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Volker Blum

@aimsduke.bsky.social
1.9K followers 861 following 868 posts

Ab initio materials simulations at Duke University. Associate professor, Duke MEMS & Chemistry. aims.pratt.duke.edu . Opinions my own. Unlike the shirt on the right side of the profile image, which is not my own. The number on the shirt is 10.

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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 21h
Glad to see this remarkable work on melting and glass formation in hybrid perovskites from David Mitzi's group (with theory by Rayan Chakraborty) out in print. #PerovSky #ChemSky doi.org/10.1021/acs....
doi.org
Melting Point Depression and Glass-Forming Abilities in Pb- and Sn-Based Hybrid Perovskites with a Nonprimary Ammonium Cation
Abstract. Two-dimensional organic–inorganic perovskites can attain lower congruent melting temperatures (Tm) through compositional design, including, for e
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
@compchemsky The next @fhi-aims.bsky.social webinar will be held on October 07 and October 08, 2026. Automated Data Generation for Machine Learning Force Fields with aims-PAX and FHI-aims Talk and Speaker: Tobias Henkes (University of Luxembourg) events.ms1p.org/event/23/
events.ms1p.org
Automated Data Generation for Machine Learning Force Fields with aims-PAX and FHI-aims
Save the date(Calendar Entry / Zoom Link) Watch on YouTube Watch on KouShare Join us for this webinar, consisting of an expert talk and interactive hands-on sessions, on automated data generation for ...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Upgraded toy to power outdoor office work. Now a real rooftop panel (a lemon - nominally 405W but less in reality, needed to be replaced) but still good enough for outdoor battery charging in good weather.
400W solar panel and battery with outdoor desk
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I can't believe I missed the beginning of the Mineral Cup! And Bournonite already out? Must do better ...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Good post. #chemsky This has been a topic for a while. But need a strong enough microscopic interaction between spin and spatial degrees of freedom. Which one is it?
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
#chemsky #compchemky A huge thank you to Michele Pavanello, Oliviero Andreussi, Francesco Paesani and everyone at the 2026 Quantum Multiscale Hackathon at Rutgers in New Brunswick, NJ. quantum-multiscale.org/hackathons/p... I was able to go for a day only but really grateful for this.
quantum-multiscale.org
Program 2026 — Quantum Multiscale (Q-MS)
2026 Quantum Multiscale Hackathon, Rutgers University Inn and Conference Center — August 27 to September 1, 2026. An ACS Fall 2026 satellite event, by invitation only.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Thank you, @hrmnn.net ! Forgot if this was on #compchemsky? Well, main thing is, @fhi-aims.bsky.social is there ...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
#chemsky, since the article referenced further down came from chemsky.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I want to say something here about air quality and about focusing on the actual issue. Upshot: The primary issue I experience *are not trees*. It's emission from engines. You burn something: it creates emissions. And someone will be affected. You don't burn anything locally: Far better air quality.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Wow. Impressive!!
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
@fhi-aims.bsky.social will be supporting the Skala machine-learned XC functional quite soon (for energies, initially). As for myself, and having had a very long run based on PBE and functionals built on it, I'll be curious to see how it does. www.microsoft.com/en-us/resear...
microsoft.com
Broadening access to Skala creates a faster path to predictive DFT
Skala 1.1, the updated deep-learning exchange-correlation functional from Microsoft Research, provides greater accuracy, expanded accessibility across the computational chemistry ecosystem, and a livi...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This is an interesting assessment that I meant to repost, even if rushed between two zoom meetings: electrek.co/2026/08/20/g... There is quite some life in the battery area and, as a result, in the associated technology. If these steps continue it's hard to see how this won't be disruptive.
electrek.co
Geely prepares revolutionary 500 Wh/kg solid-state EV battery that could beat diesel
Geely says its solid-state EV battery hits up to 500 Wh/kg, roughly double today's best cells, with real-world testing underway and a 2027 pilot rollout.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
How Materials Research Is and Will Be Done. Thrilled to have been part of Plenary Panel 1 at the Materials Genomics Initiative PI Meeting today. The degree of control we have over materials today is amazing to me. And yet so much more to be done if we integrate the knowledge we now have wisely!
