John Self @john-self.bsky.social · 12/03/2026This dumbo, gee-whiz, why-would-anyone-normal-care stuff is so depressing. "Niche yellow powder". "It's probably not an element you've thought about before." Anyone who did chemistry in school has thought about sulphur before and knows what it is. 7063590
northernrednekk.bsky.social @northernrednekk.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Syncrude in Fort McMurray Alberta, has mountains of the stuff laying around. As well as CNRL. Google Earth and look for the HUGE yellow square blocks. 000
soundfile @soundphile.bsky.social · 12/03/2026I once read an article about a guy complaining that his maid washed his cast iron pan and now it has to be reseasoned. The “journalist” quipped that maybe the guy should just season his food instead 🙄 010
Mr. International @rogerresists.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Um, we have a river a few miles away in Texas called the Sulphur River for a reason. It stinks, and we have unlimited supplies of the shit. We have a Town named after it. 000
Dystopian Prophet @dystopianprophet.bsky.social · 13/03/2026it's too bad that #tannerite doesn't use sulfur or this could really make some limpdicks cry 000
Rogerman @rogerman99.bsky.social · 12/03/2026What if, and I'm just spit balling here, high school chemistry has the same stickiness as high school civics? 000
<Primary Salutation> @stevesparshott.bsky.social · 12/03/2026I’d also argue that ‘niche’ and ‘fucking great mountain of the stuff’ don’t belong together. 2650
James C @iguandonjim.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Aah reminds me of the Guardian's big exposure of "The secret from you've never heard of that is responsible for all the oil.....Schlumberger!!!" I've never seen the comments section so united in derision. I think the reception to it pretty much derailed their "keep it in the ground" campaign 130
Makeral Rising🇨🇦 @makeralrising.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Niche? I guess because there hasn’t been a comic book film hero Sulphur Man it’s a niche powder 000
You cannot grasp the true form of Borger Flavor @negatron00.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Sulphur is mentioned in the fucking bible? They calls it brimstone there, but its sulphur 000
Spicy Bonus Content @spicybonuscontent.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Oh you're into sulfur? I guess that's okay for a casual group 4 elements fan. For vividly colored powdered allotropes I'm more into selenium. It's this obscure metalloid you've probably never heard of. 2180
SinisterBulb @sinisterbulb.bsky.social · 12/03/2026The mannered cutesy ignorance of some writing/artsy types towards science just pisses me off. Its NOT okay and you just sound thick 010
Navin Pokala 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱 @navinpokala.bsky.social · 13/03/2026Most normies don’t think too much about sulfur, where it comes from, or its myriad important uses. I mean, I’m a PhD (bio)chemist, and *I* didn’t know the Middle East is a big source of sulfur. The headline and article are just fine. 000
Snitkicker 🇨🇦 @snitkicker.bsky.social · 12/03/2026We know it well ... Big Yellow Sulphur Pile share.google/i9f1rSAZzBs3... 001
No One @justsomeguy123456.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Our computers have semiconductors in them, John. Did you know that? 110
Deep-Chicken @deep-chicken.bsky.social · 13/03/2026Shit I plaid enough Rust in my day that I been killed / been killing over that niche yellow powder 000
Dr Libby Jones @anywaythewind.bsky.social · 12/03/2026I was expecting this to be a super rare earth element. Not sulphur! 0330
Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 12/03/2026I don't think this is a particularly bad example of Politico-voice. "You may not have thought about sulfur and what it's used for before" is at least not a normative statement. I expected: "Sulfur, as tedious nerds who care about nerd shit know, is..." 0211
Don't panic Jonesey @ergoerosum.bsky.social · 13/03/2026Anyone who has ever been to Yellowstone or Rotorua knows what it is too. 000
whippet enjoyer @fiftyburger.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Also like, it assumes I do think about nickel enough to not need an explainer for that one. That’s just another element! Are 10 year olds generally understood to be conversant in the sources and uses of the transition metals? 000
DougieLombax🩷💜💙 (Dougie/Adrienne/Zeek/not my real name) 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇮🇪🇦🇲🇺🇦 @dougielombax.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Sulphur? I thought it was Yellowcake for a minute (the base material for nuclear weapons). 130
ClippyForConsumerRights @desmondinc.bsky.social · 13/03/2026oooh, this is both good and bad news, put the hurt on AI AND harmful chemical fertilizers, but also i'm sure there's some good things that'll be hurt as well 001
Sun-Headed Deity of Tamgaly @oscarfranklin.bsky.social · 12/03/2026It's so fucking patronising. The idiotisation of the public. I have a tub of sulphur in my shed for goodness' sake. I blame Innocent drinks and their awful twee "I'm full of 4 oranges..." marketing campaign, it just set a belief that you have treat everyone like an idiot. 020
Nick Honeywell 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🇵🇸 @holdencarver.bsky.social · 12/03/2026If it was a news article that clickbait headline would be bad enough, but - that's a liveblog, isn't it? If I've clicked through to the blog, I'm already there. Trying to bait me further is insane. Has the art of writing a normal headline been lost now? 100
Donkey @marshmallowpie.bsky.social · 12/03/2026I think this is further evidence of just how stupid those running the mainstream media think people are. 000
firstprinciples.bsky.social @firstprinciples.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Humanities graduates who flunked science 000
🖕47 @howc114.bsky.social · 12/03/2026This, from a supposed climate and science reporter... I'm sure everyone, like me, have had sulfur in some HS chemistry class. We associate one of it's forms as smelling like farts. 000
