Naomi Johnson

Scientific Conceptulisation Specialist
combines training as a chemistry researcher and an interest in visual communication to help colleagues do science
she/her

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

When working on this image, I was thinking about the long-term origin or arificial life platforms that run in our lab, inspired by the cyclic nature of the world we live in.

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Day 9 - Digital Origin of Life: How can the programmable become synthetic life?
(artwork: @nabjohnson)

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Day 22 - The Robot Chemist: synthetic chemists trade test tubes for keyboards.

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

wasn't sure which one to use

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Day 20 - Chemistry through the looking glass: On loop? Is chemistry doomed to irreproducibility?

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Day 17 - Anthropomorphisms: known in results in known out

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

When I first drew these, I intended them to be abstract depictions of robotic platforms and I was trying to demonstrate how the biggest one was able to carry out the functions of all three others! (i.e. the chemputer)

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Day 12 - Programming assembly: how does self-assembly work?

[Prof. Lee Cronin @leecronin]

Lockdown lecture on Monday 25th Jan at 16:30-17:30 UK time explaining the big picture. The title is 'Connecting the dots from Artificial Life to a Self-Assembled Chemical Conciousness'. Zooom link: https://t.co/Vl13vzPGHu @CroninLab Open to all! Please RT.

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Day 8 - Inorganic metamorphogenesis: where does the information come from?

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Day 7 - Inorganica: Inorganic Selection. Investigating how inorganic chemistry can become biology.

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Day 5 - The origin? What did happen verses what does happen.

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

The "design vs. discovery" scientific research concept depicted by a classic Christian looking version of God (man in robe with long white beard and a halo) designing an inorganic metal oxide experiement and Darwin discovering a fully formed inorganic metal oxide.

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Day 3 - The RNA Illusion: Where did the information needed to start the RNA world come from?

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

I started drawing this picture 6 months ago when Steph was still part of the research group, but kept getting hooked up on anatomy etc... in the end I made it an animation so the details don't matter so much. It's a good reflection of my memories of Steph's presence in the group.

[CroninLab @CroninLab]

Steph, @bohredchemist, is a specialist in the analysis of long-term origin of life experiments which divides her research time between office and lab. Time flies… 9 months have already passed since she sat her viva, completing her PhD with the Cronin Group!

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

What's happened to it? Broken? Misbehaving? Frozen? Leaking? Disappeared? Stuck? Ask Jim. He can fix it.

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

@leecronin Here I made a slower version so you can really see what's happening! :)
Making this was fun and I learnt a lot in the process.

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

The fella in red is a "generic cronie" eating a "generic cronie lunch". Over the years, the group's favourite lunch destinations (Byres Road provides a big selection) have changed. For example I've observed most pizza takeaways shift from Toni Mac's to Little Italy to Spuntini's.

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

A day or so before lockdown, I realised that my office plants (of which I have many) were in big trouble. I'm really grateful that @JimMcIver6 takes the time to check up on them whenever he's at the university rebooting the @CroninLab people's computers. Description continues...

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

The cronin group lunch table wobbles. It's very annoying. It's not suprising though because we have to fold it away whenever we have a big meeting. When we move to the new building, we won't need to live on top of each other so much..

[Naomi Johnson @nabjohnson]

@FromPhDtoLife The building I worked in. The way the light came through the windows was very soothing.