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Martijn Zwijnenburg @zwijcompchem.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
New addition to the @uclchemistry.bsky.social building celebrating the discovery of the noble gasses by William Ramsey at @ucl.ac.uk #chemsky #UCL200
Picture of the noble gasses group on the side of the UCL Chemistry building Picture of the noble gasses group on the side of the UCL Chemistry building
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Rachel W. Martin @rwmartin.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Much better.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
More things happening today: This paper, on a revised version of the Tkatchenko-Scheffler method to include van der Waals dispersion interactions in several density functionals that would otherwise miss them is also online on arXiV: arxiv.org/abs/2608.01501 I will tag #chemsky #compchemsky here too
arxiv.org
Performance of Tkatchenko-Scheffler Dispersion Method with Updated van der Waals Radii: Importance for Alkali-Containing Systems
The Tkatchenko-Scheffler (TS) pairwise method to calculate dispersion interactions is a widely used approach to incorporate missing long-range van der Waals contributions in semilocal and hybrid densi...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
also #chemsky ...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Density functional theory with a four-component treatment (no approximation to the spin-orbit coupling operator) extended to very large systems, an epic advance spearheaded by @wentao-zhang.bsky.social : arxiv.org/abs/2608.00773 #compchemsky @fhi-aims.bsky.social
arxiv.org
A Large-scale Parallel Implementation of Quasi-Four-Component Relativistic Density Functional Theory with Numeric Atom-centered Orbitals
We present a large-scale parallel implementation of fully relativistic density functional theory (DFT) for both molecules and periodic solids, using the quasi-four-component (Q4C) method and numeric a...
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Pierpaolo Morgante (He/His) @piermorgante.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
The @rsc.org is hiring a content development editor! Join the #EditorsLife in Washington, DC 😊 The position includes commissioning, community engagement, and scientific outreach #ChemSky #ChemistryJobs #AcademicPublishing @chemjobber.bsky.social rsc.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/RoyalSociety...
rsc.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com
Content Development Editor
Circa: Salary - Salary Plan, 80,000.00 USD Annual Join our small and very friendly team at the Royal Society of Chemistry as a Content Development Editor and become a key ambassador for our world-lead...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I am sorry to see this. What a remarkable career. I was literally wondering about a problem related to Marcus theory yesterday.
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Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · 29/07/2026
Across the three US research institutions where Marcus taught and conducted research, Caltech estimates that he mentored more than 100 postgraduate students and postdocs, on top of hundreds more undergraduates. @rebeccatrager.bsky.social #ChemSky www.chemistryworld.com/news/chemist...
chemistryworld.com
Chemistry Nobel laureate Rudy Marcus passes away just before turning 103
Theoretical chemist who came up with one of his most important ideas in a just month also mentored more than 100 young researchers
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Ah, this one should go to #chemsky #compchemsky #perovsky
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This paper is a huge success IMO - thanks to Rayan Chakraborty, Yifan Dong and everyone involved: doi.org/10.1038/s415... The significance (my view) is that hidden spin polarization really does translate into very long spin life times for carriers in a semiconductor at room temperature!
doi.org
Hidden spin-valley locking stabilizes nanosecond spin polarization in 2D perovskites - Nature Nanotechnology
Inversion-symmetric 2D hybrid perovskite semiconductors exhibit optically excited spin lifetimes of 0.7–4.7 ns at room temperature due to intrinsic local symmetry breaking and spin-valley formation.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Solar+battery powered office today.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Hooray! doi.org/10.1088/2516...
