There is not enough coffee for both me and America.

— Dr24Hours (@Dr24hours) May 13, 2013

To the network:

Grand CENtral: Guest Post: “#Chemclub” by Andrew Bissette

Newscripts: In Print: Shall We Play A Game? and Amusing News Aliquots

The Haystack: Biotech, Pharma, & VCs Offer Rare Disease Patient Groups Some Advice

The Watch Glass: “We can now make a few milligrams of anything” and Inspection, with Mustache and Membranes in Immunology and Making of Breaking Bad

What’s it like to be a chemist?

Regular C&EN readers hopefully got a good idea from Carmen Drahl’s great article about #RealTimeChem. This growing project, led primarily by Jason Woolford, encourages chemists to share their lives, whether by blogging about it, or taking photos, or even remixing it with some dubstep.

#RealTimeChem Week took place in the last week of April. For one week, chemists from across the world blogged and tweeted intensively about their work and lives. This was a great chance to meet other chemists and hopefully to show the human face of chemistry to the outside world. Perhaps in the popular imagination we all wear labcoats and handle beakers of dry ice, but in reality we are diverse. Even within a particular field, two chemists will have very different labs and lives. #RealTimeChem is a fantastic way to showcase that diversity.

However, diversity has a downside. It is so easy to get absorbed in the details of your own narrow field that keeping up with even closely-related areas can be challenging. What’s worse is that this can be a vicious cycle: the less you know about a subject, the harder it is to keep abreast of things and to identify the really promising new findings.

Since reading as widely and thoughtfully as possible will always be essential, several aids for this purpose have appeared. For example, some reference managers suggest new papers, and journals regularly highlight important publications. My preferred solution is to ask a friend.

That’s why I started #chemclub.

We chemists are lucky to have a strong and enthusiastic online community, as #RealTimeChem week demonstrated. We’re a diverse lot, including everyone from undergraduates to professors, from a range of specialities. Being chemists, naturally every single one of these people is a shining beacon of genius.

#chemclub aims to draw on that collective wisdom. First and foremost we ask people to highlight the papers they’re reading. It’s very simple: anyone can post papers to Twitter with the hashtag #chemclub for public discussion, and every week I round up a selection on my blog, Behind NMR Lines.

The idea of #chemclub is to complement your reading with some papers you might otherwise have skipped, giving you an appreciation for new developments in other fields. Hopefully this will make it that little bit easier to build up a broad knowledge from across chemistry.

To this end we’re expanding #chemclub beyond just the hashtag. The first baby step is to include blogs in the regular round-up; there are plenty of great chemistry blogs out there, and many discuss recent papers in some detail. We’ll be focusing on those that offer context which the casual reader might miss.

Long-term, we’re looking at other ways to help chemists. Our next big thing will be #chemclub reviews: short, coffee-break reviews aimed at giving the reader a quick overview of a subject. Naturally these will lack the gory detail of an academic review, but hopefully will benefit your own reading by providing easily-digestible context and from someone who knows the subject intimately.

Ultimately, #chemclub is much like #RealTimeChem: it’s about community. We’re slowly building an online, ongoing literature meeting that users can dip in and out of, helping chemists to stay current with the literature, meet others from across the world, and broaden their knowledge.

Get involved by posting to the #chemclub hashtag on Twitter.

No, no, no *closes think geek* I can’t have ALL the things.

— Jamie Gallagher (@JamieBGall) May 9, 2013

And now, to the network:

Cleantech Chemistry: No Magic In China’s Solar Industry

Newscripts: In Print: Droplets of Rain, Strands of Honey and Amusing News Aliquots

The Safety Zone: On the importance of teaching safety and Patrick Harran arraigned on four felony counts, #SheriSangji case to be continued in June

The Watch Glass: Brain Chemistry and U.S. Prepares to Launch Sea-Air Study and Art Directors Club Selection, 1965 and Science, world politics, and human rights

Social media should be a part of the scientific process, just as the manuscript-writing process already is. #sciodc

— Eric Schulze (@SciencEric) May 1, 2013

To the network:

Cleantech Chemistry: Technology (like GMOs) and its Discontents

Grand CENtral: Talking about science online at #sciodc

Newscripts: Looking back at our time in New Orleans and In Print: Horse. It’s What’s For Dinner and “A Boy and His Atom”: The World’s Smallest Movie and Amusing News Aliquots and Flame Challenge 2: The Answers Are In

The Safety Zone: Patrick Harran ordered to stand trial in #SheriSangji case and Ripped from the pages: More on the West Fertilizer explosion in Texas and Hearing scheduled for David Snyder in UC Davis explosives case and Friday chemical safety round up

The Watch Glass: Lunar Chemical History and Acid Rain and Science at EPA and Advice to a Young Scientist

ScienceOnlineDC is one of several local satellites of ScienceOnline, a nonprofit organization that facilitates conversations, community, and collaborations at the intersection of science and the Web. Our goal is to bring together science journalists, bloggers, federal and private research scientists, policymakers, and other science enthusiasts in the DC metro area for dynamic discussions about how science is carried out and communicated online. My co-organizers are Geoffrey Hunt of the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow Jamie Vernon, and Hannah Waters of the Smithsonian Institution.