Thomas Edwards @mpeg2tom.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Urea is up as well! www.chemanalyst.com/NewsAndDeals...chemanalyst.comUS Urea Prices Surge Over 10% as Middle East Conflict Disrupts Global Supply | ChemAnalystDemand from the agricultural sector remained the primary driver behind the urea price increase. 000
Kuprin, Moogle King of Space @mooglekingofspace.bsky.social · 12/03/2026They're talking about AMERICANS. 1 in 4 can read at a graduate level. High school chemistry? Waaaay too much. 100
Billy Bragg's Liquid Aminos @aminosbilly.bsky.social · 12/03/2026I'm giving the benefit of the doubt on this one, that poor Esme got done dirty by the headline editor who thinks "niche" means "extremely desired." At least they acknowledge it's CRITICAL, ffs. 120
Shannon @swalkthewalk.bsky.social · 13/03/2026The contempt for knowledge is slowly rotting our societ. 000
I have been a good Bling 😊🇨🇦 @blingdomepiece.bsky.social · 12/03/2026ok so the climate and science reporter is still learning the periodic table. We all have to start somewhere. 000
"The Epstein Ballroom" at 1600 Brownshirt Ave @tourswag.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Trumps taxes increase the costs to Americans Canada has sulphur 000
Queerhawk 🏳️🌈 | 🇺🇦 | 🇬🇱 @alwaysadorecats.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Relatedly, I hate the stylistic choice to write articles as if a third grade teacher is explaining things to a particularly dull child. Articles can just tell me things directly without the condescending verbal padding! 062
☠°。Die Siebenschläfern *.ﾟ☠ @sababausa.bsky.social · 12/03/2026bsky.app/profile/saba...☠°。Die Siebenschläfern *.ﾟ☠@sababausa.bsky.social 0110
Sheila Arnold @sheila757arnold.bsky.social · 13/03/2026Actually I didn't realize sulfur was used in so many things. I didn't take chemistry and appreciated the education of the article. Now I have more reasons to hate what the t-regime is doing in Iran. 000
biker6658.bsky.social @biker6658.bsky.social · 13/03/2026Niche? Huh? Port Sulphur, La is named that for a reason. Freeport Sulphur Co. built the town to support the Grand Ecaille mine. We fished the area and the pipelines ran through the surrounding marshes from the mine. The mine was one of the largest in world. 000
A Few Simple Rats @afewsimplerats.bsky.social · 12/03/2026I think your thesis "a lot of stuff is dumbed down" is basically right, but that this isn't really an example of it "Niche yellow powder" is just some playful language, and it's just factually true that I haven't thought very much about sulfuric acid or knew what it is the industrial input for 100
g-music.bsky.social @g-music.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Nice going. Another method of killing the economy. 000
Tomás El Dank Engine @tomaseldankengine.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Those clicks aren't gonna generate themselves. Oh, wait, actually... 000
continentaldivide.bsky.social @continentaldivide.bsky.social · 12/03/2026They decided people would not click on ‘sulfur’ so went with an epithet, the dullest of the rhetorical devices. 000
Sofia Hauck @shauck.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Only humanities students getting jobs in journalism maybe? It might mean the last time they did “science” was before GCSEs. 480
jameslrennie.bsky.social @jameslrennie.bsky.social · 12/03/2026“Contains sulfites” quite a common thing to read on certain popular groceries… 050
4quad @4quad.bsky.social · 13/03/2026Seems like things a "climate & science" reporter would know. 000
rwerkh.bsky.social @rwerkh.bsky.social · 13/03/2026I think this is aimed at those who consume white powder. So Yellow is outside their experience. 001
James Endicott @o76923.bsky.social · 13/03/2026I feel like if you're common enough that you regularly appear in video games, you aren't really niche anymore. Factorio, Satisfactory, Minecraft: Feed the Beast, People Playground, Civilization, and plenty of others have it. Maybe players don't know exactly what it does but it's not obscure. 010
couchtripper @couchtripper.com · 12/03/2026That's the first time I've ever seen a massive pile of yellow stuff and I watch diggers on youtube all the time. 000
Ericnonymous @ericnonymous.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Can't believe nobody calls it brimstone anymore 010
Tina's Driving Lesson @tinavstammy.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Partly for that reason, but not entirely, I'm questioning whether or not a breathing human being wrote this. It reads like predictive text. 0110
Lillian Vorpa @depth-vorpa.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Sulphur is like... One of top 10 elements most people know. It's among THE elements. It's nowhere near niche. Niche would mean like... Ytterbium or Nihonium. Maybe Flerovium or Xenon. Francium perhaps? 100
Nofriendo Entertainment System @djtahoe.bsky.social · 12/03/2026They know how uneducated the US audience is. 010
Governor McCheese @bathysphered.bsky.social · 12/03/2026"Surely none of you, dear reader, have ever eaten a hard-boiled egg..." 000
Ovy S. Lee @nelbot.bsky.social · 13/03/2026They don't just write to a 6 grade reading level, they also write to a 6th grade intellect. 001
Nix @nixjeelvy.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Ah yes, the niche yellow powder which exists in every fart on the planet. 000
coolingjets.bsky.social @coolingjets.bsky.social · 12/03/2026There are pobably millions of tons of Sulphur available in the US, it is a byproduct of desulphurizarion of Crude oil and Natural sour gas. There is no shortage, just speculation. 000
John Self @john-self.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Some people calling the headline clickbait. That's the thing - it's not! It's an entry on a live blog so no external link to it - you'll only see it if you've already chosen to view the live blog. This just seems to be an ingrained style. 2410
morspin @morspin.bsky.social · 12/03/2026The Murray Gell-Mann effect in the field. If you want to understand why the media can't cover Trump, Murray Gell-Mann effect 000