doi.org
Roadmap on Advancements of the FHI-aims Software Package
Roadmap on Advancements of the FHI-aims Software Package, Blum, Volker, Kokott, Sebastian, Rossi, Mariana, Scheffler, Matthias, Abbott, Joseph W. W., Mera Acosta, Carlos, Akkoush, Alaa, Ambrosetti, Alberto, Atalla, Viktor, Bagrets, Alexej, Behler, Joerg, Berger, Daniel, Bieniek, Björn, Björk, Jonas, Bohloul, Saeed, Box, Connor L., Boyer, Nicholas James, Brambila, Danilo Simoes, Bramley, Gabriel A., Bryenton, Kyle R., Camarasa-Gómez, María, Carbogno, Christian, Caruso, Fabio, Chutia, Sucismita, Ceriotti, Michele, Csányi, Gábor, Dawson, William, Delesma, Francisco A., della sala, fabio, Delley, Bernard, DiStasio, Robert, Dragoumi, Maria, Driessen, Sander, Dvorak, Marc, Erker, Simon, Evers, Ferdinand, Fabiano, Eduardo, Farrow, Matthew R., Fiebig, Florian, Filser, Jakob, Foppa, Lucas, Gallandi, Lukas, Garcia, Alberto, Gehrke, Ralf, Ghan, Simiam, Ghiringhelli, Luca, Glass, Mark, Goedecker, Stefan, Golze, Dorothea, Green, James A., Grisafi, Andrea, Grüneis, Andreas, Günzl, Johannes Jan, Gutzeit, Stefan, Hall, Samuel J., Hanke, Felix, Havu, Ville, He, Xingtao, Hekele, Joscha, Hellman, Olle, Herath, Uthpala, Hermann, Jan, Hernangómez-Pérez, Daniel, Hofmann, Oliver T, Hoja, Johannes, Hollweger, Simon, Hörmann, Lukas, Hourahine, Benjamin, How, Wei Bin, Huhn, William P., Hülsberg, Marcel, Panahian Jand, Sara, Jiang, Hongbing, Johnson, Erin, Jürgens, Werner, Kahk, Juhan Matthias, Kanai, Yosuke, Kang, Kisung, Karpov, Petr, Kempt, Roman, Khan, Danish, Kick, Matthias, Klein, Benedikt P., Kloppenburg, Jan, Knoll, Alexander, Knoop, Florian, Knuth, Franz, Köcher, Simone S., Kockläuner, Jannis, Körzdörfer, Thomas, Kowalski, Hagen-Henrik, Kratzer, Peter, Kus, Pavel, Laasner, Raul, Lang, Bruno, Lange, Björn, Langer, Marcel F, Larsen, Ask Hjorth, Lederer, Hermann
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Very happy to be part of CHOISE (amazing team), which received a @rsc.org Horizon Prize for its work on chiral semiconductors. In simple terms, a universe that cares about which way things turn (spin). Thank you!! www.rsc.org/standards-an...
rsc.org
CHOISE
For the development of a new class of chiral semiconductors to demonstrate the controllable interconversion between charge, spin, and light at room temperature.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
AND the FHI-aims Roadmap article was provisionally accepted by Electronic Structure during the opening afternoon of the workshop. 206 coauthors and the most comprehensive overview we ever wrote (21+ years!). Can't wait to see the journal version - hopefully really soon now. arxiv.org/abs/2505.00125
arxiv.org
Roadmap on Advancements of the FHI-aims Software Package
Electronic-structure theory is the foundation of the description of materials including multiscale modeling of their properties and functions. Obviously, without sufficient accuracy at the base, relia...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Amazing @fhi-aims.bsky.social Developer and User Workshop last week. I knew the program was packed with good things but I was still amazed by how far we've come. events.ms1p.org/event/18/pag...
events.ms1p.org
FHI-aims Developers' and Users' Meeting 2026
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE THEORY WITH NUMERIC ATOM-CENTERED BASIS FUNCTIONS June 10 – June 12, 2026In-person participation at Max Planck Institut for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD)Rooms 131+13...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
And on to the @fhi-aims.bsky.social Developer and User Meeting 2026 in Hamburg now, hosted by @mahrossi.bsky.social - events.ms1p.org/event/18/ . Amazing.
events.ms1p.org
FHI-aims Developers' and Users' Meeting 2026
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE THEORY WITH NUMERIC ATOM-CENTERED BASIS FUNCTIONS June 10 – June 12, 2026In-person participation at Max Planck Institut for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD)Rooms 131+13...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
I'm really delighted to have been at Helmholtzzentrum Berlin www.helmholtz-berlin.de yesterday, where one of our Duke Engineering students is as part of an NSF IRES programs.
helmholtz-berlin.de
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Mariana Rossi @mahrossi.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Yeah, now I need a selfie with him at the Christ's garden :-)
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
As I said earlier. In my view, this will gravely harm US science competitiveness and it will harm US families. It's also fully inconsistent with the election rhetoric that was focused on alleged criminal immigrants. This here simply harms good people. Our country, the U.S., is better than that.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
If this is true, then in my view, this policy will inflict irreparable harm on US science competitiveness. As far as I can tell, this policy will also gravely harm many U.S. families in which one family member is not a citizen. It would have damaged my own family. apnews.com/article/immi...
apnews.com
Trump administration to force foreigners in the US to apply for a green card abroad
The Trump administration is announcing a new policy that requires foreigners in the U.S. to leave and apply for a green card from their home country.