Our first event will focus on federal agencies’ social media policies – how does government transparency influence the social media activities of scientists and communications staff? Here’s the panelist lineup:

Jamie Vernon, moderator

Gretchen Goldman, analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists (check out her post about Wednesday’s event)

Megan McVey, communications coordinator, United States Global Change Research Program

Sarah Dewitt, communications officer, NASA, Office of the Chief Scientist

John Ohab, public affairs specialist, Naval Research Laboratory

One of the hallmarks of ScienceOnline events is the unconference format. Sure, we’ve rounded up some experts to put in the front of the room, but most of the conversation will be driven by the attendees, both in person and online. Even if you can’t be there in person, chime in via the livestream and twitter (#sciodc). Should be a great discussion.

Of course, you may be wondering why I’m pitching this event to an audience of chemists, most of whom are not in the DC area. I’ll tell you why. Because it’s important for chemists to be involved in these conversations. Because many of you are already having such conversations on twitter and each other’s blogs. And some of those conversations include pondering who could be the chemist version of Neil deGrasse Tyson. But chemistry doesn’t need one deGrasse Tyson; it needs several. So, let’s move those discussions out of the chemistry inner circle and into Science, writ large. Chemistry is the central science, after all.

And you can start by attending any gathering with other people in your community who are interested in how science is communicated. As I said earlier, ScienceOnlineDC is only one of several satellites. Others with regular events include Seattle, Vancouver, and the Bay Area. There are SpotOn events in London and New York. Attend a local #SciTweetUp or Science Cafe. Or participate in the livestreams and twitter conversations that often accompany these events.

And if you are in DC on Wednesday, c’mon by. We’d love to have you.

UPDATE, 5/6: Doh! How could I leave out ScienceOnlineBeantown???

Something I have learned: you only complete one project by ignoring a whole bunch of other projects for a while.

— Kate Clancy (@KateClancy) April 26, 2013

No, Google! Cobalt (II) chloride (CoCl2) and Phosgene (COCl2) are not the same thing. Switching to #Bing? #realtimechem

— Eric Popczun (@ePopczun) April 22, 2013

To the network:

Cleantech Chemistry: Solar Boom in Japan, with Battery to Match

Grand CENtral: Guest Re-post: “In defense of chemphobia” by Andrew Bissette

Newscripts: Amusing News Aliquots and In Print: ACS Member Finds Success On ‘Jeopardy!’ And Millipedes Light Up and 19th-Century Medicine In New Orleans

Terra Sigillata: The Cinnamon Challenge: On Being Charged with #Chemophobia

The Safety Zone: Preliminary hearing for Patrick Harran in #SheriSangji case: Motion to dismiss or reduce the charges and CSB releases interim report on Chevron refinery fire

The Watch Glass: Celebrating DNA’s 60th and 21st birthdays, the state of marine drug research in 1972, long-term health effects of chemical tests on Army soldiers (1983), and Earth Day back in 1970

#chemphobia is a pretty popular topic at the moment, and for good reason. We’re often confronted with examples of people selling ‘chemical-free’ products, or articles scare-mongering about the terrible ‘chemicals’ lurking in everyday life. The anti-vaccine movement often takes this angle, blaming traces of chemicals such as mercury for all kinds of horrible effects they attribute to vaccines.

One typical response to this is the claim that all matter is chemical! or something to that effect, accompanied by much eye-rolling. I see the appeal of this response: in the lab, we don’t typically discriminate between different materials. They’re all chemicals to us. I regularly use water as a solvent and SDS as a catalyst – effectively, I do my reactions in shampoo! In the fume hood next to me, exotic Zr complexes and whiffy ethers are routine. Both of us are chemists, both of us are studying chemical reactions. It seems contrived to declare that, say, gold is not a chemical merely because it is familiar to non-chemists.

Naturally, I’m sympathetic to this response, and I find chemphobia as frustrating as anyone – but I think caution is warranted. However, I think this reaction is too strong and unhelpful. Of course, I am not including in this criticism some of the excellent responses to chemphobia out there – such as this by Michelle Francl. I am aiming specifically at the dismissive “all matter is chemical” response, for two reasons:

Chemphobia is reactive

Look at the history of our profession – from tetraethyl lead to thalidomide to Bhopal – and maintain with a straight face that chemphobia is entirely unwarranted and irrational. Much like mistrust of the medical profession, it is unfortunate and unproductive, but it is in part our own fault. Arrogance and paternalism are still all too common across the sciences, and it’s entirely understandable that sections of the public treat us as villains.

Of course it’s silly to tar every chemical and chemist with the same brush, but from the outside we must appear rather esoteric and monolithic. Chemphobia ought to provoke humility, not eye-rolling. If the public are ignorant of chemistry, it’s our job to engage with them – not to lecture or hand down the Truth, but simply to talk and educate. Given that the audience of this blog is largely composed of people who actively engage with the public, I suspect I’m preaching to the converted here. Regardless: I feel like the “water is a chemical!” response risks falling into condescension.

