out last month could cause “catastrophic setbacks” to research in the U.S., the lawsuit alleges.
www.highereddive.com
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
mikeachim.bsky.social
Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...
Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
aliafonzy.blacksky.app
Can we get the word around for more donations to go to BlackSky so there’s funding for the infrastructure that can bring Link back?

From my understanding:

Relays are costly and expensive. Anyone feel free to chime in. Bluesky relays is what has him banned.

opencollective.com/blacksky
Blacksky - Open Collective
Decentralized social media built for community power, culture, and collective freedom.
opencollective.com
ewcspottesmith.bsky.social
⚗️🧪
chemkritzer.bsky.social
Come be my colleague! Tufts Chemistry is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor working on materials with energy applications. We have a fantastic, supportive environment for you to start your research career. Send questions to me or @chemysl.bsky.social

apply.interfolio.com/175284
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
chemkritzer.bsky.social
Come be my colleague! Tufts Chemistry is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor working on materials with energy applications. We have a fantastic, supportive environment for you to start your research career. Send questions to me or @chemysl.bsky.social

apply.interfolio.com/175284
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
It is possible to have a society where abuse and human trafficking is taken seriously and critically, but also understands that AI porn/brothels will create monsters who will not be able to restrict their violent impulses to ‘AI girls’

Obscene to use this as a justification.
of the industry. They also argue that AI performers do not get ill, do not need to have days off, do not get exhausted at the end of a shift, or feel humiliated by the demands made by clients.

“Do you prefer your porn with a lot of abuse and human trafficking, or would you rather talk to an AI?” Steve Jones, who runs an AI porn site, asked. “We hear about human trafficking, girls being forced to be on camera 10 hours a day. You’ll never have a human trafficked AI girl. You’ll never have a girl who is forced or coerced into a sex scene that she’s so humiliated by, that she ends up killing herself. AI doesn’t get humiliated, it’s not going to kill itself.”
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
resmol.bsky.social
🔧 First theoretical and computational model to quantify mechanical work in ball-milling reactions!
By RESMOL group (UAH) — now in JCTC
@pubs.acs.org

📄 doi.org/10.1021/acs....
💻 github.com/LMFrutos/Bel...

#mechanochemistry #ballmilling #compchem #GreenChemistry
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
meredithmeredith.bsky.social
📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU.

Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.
signal.org
We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...
signal.org
Reposted by Evan Spotte-Smith (they/them)
wolvendamien.bsky.social
Preliminary results show that the current framework of "AI" makes ppl less likely to help or seek help from other humans, or to seek to soothe conflict, and that people actively prefer that framework to any others, literally serving to make them more dependent on it.
Sycophantic AI Decreases Prosocial Intentions and Promotes Dependence
Both the general public and academic communities have raised concerns about sycophancy, the phenomenon of artificial intelligence (AI) excessively agreeing with or flattering users. Yet, beyond isolat...
arxiv.org