Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 5h

I need a little timeline cleanse. I love the colors of a monarch against a flower. It's so cool how two colors I wouldn't normally pair work so well together in nature.

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Reposted by Rachel O'Brien

Jake Yeston @jakeyeston.bsky.social · 20h

www.science.org/content/arti...

Architects of molecular cages win chemistry Nobel

Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi honored for developing metal-organic frameworks

www.science.org

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 1d

I emailed it to you, let me know if you didn't receive it.

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 5d

Oh cool, I didn't realize it kept them in the folders! I'll have to play with that 😀

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 5d

That makes sense, I use tags and folders but I can see that being a faster method.

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 5d

Semi-random question. Every now and then I accidentally archive an email in Gmail. I know how to undo this, but I don't understand that feature. Does anyone use that archiving on purpose? I'm trying to figure out how it could be helpful.

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Reposted by Rachel O'Brien

Tori Barber @vbarber.bsky.social · 7d

I am able to sponsor postdoctoral fellows through this program!

www.chemistry.ucla.edu/bhaumik-priz...

Bhaumik Prize Postdoctoral Fellows Program – UCLA

The Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) invites nominations for the Bhaumik Prize Postdoctoral Fellows Program. This newly instated program seeks to bring the brightest young scientists to UCLA to expand their scientific training, make new discoveries, and network with interdisciplinary scientists of all stages. The Bhaumik Prize Postdoctoral Fellows Program is made possible by the philanthropy of physicist and entrepreneur Dr. Mani L. Bhaumik. The program supports three fellows annually for a three-year postdoctoral position.

www.chemistry.ucla.edu

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 7d

🧪

Delphine Farmer @chemdelphine.bsky.social · 7d

New paper on what drives organic aerosol in NY - anthropogenic chemicals have emerged as 2x traffic sources, while wildfire smoke is persistent and substantial - and we see evidence that it enhances biogenic SOA.

Emily Barnes Franklin, PhD @emfranklin.bsky.social · 7d

Out this week in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science: VCPs, biogenic VOCs and traditional anthropogenic PM respond to heat and smoke to drive summer PM pollution outside NYC, highlighting vulnerabilities of urban air quality under global change. @chemdelphine.bsky.social @dbm.bsky.social

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Colette Heald @coletteheald.bsky.social · 8d

We have a new PhD project to study ozone formation from fires. If interested in atmospheric chemistry, fires, living in Zurich, and studying at ETH, consider applying here: jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOP...

PhD Position in Atmospheric Chemistry

jobs.ethz.ch

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Reposted by Rachel O'Brien

Lauren Kuehne @omfishient.bsky.social · 9d

If you know folks that were impacted by the eligibility changes to the #GRFP last week, please consider signing/sharing this urgent petition to restore eligibility! 🙏

bsky.app/profile/omfi...

Lauren Kuehne @omfishient.bsky.social · 9d

🧪 Were you one of the many thousands of STEM students (and mentors) impacted by the sudden change in #NSF #GRFP eligibility last week?

We created a petition to NSF leadership and Congress to reverse the changes - please sign and share your stories here!!

laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/

Petition to NSF to Restore Eligibility for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program Competition

laurenkuehne.github.io

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 12d

So they finally posted the GRFP info. The big news I see is that it's now closed to second years.

This really sucks for students rotating to find a lab in their first year. IMO a year's warning would have been more appropriate.
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 12d

Congratulations to Cora Young, @svocora.bsky.social, for the AGU Ascent award!!
tinyurl.com/5v8fj8b7

Screenshot showing Cora Young as a winner of the AGU Ascent Award.

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Reposted by Rachel O'Brien

Jess Phoenix, Your Volcano Friend™️ @volcanojess.com · 13d

As a geologist with some experience working with biologists, one of my favorite things is when they refer to certain snails as "terrestrial snails." I know this is to distinguish them from aquatic snails but it also implies the existence of extraterrestrial snails, which I am 100% in favor of.

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Matthew Goss @matthewgoss.bsky.social · 14d

Our paper examining the chemical conditions of past chamber studies is out! This work explores assumptions made when creating SOA parametrizations based on laboratory data, and can hopefully point to ways of improving model representation of SOA.
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Re-Examining Chemical Conditions of Past Chamber Studies of Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation

The simulation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in 3D models generally relies on measurements made in laboratory chamber studies. However, many of the laboratory studies that underpin the aerosol pa...

pubs.acs.org

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Reposted by Rachel O'Brien

Dustin Poppendieck @poppendieck.bsky.social · 16d

Chemicals "stick" to surfaces in houses, to a greater degree than some might expect. This is why you smell the popcorn you burnt long after you might expect it to vent from the house.

(Full disclosure I am a co-author on this paper)...

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

VOC injection into a house reveals large surface reservoir sizes in an indoor environment | PNAS

The total partitioning capacity of indoor surface reservoirs determines the mechanism by which humans receive nondietary exposure to organic contam...

www.pnas.org

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 17d

This story is so cool, especially the thermogenesis. I had no idea a plant could reach those types of temperatures!

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 17d

Man, I've thought about this more and I really can't see a way to justify even the mildest things they are doing. How the hell did it get so far?!

Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 18d

Thank you!!

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 18d

Hi Manu,

Can you please add me to the atmospheric feed? I work in indoor and outdoor atmospheric chemistry.

sites.google.com/view/obrien-...

Thank you!!

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Reposted by Rachel O'Brien

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 18d

Living a moral life in an age of bullies requires collective action; it cannot be done alone. Each of us must organize and participate in a vast network of moral resistance. From this solidarity we will grow stronger. This is what our current moment requires.

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 18d

Yeah. I think a lot of people aren't trained to "pay attention to what they do, not what they say".

For the broader public: I guess if you believe the lies, then the actions could seem justified. I have to go deeep down a mental rabbit hole to see it though.

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Rachel O'Brien @reobrien.bsky.social · 18d

I think they are too small minded to see a new better future, so they are trying to recreate the parts of the past they liked through memos and threats. If they actually wanted to build what they say they want - they'd put funding into education, health, research/development, and infrastructure.

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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 19d

My first NASA position, as a contractor in the Kepler Science Office, was on a H-1b visa. NASA ended up giving me a medal and now I’m the Chief Scientist of NASA Exoplanet Science Institute and an American citizen to boot. Seems like a net win for the US, no? But now this:

Trump announces $1m ‘golden visa’ and raises fees for H-1B visas to $100,000 – US politics live

US president signs executive orders making it more expensive to get special skills visa while expediting process for those who can pay large sums

www.theguardian.com

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Dr. Paulette Vincent-Ruz @stemxicaned.bsky.social · 19d

If not stopped. This will effectively finish killing the research and teaching infrastructure of universities in the US

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 19d

Importantly, the employer files the petition, so the employer would be required to include a $100,000 check with the petition. But the ban on entry appears to also apply to ANYONE with an H-1B currently, and says that petitions must be "supplemented" with a $100,000 fee, so who knows who pays that.

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Faye McNeill @vfmcneill.bsky.social · 19d

Rick introduced me to the world of research and environmental work. He believed in me and encouraged me at many times when it felt that no one else did, and I still look to him for wisdom and advice. And of course he is a hugely creative and inspiring pioneer in aerosols research. Cheers to Rick!

Paul Wennberg @paulowennberg.bsky.social · 19d

Celebrating Richard Flagan's 50 years of service to @caltech.edu! Rick arrived in 1975 intending to study combustion chemistry and ended up playing an enormously influential role in developing new instrumentation to quantify atmospheric aerosol and helping to mitigate air pollution in LA and beyond.

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