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Kathryn Harkup (she/her)

@rotwangsrobot.bsky.social
1.8K followers 690 following 71 posts

Writer, Science Communicator and Vampirologist

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Reposted by Kathryn Harkup (she/her)
Mujeres con ciencia @mujeresconciencia.com · 21/02/2026
"Venenos literarios. De la página al laboratorio: un recorrido científico y literario por los venenos que Agatha Christie utilizó para cometer sus crímenes más ingeniosos" Un libro de @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social 
mujeresconciencia.com
Venenos literarios - Mujeres con ciencia
Venenos literarios. Agatha Christie. Kathryn Harkup. Toxicología. Sustancias venenosas. Composición química. Detección forense.
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Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Reminder to anyone who needs it today: you have until midnight tonight to submit books and audiobooks for PLR UK: your future self will thank you when the cheque comes in!
media.tenor.com
a minion from the movie despicable me is standing on a wooden floor with a red light on its head .
Alt: A minion is standing on a wooden floor with a red light on its head .
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Mr Spock's Cat @mrspockscat.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
it’s out!😻😻😻 like all her others, it is my favourite book of the year 🐾 (and is currently been devoured accordingly) #science #chemistry #history #AgathaChristie #books
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George Bass @georgebas5.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
First aid for a wasp sting: a plaster and being brave. First aid for drinking hydrochloric acid … I wrote about V is for Venom by @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social for @newscientist.com, a look at how the poisons of Agatha Christie work for real. www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
newscientist.com
Killer new book uncovers Agatha Christie's knowledge of toxicology
Agatha Christie's murder mysteries are made all the more compelling by the author's personal expertise, reveals Kathryn Harkup's new book V is for Venom
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David Slack @slack2thefuture.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
If your business model doesn’t work without breaking the law, then you’re not in business. You’re in organized crime.
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Open Culture @openculture.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Stream Online "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" Free on Its 50th Anniversary www.openculture.com/2025/05/stre...
openculture.com
Stream Online Monty Python and the Holy Grail Free on Its 50th Anniversary
This year, YouTube celebrated its twentieth anniversary, prompting younger users to wonder what life could have been like before it. The fiftieth anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which ...
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Today's office
Fullwell cross library. A circular building with a central dome of windows and a green canopy roof that is a cross between a circus tent and a Spanish villa. Xanadu meets Seville's islamic architecture. Love it.
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
#AmReading We Are Bellingcat: An Intelligence Agency for the People by Eliot Higgins #BookSky 📚
Cover of the book showing the title inside the curve of an upside down question mark
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
#AmReading The World of Yesterday: Memoirs of a European by Stefan Zweig
Cover of the book with an illustration of a moustached man sitting at a desk with pen in hand. On the desk is a miniature street scene with a lamppost, an advertising column, a ballerina and three women walking along in typical turn of the century dress - hats, long skirts - two of them are holding umbrellas.
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Compound Interest | Chemistry infographics @compoundchem.com · 31/03/2025
Happy Birthday, Robert Bunsen! 🎂 He's best known for the eponymous Bunsen burner, which was actually constructed for Bunsen by instrument maker Peter Desaga. It was essential to the discovery of caesium and rubidium through their emission spectra. www.compoundchem.com/2023/03/31/b... #ChemSky 🧪
Today in chemistry history graphic on Robert Bunsen and the Bunsen burner. The graphic shows an annotated diagram of the Bunsen burner that highlights its key features.
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Adriana Guatame-García @adriguatame.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
A friend included this anti-acknowledgement section on her PhD thesis. She also added the proposition: “Systematic bullying and undermining of girls and women in STEM starts early on and is the reason why they do not stay in science and related fields.” Absurd we still need to go through this 🧪👩‍🔬
There have been people less than helpful in my journey here. I wanted to acknowledge those too, bc I know I am not unique in this experience.
No thank you to the physics study assoc that made me sing songs about how women couldn't study physics without sleeping with the professor, the day I stepped into university life. No thank you to the 5th year physics student that decided to assign me a stripper name within the first minute of meeting me in the physics coffee corner in my first year. No thank you to the technician that was responsible for onboarding me on the use of the cluster in my third year who raised his eyebrows and asked me if that meant I was some sort of computer girl. No thank you to the senior researcher that sent me utterly inappropriate texts after a conference, then proceeded to apologise months later by telling me they had not been meant for me anyway so no hard feelings remain hopefully And no thank you to him for attending every conference I've been to since. No thank you to the people who told me that it was surprising that I was doing a PhD since I was a girl. No thank you to the man who mistook me for a coffee lady at a conference, and after having to correct him two times that I did not work there, responded with you should consider it. No thank you to the researcher that asked me what I was wearing underneath my outfit during a conference. No thank you to the physicist who declared to a room full of other physicists that biologists don't know how to design an experiment. No thank you to the people who have called me scary instead of strong and intimidating instead of intelligent.
