Alex Kendall

Chemist.

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

The US National Lab, NREL, rebranded itself to NLR this year and I believe they are missing a golden marketing opportunity with Lord of the Rings:

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

Train for certainty and educate for uncertainty.

-David Freedman

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle... It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no progress.

-Frederick Douglass, 1857

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

“All models are wrong; some are useful.”
-George Box

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

"To be a millionaire is like being eternally young. The audacity of youth reckons upon what it fancies an unlimited time at its disposal; but a millionaire has unlimited means . One’s time on earth is an uncertain quantity, but about the long reach of millions there is no doubt."

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

Nance's Law: Coincidence takes a lot of planning.

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

Best isomerization. 60% isolated yeild.

Org. Synth. 1960, 40, 71
DOI: 10.15227/orgsyn.040.0071

[Jen Heemstra @jenheemstra]

In research, results matter. But if we want to get rigorous results, we need ways to focus on the process rather than outcomes.

We need reward structures that recognize choosing the best experiment and running it in the best way, even when it doesn't give the expected outcome.

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

"Without discipline there can be no greatness. Without diversity there can be no freedom. Greatness for the enterprise, freedom for the individual."
-Freeman Dyson

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

“I never ask a man what his business is, for it never interests me. What I ask him about are his thoughts and dreams.”

― H.P. Lovecraft

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

Contentious vs contented - opposites rooted in "content"

Content, from Latin contentus, "contained, satisfied."

Contentious, from Latin contentiosus, "obstinate, quarrelsome," and contendere, "contend, dispute."

The two words have nothing to do with each other etymologically.

[Pacific Northwest National Laboratory @PNNLab]

The first U.S. patent was granted on this day in 1790. Today, searching for new inventions can be done online, anytime, in one convenient place with the new Visual Intellectual Property Search (VIPS) tool, created by PNNL for @ottatdoe. Learn more: https://t.co/KZXR1sSfrv

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

@sweetriverphil LIGO is totally worth it. I'll put you up if you do pop over. https://t.co/zgiNjhZjsr

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

Hanford, WA. B-Reactor.

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

The seven-day week can be traced back to the Babylonians and the decree of King Sargon I of Akkad around 2300 BCE. Before telescopes the key celestial bodies numbered seven (the Sun, the Moon and the five planets visible to the naked eye).
https://t.co/n0qTLYsxfi

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

The War of the Bucket was fought in 1325 between the rival city-states of Bologna and Modena in northern Italy. Modena won the Battle of Zappolino, the only battle of the war.

This bucket was taken as a trophy by the Modenese after the war.

https://t.co/KVFPBeoNov

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

Cells need to control the destruction of their own proteins, making sure that they remove only proteins that aren't needed. The protein ubiquitin plays a central role - it attaches to obsolete proteins, signaling that they are ready to be disassembled.

https://t.co/yEjQgqlrXx

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

Reaction probability with x-ray or neutron radiation for various materials.

[Alex Kendall @ChemAlexander]

Neutron radiographs have different penetration and scattering properties than X-rays. X-rays respond to density whereas neutrons respond to neutron capture properties. See the borosilicate glass (right) absorbs neutrons due to boron having a large neutron capture cross section.