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Alex Speed

@awhspeed.bsky.social

1.5K followers 1.6K following 640 posts

Chemistry Professor at Dalhousie University. Interested in sustainable organic and main-group chemistry, and asymmetric catalysis, with phosphorus, nitrogen, and sulfur compounds. Camper, plant hoarder, and Victorian house enthusiast.

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Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 21h

Nice sunrise this morning:

View of orange/pink clouds over the harbour, with a grain terminal conveyor belt and McNab's island in the background.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 1d

I had planned to go home for thanksgiving, but am too sick. So I present to you: salmon trimmings, and potato salad!

Salmon trimmings, marinated with soy, ginger shoots (that I grew myself on my balcony), and lemon, and potato salad, with egg, celery, and pickled onion. On a small black plate (the serving is smaller than it looks, just zoomed in to avoid my messy kitchen).

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 1d

If the government hadn't essentially halved the Via rail service in 1989, you could have taken a train from downtown Halifax, and been going over that railway bridge in style!
There was a really amazing rail span across Bear River, but it got taken down some time in the past 15 years.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 1d

Ah, Fort Anne. Annapolis Royal is one of my favourite places! Magical in the fall.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 1d

Wanna bet somebody has an insider bet on "big ion-exchange"?

Reposted by Alex Speed

Dalhousie Chemistry @dalchemistry.bsky.social · 7d

Exciting news from the Charron Lab — their first manuscript has just been published in Chemical Science!

We’re thrilled to share this milestone and grateful to everyone who contributed to this work.

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Silver(I)-mediated oxazoline formation: a mild route to 2,4-oxazoles in peptides

We present a silver-promoted cyclization of peptide thioamides that enables site-specific insertion of oxazole and methyloxazole motifs through oxazoline intermediates. Demonstrated in di- and tetrape...

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 2d

Being home sick, the change in routine has made me forget my medication a couple of days, which is not good..... so here's my strategy. Brilliant or bonkers.... you decide?

Picture of my coffee percolator, with 3 pill bottles in the filter holder, which have to be removed before coffee can be made. Funny, I sometimes forget to take my meds, but never forget to make coffee in the morning.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 2d

Also, I don't know if it made a difference, but sometimes we'd fly to Prestwick rather than Heathrow. But I can't remember if we were flying from Canada to Prestwick, or taking a connecting flight from Heathrow to Prestwick. We would alternate order of family visits (maternal and paternal).

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 2d

It was usually the Gander airport we stopped at. We didn't deplane, and it was always very late at night. This might be lost in the mists of time, but at least once I think we stopped in Goose Bay too. But I could be confusing Goose and Gander..... haha.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 2d

In the 1980s, and possibly early 90s they always stopped in Newfoundland at least in the eastbound direction. I think that stopped by 94 or 96. In 2008, they had a make-work project, on the LHR to YHZ flight where everyone would deplane and go through customs in St. John's then continue as domestic.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 2d

Newfoundland without getting off the plane or leaving the airport more times than I've travelled to any other province as a destination (thanks to when transatlantic flights were not direct). (2/2)

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 2d

Surprising finding looking at my stats for trips:
The two provinces I have travelled to the most outside of Nova Scotia are Alberta and Ontario, with 7 trips apiece. Despite Quebec occupying such an outsized place in my heart, I've only travelled there as a destination 5 times. I've transited (1/2)

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 2d

Come to think of it, this might not be the best time to ask about lanthanum prices:

Screenshot of CNN article headline "what are rare earth minerals, and why are they central to Trump's threats against China?" Also has pictures of mineral rock samples on display, with labels in Chinese writing, and illegible chemical formulae.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 2d

What is the corollary to "game recognize game"?

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 3d

Haha, I just made the same thought in my reply, re the border crossing. You'd cry if you saw the typical price differences between Canada and the US, for chemicals, and everything else...... Haha, in this day and age, don't even think about trying to smuggle something across the border!

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks.... I've found getting things like that shipped to Canada can be tough, but it's worth looking into. I ordered from Strem all the time when I was in Massachusetts, but the bar is a little tougher across the border, so I don't think to look at their catalogue as much.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 3d

If you wanted to buy lanthanum powder or lanthanum turnings, what would your preferred vendor be? Doesn't need to be super pure, don't want to pay > $1000 for 25 gram, when the salts are way less than that.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 3d

Just contributed to my FHSA a couple of days ago, so you can thank me all for today's stock market dip. I always have impeccable timing.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 3d

In having a conversation with somebody about history, it occurred to me that in the year I was born, the Russo-Japanese war was a more recent conflict than WW2 would now be for somebody born today. When I was a child, the youngest WW2 veterans were still common in the workforce.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 3d

I've felt pretty terrible for the past week, including an awful sore throat, coughing, and congestion. Thanks to a student I was finally able to get my hands on a COVID test, and was very surprised to find it was not positive! Stay safe out there. I will be signing up for flu and covid shots soon!

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 3d

Not sure. Hope error in my favour. I didn't actually think it was legit, but the Administrator on my grant did change (as I verified independently), and it was the person who e-mailed. However, I could not do what they were asking me to do, as the website does not allow unapproval of reports!

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 4d

Does anyone else look at this and see The Flying Spaghetti Monster?

Screenshot of the B2Pin2 from ambeed that has ethyls instead of methyls, plus formula, catalogue number, etc.

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 4d

Didn't know there were 4-carbon sugars in RNA....

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 4d

Got an "urgent" e-mail from an admin after hours, regarding the correction of some grant amounts from a past year, that involves logging onto an obscure website. Very tempted to reply "not my circus, not my monkeys"......

Alex Speed @awhspeed.bsky.social · 7d

I'm sorry, what is up with the deluge (no pun intended) of ancient history conspiracy theory and upcoming pole-shift worrier accounts I am suddenly seeing on the other social media site. Absolute garbage.