And finally, no thank you to the exec board of the TU Delft, whose knee-jerk reaction to being held up a mirror about the social safety at the university, was to sue the party holding up the mirror instead of looking at the problems they highlighted.
... You have made me feel like I do not belong in science & I cannot forgive you for that.
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Jonas Wisser @jwisser.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 05/03/2025
The Scottish have won the AI Wars.
A screenshot of Google's AI Overview answer to the question "is haggis an animal". It says "Yes, the haggis is a small, furry mammal native to Scotland" and goes on to give the typical "asymmetrical legs" details.
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Barnaby Edwards @barnabyedwards.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Fun Fact: today is Ash Wednesday, named after Ian Holm's character in Alien because he was still tidying up his pancake disaster from the previous day.
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Questions for teachers and parents and readers and writers - what are the young folk reading these days in the whodunit genre? What's going on in the YA murder mystery world?
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Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her) @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
UK folks, five and a half more hours for this! #authors #artists #books #authorcommunity
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Jo Durrant @jodurrant.co.uk · 22/02/2025
#ICYMI: With news about #JamesBond I think you’ll enjoy Ep 222 of Jo Durrant’s Beautiful Universe podcast where I talk to @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social about book ‘Superspy Science’ & science behind 007 including diamonds 📲 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/j... 💻 jodurrantsbeautifuluniverse.libsyn.com
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Life is a Festival! @lifeisafestival.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
The fabulous Granite Noir #bookfestival is on again in #Aberdeen 20-23 February. I had a fantastic weekend last year, don't miss! lifeisafestival.wordpress.com/2024/02/29/s... #booksky #crimefiction www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/granite-noir/
aberdeenperformingarts.com
Granite Noir
Aberdeen's unique international writing festival returns with author conversations, talks, workshops and exhibitions.
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
#AmReading A Passage to India by E M Forster #BookSky 📚
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
#AmReading The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig #BookSky 📚
Cover of the book showing a young woman with dark hair and downcast eyes looking very sad
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Reposted by Kathryn Harkup (she/her)
Jo Durrant @jodurrant.co.uk · 03/02/2025
🎧 Ep 222 of Jo Durrant’s Beautiful Universe podcast is out Weds: 🤩 @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social talks about the science of James Bond in ‘Superspy Science’ inc lasers, volcanoes & gold ☠️ Story of Arsenic @rpharms.com 📲 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/j... 💻 jodurrantsbeautifuluniverse.libsyn.com
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Justin Brower @naturespoisons.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
I won't be around for ToxTueday, so you'll have to settle for ToxMonday, instead. Today, I'm posting an experiment I did about 5 years ago with my old lab for some "team building." So what did we do? Look for drugs on money, of course! What did we find? Lots, but you'll have to keep reading:
Just a photo of a one-dollar bill.
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Phil Knutson, PhD @philknutson.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
I saw this on LinkedIn 😂 #chemsky
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Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Happy Public Lending Right Statement Day to those who celebrate!
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
#AmReading The Trial by Franz Kafka #BookSky 📚⚙️👨‍⚖️📚
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William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 20/01/2025
Hell is empty, And all the devils are here.
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Edmonds Scanner @edmondsscanner.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Your horoscope for today: Be like a flashlight - illuminate safe paths for others through dark times.
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Stephen S Power @stephenspower.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
.@rotwangsrobot.bsky.social I absolutely loved DEATH BY SHAKESPEARE, which taught me a ton about Shakespeare, his world and science. So much ghastly fun.
rotwangsrobot.bsky.social
Kathryn Harkup (she/her) (@rotwangsrobot.bsky.social)
Writer, Science Communicator and Vampirologist
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Sofia Castelló y Tickell @sofiaatsea.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Deadline for ScienceWrite apps is getting closer, having participated last year I highly recommend!
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
#AmReasing The Complete Mapp & Lucia: Volume One by E. F. Benson #BookSky
Cover of the book showing a painting of a hut at Rye Harbour by Anna Teasdale. The red roofed hut is in the middle distance. Big grey clouds roll overhead and the foreground is filled with wild flowers and gentle rolling dunes leading up to the water. Benson's fictional world is based on the real town of Rye.
