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Lewis MacKenzie

@lemackz.bsky.social

2.9K followers 2.4K following 440 posts

Upconversion nanoparticles, optical biosensors, chiral spectroscopy, scicomm, blood oxygen | bass player | uranium glass collector Group website: www.mackenzie-lab.org he/him | Glasgow | Expect typos

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · Aug 19

Very excited to announce that I will be a Royal Society University Research Fellow (URF)! This will enable me to expand my team and purchase the specialist equipment required to make upconversion nanoparticles easier to synthesize and to develop them as biomedical research tools. #ChemSky

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Reposted by Lewis MacKenzie

Chris Rowan @allochthonous.bsky.social · 7d

🧪⚒️ “the complex organic molecules Cassini detected…are not just a product of long exposure to space, but are readily available in Enceladus’s ocean.”

As ever - these observations show some intriguing chemistry is going on, but that isn’t necessarily life.

Cassini proves complex chemistry in Enceladus ocean

Scientists digging through data collected by the Cassini spacecraft have found new complex organic molecules spewing from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. This is a clear sign that complex chemical reactions ...

www.esa.int

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Reposted by Lewis MacKenzie

Tim Smith @chemsmith.bsky.social · 7d

Benzyl chloroformate is not trivial to come by. Been waiting on an order from Acros. Does anyone know 1. where to get it from fairly quickly and/or 2. alternatives to benzyl chloroformate for making Cbz-protected amines. (Yes it needs to be Cbz protected.) #chemsky 🧪

Page from a supplier stating benzyl chloroformate "not web orderable."

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 9d

Another beautiful #uraniumglass trinket set 🤩

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 10d

I was minding my own business, walking to a wedding in Glasgow whilst wearing a kilt, and a CNN camera crew stopped me outside a fish and chip shop, and asked if they could film my knee 😂

Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 11d

It's really incredible that random effects could appear to be a GW chirp! It seems so unlikely, but then again, GW detectors are the most sensitive instruments ever built! 🤓

Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 11d

Finally found the back of my knee on Anthony Boudain's Parts Unknown S5 E1

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 11d

I'd love to know more about the false alarm rate. How it's calculated, and how is a candidate eventually deemed to be a false alarm or not?

Reposted by Lewis MacKenzie

Daniel Pomarède @pomarede.bsky.social · 11d

#Mars

A swarm of spherical rovers, blown by the wind like tumbleweeds, could enable large-scale and low-cost exploration of the Martian surface.

www.europlanet.org/epsc-dps2025... 🧪 #PlanetSci

Video: field tests with the Tumbleweed Science Testbed. Credit: Team Tumbleweed/Sas Schilten.

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 11d

Does anyone on Bluesky research proteins that are stable at high temperatures? 👀 #science #biosky #chemsky

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 13d

Does anywhere sell sound-proof enclosures for sonic baths?

Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 14d

Really important new paper on how AI can be used to fake nanoparticle images #chemsky #science #nanotech

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The rising danger of AI-generated images in nanomaterials science and what we can do about it - Nature Nanotechnology

Generative AI has made it trivial to generate fake microscopy images that are indistinguishable from real images, even for experts. As researchers in nanoscience, it is time for us to face this reality and discuss strategies to conserve the integrity of our discipline.

www.nature.com

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 14d

#Nanotechnology never ceases to amaze: stealing plant gubbins and cell membranes, and then combining them with upconversion nanoparticles to repair mitochondira in kidney injury! Controlled by trans-tissue near infrared light #science #nanotech #chemsky #biosky

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Reposted by Lewis MacKenzie

Mathieu Preußner @mathpreu.bsky.social · 21d

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Excited to share my first PhD paper, published in @dev-journal.bsky.social
What if fish gills —often overlook —hold secrets about development, patterning, and function?
We uncovered how early patterning shapes adult gill architecture.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

#DevBio #Zebrafish

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Reposted by Lewis MacKenzie

Emily Hunt @emily.space · 15d

How much is too much to ask when refereeing a paper?

I don't feel like the authors quite did what I asked them to in the first report, but they've done *some* stuff. Also, some of the new plots show some potential new issues with the paper.

But, I also don't want to be too mean...

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Reposted by Lewis MacKenzie

Deborah Marsh @djmarsh24.bsky.social · 16d

Celebrating 1st authorships in the group. Congratulations again to 2nd yr PhD student Tali Skipper on her paper out in Cellular Oncology - "Revealing genetic drivers of ovarian cancer and chemoresistance: insights from whole-genome CRISPR-knockout library screens". doi: 10.1007/s13402-025-01102-4 🎉🧪

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 16d

I absolutely love custom mugs as little gifts for theses and papers!

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 16d

That's an interesting prompt and I'm totally stumped!

Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 20d

Delighted to receive some national press coverage of my Royal Society University Research Fellowship - I am trying to make upconversion nanoparticle technology more accessible for biomedical research #Chemsky #Nano

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2547411...

Two Strathclyde Uni researchers receive grants worth more than £1.8m each

The two researchers have received grants worth more than £1.8m each

www.heraldscotland.com

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Reposted by Lewis MacKenzie

Elisha Krieg @elishakrieg.bsky.social · 23d

AI can now generate fake microscopy images that are nearly impossible to detect. A serious threat to scientific integrity—and we’re not prepared for it.

Commentary in @natnano.nature.com

#nanotechnology

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 22d

Awesome, congraulations! That's so exciting and a big step!

Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 22d

I suppose immortality in general can lead to absurd competence porn. Look at Tolkien's elves for example. Hyper proficient at a lot of things because they have time to master such crafts.

Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 22d

In "The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August" by Clare North, the titular character becomes hyper competent by living multiple cyclical lifespans. He's a physicist in one life, medical doctor in the next, etc etc.

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 23d

Imagine if that was how Skynet got you 😂

Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 23d

If it makes you feel better, it has not replaced the staff, just increased capacity.

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Lewis MacKenzie @lemackz.bsky.social · 23d

The Technology Innovation Centre at the University of Strathclyde now has a robotic coffee barista! ☕

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