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Rachel W. Martin @rwmartin.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
On the topic of US universities having lots of fantastic research: This is one of 3 undergraduate research poster sessions at my mid-size state university today. We need 3 sessions to fit everyone in.
View from the stands looking down at a bustling poster session in a basketball stadium.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Anyone else struggling with the constant breakage of working python code by version changes?
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
For someone who bike commutes to work, next to vehicles, like me, this news is a cruel joke: www.wral.com/news/state/n... One does not remove emissions testing because air quality is consistently good while having tests. Air quality is good *because* we have emissions tests.
wral.com
EPA agrees: NC drivers no longer need emissions test each year, change would save them $$
According to the agency, eliminating the program would save North Carolina drivers nearly $20 million a year without significantly harming air quality.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
From the Department of Life Advice?
A note "Please add a note for our graduates" and a written response: Grumble Wisely
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Reposting our webinar tomorrow, April 23, 12 pm - 1 pm US EST. hybrid3.duke.edu/workshops/20... Thank you all!
hybrid3.duke.edu
2026 HybriD3 Database Webinar
2026 HybriD3 Database Webinar
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
For those interested in #perovskites, we will be holding a webinar on our Hybrid^3 database, hybrid3.duke.edu, of hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductors on April 23. Please register for the zoom link and please repost. Thank you!
hybrid3.duke.edu
HybriD3
The HybriD3 project accelerates the Design, Discovery and Dissemination (D3) of new crystalline organic-inorganic hybrid semiconductors in a collaborative effort between six teams of researchers locat...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
🎉 @fhi-aims.bsky.social released a new major release - version 260331. fhi-aims.org/news Will still be true tomorrow - thank you to everyone who worked on this so hard!
fhi-aims.org
FHI-aims
FHI-aims. All-electron electronic structure theory with numeric atom-centered orbitals.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Now live at the APS DCOMP Executive Committee meeting in Denver, APS Global Physics Summit. So nice to see everyone in person. Can't tag #compchemsky with this, I guess. ;)
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 11/03/2026
In 1999, researchers found that certain organic molecules preferentially transmit electrons with a particular spin orientation. Many experiments have followed, but the physics underlying the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect remains mysterious. #physics #chirality
physicstoday.aip.org
How the twist of a molecule affects electron spin
Since the discovery was first reported in 1999, researchers have uncovered many aspects of the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
For chemistry and physics majors, Duke Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science would like to say that our Master's programs are for them, too. Please share with anyone who might be interested. (And yes, we really do care about our Master's students.)
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Erwin Schrödinger Institute for Mathematics and Physics @esivienna.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
📜 Treasures from the archive To celebrate 100 years of Schrödinger’s equation, the Faculty of Physics is sharing archival documents connected to Erwin Schrödinger and the beginnings of quantum mechanics. More materials throughout the year: schroedinger100.univie.ac.at/treasures-fr...
Erwin Schrödinger, Notebook „Eigenwertproblem des Atoms II“. W33-725/2, Erwin Schrödinger Archive (https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/detail/o:164878), Cover/VorderseiteErwin Schrödinger, Notebook „Eigenwertproblem des Atoms II“. W33-725/2, Erwin Schrödinger Archive (https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/detail/o:164878) Seite 1
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Peter Spackman @crystalexplorer.net · 10/03/2026
Come work with my colleagues at Curtin! New postdoc opportunity modelling leaching of precious metals with glycine, a challenging intersection of a lot of chemical problems - particularly for computational chemistry! staff.curtin.edu.au/job-vacancie...
staff.curtin.edu.au
Job vacancies, employment opportunities, academic and professional positions - Careers at Curtin | Curtin University, Perth Australia
Our mission is to transform lives and communities through education and research. Curtin employees form a unique and diverse community committed to innovative research and student learning. Find out a...
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
#chemsky #compchemsky Here we are with the next Developers' and Users' Meeting for FHI-aims!
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Somehow incredible that we've had a reasonably stable environment for this unimaginably long period of time.
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
@fhi-aims.bsky.social
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
This would help a lot!
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Volker Blum @aimsduke.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Reposting since I was really happy to see this. Thanks to everyone at @fhi-aims.bsky.social , too!
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