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
#AmReading The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman #BookSky
Cover of the book showing a fox strutting along in a Zorro (geddit?) mask
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Esther van Hulsen wildlife art @esthervanhulsen.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
40 WAYS TO DIE IN THE PREHISTORIC. Enjoy! These illustrations were made as scale drawing for a book about prehistoric creatures. Thought it would be fun to have a bit more interaction between the animals and human figures
A standing illustration showing 40 scale drawings of different prehistoric creatures with a human figure. The human is stomped on, eaten, ripped to pieces, smacked, stabbed and many other ways to come to an end. The drawings are all black silhouettes, spread over a white background
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Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Two stages of writing: 1) This shouldn't take too long 2) Oh no
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
#AmReading Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift #BookSky
Cover of the book showing Gulliver held captive by the Lilliputians
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Tomorrow!
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
#AmReading The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman #BookSky
Cover of the book showing a red fox looking over its shoulder.
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Little Acorns Bookstore @littleacornsbooks.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Oh wow! It's been a true whirlwind 48 hours - still on a massive high. Thank-you SO SO MUCH to #AnPost #AnPostIrishBookAwards #BooksellingIreland & to all those who voted; who write, draw, make, champion, sell, read, love books. What an honour to be part of your story! Photos soon! 💚📚😍 #APIBA #Derry
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
@jimspim.bsky.social Hello. How are you doing? Got a gap in your diary for a cuppa sometime?
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Mark Miodownik @markmiodownik.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
I am performing at the @cosmicshambles.com Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People hosted by @robinince.bsky.social Please do come! All profits will go to charities Hope not Hate and Two Wheels for Life www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/com...
kingsplace.co.uk
Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People • Comedy • Kings Place
Robin Ince’s iconic Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People presented by The Cosmic Shambles Network returns for its 15th outing in 2024!
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
#AmReading Original Sin by P. D. James #Booksky
Cover of the book showing the shoreline of the river Thames with a jetty and tower bridge to the right. There is also a drawing of a snake in the bottom right corner looking as though it has just slithered over to the shore from the jetty.
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Me do!
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Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
There's lots of buzz about scientists on #bluesky! Don't forget to make room for the medical and science historians, too! Here's my #starterpack of some awesome people (and institutes). From medieval astrolabes to Victorian corsets, radium soap, and beyond! I got you covered. go.bsky.app/3DuVT6Z
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
On page 60 of 219 of my 4th complete read-through of V is for Venom. I strongly dislike reading my own writing. I think it's like hearing a recording of your own voice or seeing yourself on the telly. It's weird and disappointing that you aren't nearly as interesting or articulate as you had hoped.
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VirtualAstro @virtualastro.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
As well as seeing the ISS, you can see all of the naked eye planets in the sky tonight apart from Mercury Venus sets early in the evening Saturn is a bright ocre colour in the south Jupiter is incredibly bright high in the east. Mars rises around 8.30 pm with the moon rising an hour later.
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
#AmReading Good-Bye to All That by Robert Graves #Books
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Hana Ayoob @hanaayoob.co.uk · 20/11/2024
ScienceWrite, a UK scheme for aspiring STEM writers from minoritised backgrounds, is open for 2025 applications! The 3rd year @romatheengineer.bsky.social & I are running this, with support from @royalsociety.bsky.social & I am SO EXCITED Deadline 3rd Jan #SciComm 🧪 www.sciencewrite.co.uk
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
I have gained over a thousand followers in a few short days and I'm not quite sure what to make of it all. I think much of this influx of lovely people is down to @jamiebgall.co.uk including me on a scicomm starter pack. Thank you. Appreciating all the support from fellow scientists and scicommers.
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purr.in.ink @purrinink.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
🐈‍⬛🤍.
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Dr Jamie Gallagher @jamiebgall.co.uk · 19/11/2024
The #SciComm starter pack is almost full. Make sure to revisit it as l’ve added lots of folk this week. Do share it and flag up if you’d like added. go.bsky.app/VJQzace
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
On December 3rd I'm going to Nottingham to talk about Death and Shakespeare. 💀🗡️💔You can come along and hear me if you'd like. It's free but you need to register here institutemh.org.uk/events/event...
Poster advertising the event Death by Shakespeare with a drawing of Shakespeare in one corner and event details in the other. The talk is at 2pm at the Institute of Mental Health on the University of Nottingham's Jubilee campus, room A08. The text reads 'a captivating guest lecture by Dr Kathryn Harkup, a former chemist who has embraced her calling as a vampirologist and science communicator.' It then goes on to say 'William Shakespeare found dozens of different ways to kill off his characters and audiences today still enjoy the same reactions - shock, sadness, fear - that they did more than 400 years ago when these plays were first performed. but how realistic are these deaths, and did Shakespeare have the knowledge to back them up?'
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Kathryn Harkup (she/her) @rotwangsrobot.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Why am I only finding this now?! Absolutely glorious writing. Do give it a read.
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