Material does not equal chemical

As I noted above, a common response to chemphobia is to define “chemicals” as something like “any tangible matter”. From the lab this seems natural, and perhaps it is; in daily life, however, I think it’s at best overstatement and at worst dishonest. Drawing a distinction between substances which we encounter daily and are not harmful under those conditions – obvious things like water and air, kitchen ingredients, or common metals – and the more exotic, concentrated, or synthetic compounds we often deal with is useful. The observation that both groups are made of the same stuff is metaphysically profound but practically trivial for most people. We treat them very differently, and the use of the word “chemical” to draw this distinction is common, useful, and not entirely ignorant. Even Wiktionary agrees.

This definition is of course a little fuzzy at the edges. Not all “chemicals” are synthetic, and plenty of commonly-encountered materials are. Regardless, I think we can very broadly use ‘chemical’ to mean the kinds of matter you find in a lab but not in a kitchen, and I think this is how most people use it.

Crucially, this distinction tends to lead to the notion of chemicals as harmful: bleach is a chemical; it has warning stickers, you keep it under the sink, and you wear gloves when using it. Water isn’t! You drink it, you bathe in it, it falls from the sky. Rightly or wrongly, chemphobia emerges from the common usage of the word ‘chemical’.

Anyway.

Dismissing critics of our profession as ignorant, as fear-mongering, or as having an agenda is essentially a grand ad hominem. It’s a sure way to alienate non-chemists, come across as smug and condescending, and to lose the argument. Defining “chemical” as “all stable matter” is begging the question: of course chemphobia is silly under this definition, but nobody actually uses it! Peddlers of chemphobia rightly reject this.

What about responses along these lines that avoid these traps? I think SeeArrOh’s recent post about dyes is exemplary. Confronted with a case-study in chemphobia, SeeArrOh doesn’t facepalm and groan “idiots”. Instead, he engages directly with the authors. He finds common ground and understands their perspective, attacks the weak logic of the petition, and points out the lack of evidence for toxicity. He doesn’t chastise them for being averse to lab-made chemicals, but simply points out the inconsistency of that position, and the poor analogy between these dyes and gasoline.

Anyway. My two cents. Let the rebuttals commence.

Update: Marc has shared a thoughtful post of his own along similar lines. It and the ChemBark post linked therein are worth reading if (like me) you’ve missed them.

To the network:

Just Another Electron Pusher: #ChemMovieCarnival – The Absent-Minded Professor

Newscripts: Chemistry of the Bar: Amaretto 101 and #ChemMovieCarnival: Dramatic Acid-Base Chemistry in Fight Club and Amusing News Aliquots and In Print: Mosh Pit Simulator

Terra Sigillata: Why Chemistry Should Care About Humanities Higher Education

The Safety Zone: Friday chemical safety round up and Stony Brook chemistry incorporates lab safety into Research Day celebration and Ripped from the pages: DHS lagging on chemical security, CSB has offshore jurisdiction, and hydrofluoric acid concerns

The Watch Glass: Talking about global warming in 1989, chemical forensics trace threat agents, pheromone lures control beetles, a book review of “African American Women Chemists,” and plutonium weighing helped open the atomic age

HULK INTERVIEWED BY PUNY @sophialcai FOR PUNY @cenmag. HULK PLEASED THAT HULK WORDS NOT TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT. NO NEED FOR CRUSHING.

— CHEMIST HULK (@ChemistHulk) April 10, 2013

I know, I know. There were a plethora of #ACSnola gems to choose from. But I wouldn’t want to make CHEMIST HULK angry…

To the network:

Newscripts: In Print: Science Models and CHEMIST HULK Smashes Questions, But Protects Identity and Amusing News Aliquots and Terrence Howard Isn’t A Doctor, He Just Plays One On TV

The Haystack: Liveblogging First-Time Disclosures of Drug Structures from #ACSNOLA

Thumbs down to the death of Roger Ebert, Thumbs up for his life and his career. Although we all have different taste, you saved us from duds

— Daily Brew (@D_B_Connect) April 5, 2013

I’m baaaaack! Many thanks to Carmen for both overlording in my absence and agreeing to co-overlord in my return. Today we’re mourning the loss of film critic Roger Ebert, but we’re also celebrating the birthday of Terra Sig owner and ubermensch, David Kroll!

To the network:

Artful Science: Gold gilding, ancient amber and a mysterious hidden sculpture: A new cultural heritage journal launches! and A brief hiatus: Onwards to Uzbekistan

Grand CENtral: C&EN Picks for ACS New Orleans #ACSNOLA

Just Another Electron Pusher: Why some women may choose not to enter STEM careers and ACS Webinar: Chemists at U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Newscripts: GZA Drops Verse (And Science) On The Schools and In Print: Chemistry Labs Sound Like Music and Four Tips for Getting the Best Beer Foam and Amusing News Aliquots

The Haystack: Liveblogging First-Time Disclosures of Drug Structures from #ACSNOLA (bookmark this link for next week)

The Safety Zone: Chemical and laboratory safety at #ACSNOLA

The Watchglass: Macromolecules at will and 1980 employment outlook and a glass bulb demonstrates critical opalescence and the state of inorganic chemistry back in ’79