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Mike Porter

@profmikeporter.bsky.social
133 followers 78 following 27 posts

Professor of Organic Chemistry at UCL. Croquet player, pianist, ukulelist, Yorkshireman. Views are my own.

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Reposted by Mike Porter
Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · 21/09/2026
The method eliminates the harsh conditions that have previously been required to generate extremely reactive hydrogen radicals, making them much easier for scientists to use and exploit. ‘Any chemist could run it,’ says project leader Roopender Kumar. www.chemistryworld.com/news/simple-...
chemistryworld.com
Simple technique makes it easier to access and exploit hydrogen radicals
Highly reactive hydrogen radicals generated using ultraviolet light and off-the-shelf reagents
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Reposted by Mike Porter
Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Can't get a moment's peace on this bloody planet.
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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
#Chemistry takes centre stage as the department celebrates #UCL200! 🧪🎭 www.youtube.com/shorts/L2_mf... @uclchemistry.bsky.social took us from Victorian London to World War 2, to the 1970s and to present day, marking major scientific discoveries and brilliant minds that have shaped the department 👏
youtube.com
#Chemistry takes centre stage as the department celebrates #UCL200! 🧪🎭
YouTube video by UCL Mathematical and Physical Sciences
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
You know you've spent too long doing Italian on Duolingo when your autocorrect thinks a sentence beginning "I" is more likely to continue "miei genitori" than "am"
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
#ThisWeeksFiddler by @xaqwg.bsky.social put a rover on a spherical planet with radius 1000 miles, and drove it three straight segments of the same length with 60 degree turns in between, arriving back at its starting point. The maths was the easy bit... the animation took far too much of my time!
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Toby Earle 🇺🇦 @tobyontv.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
12 points to Gryffindor
Emma Watson banned from driving for speeding
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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Award-winning scientist, Andrea Sella, has returned his Royal Society award in protest over the Society's continued apathy over Elon Musk. My latest substack in which I make the case that we need more scientists like Andrea, who are prepared to take a stand: open.substack.com/pu...
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Rich @pibasedlifeform.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
This is the best George Wendt joke on cheers by an absolute mile, and its so well done www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FNH...
youtube.com
Cheers | S08E14 cold open | "They've even changed the panelling"
YouTube video by JHew
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
#ThisWeeksFiddler had a crystalline feel to it... but how many paths are there from the top to the bottom? Answer: Just over a billion. My solution: tinyurl.com/fiddler160525 @xaqwg.bsky.social
A lattice of 30 points arranged in a trigonal bipyramid
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
It's a shame that international student numbers will be cut, because only 2% of voters want their post-study work limited and they bring £37bn to the country. But Britain has gone mad and willingly chosen poverty, so there it is, nothing to be done. www.russellgroup.ac.uk/news/new-pol...
russellgroup.ac.uk
New polling shows public support for international students | Russell Group
A new survey shows the majority of people don't think international students are a priority for immigration restrictions
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David Palomas @davidpalomas.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
#chemsky 🧪
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Sam Halpert @samhalpert.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.
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Jonathan Healey @jonathanhealey.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
‘Okay which one of you accidentally added Robert Cecil to the chat?’
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 19/03/2025
1. For the past thirty years I've had the best job in the world. 
I've had the opportunity to follow my curiosity; explore the workings of nature and society; mentor students and junior colleagues in the same process; and teach generations of students about it all.
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
#Thisweeksfiddler from @xaqwg.bsky.social asked: if you're randomly situated on a semicircular island, what is your expected distance from the coast? After a lot of geometry, calculus and algebra (plus a bit of help from WolframAlpha) I got a surprisingly simple answer. tinyurl.com/fiddler140325
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Hello old friend, it's been a while!
A positive covid test strip
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 26/02/2025
RNA xkcd.com/3056
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 26/02/2025
Complete batshit lunacy on the president's Truth Social account. Yes, he really posted this.
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
I'm bemused. Is this what people dream of doing in their retirement?
A man holding a penguin, with the text "I never thought I'd be able to hold a Penguin until I moved to Wellford Gardens"
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
You'll never guess who won the Mentimeter quiz on my organic mechanisms course...
Quiz leaderboard showing Christopher Ingold in first place
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Reposted by Mike Porter
Curious British Telly @curiousbritishtelly.co.uk · 18/01/2025
The Wombles play Motörhead
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
"The perfect gift for science lovers". What do you think, @drmikebooth.bsky.social ?
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
Some impressive battery technology here - a 2 g battery with 2kWh energy content. Unfortunately it's attached to a device drawing 3.6 kW so it will only last 33 minutes.
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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
TWO PhD opportunities to join my group on the new CDT in Engineering Solutions for Antimicrobial Resistance! Synthetic cells and DNA nanotechnology 🧬🦠🧑‍🔬 - Project details below Open Day 18th December 11 am Application Deadline 26th January 2025 #chemsky 🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/program...
findaphd.com
FindAPhD : 10 fully funded 4-year PhD studentships at the EPSRC and BBSCR Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineering Solutions for Antimicrobial Resistance at University College London
Apply for a PhD: 10 fully funded 4-year PhD studentships at the EPSRC and BBSCR Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineering Solutions for Antimicrobial Resistance at University College London
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Mike Porter @profmikeporter.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
The fun of recreational maths is working out how to answer a question you don't need an answer to! #thisweeksfiddler by @xaqwg.bsky.social persuaded me to spend my weekend working out ways to fold polygons. I think I got the answers right, but there's probably a smarter method... bit.ly/3Ol3Pyu
A schematic showing the eight ways to fold a hexagon into a six-layered stack.
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