Shit title and lead from MIT news but interesting work from Yogi (original article). Short technical summary based on the abstract: electrochemical measurements suggest that, in the production of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), the solid palladium catalyst corrodes slightly, and the corrosion product is what combines ethylene and acetic acid to form VAM while simultaneously redepositing onto the surface.

I’ll need to go back and read the Science article properly once I can get access, but that’s not going to stop me from giving my 2¢ on a shaky foundation. One thing that is unclear to me is exactly what form the corroded palladium acetate takes, and whether it truly leaves the bulk Pd surface. It seems unlikely to me that the Pd(OAc)2 would become properly “homogeneous” in the conventional sense, especially since VAM production is usually gas-phase (though that might just be my lack of familiarity with systems in these temperature regimes). I suppose there could be some kind of extremely thin interface region like you see around an electrode in electrochemistry (after all, this is Yogi’s group). Fast reduction might prevent the corroded Pd from being carried away by the gas stream, but I certainly wouldn’t call Pd in that region “homogeneous” (though it might be “molecular”). On the other hand, if the Pd(OAc)2 doesn’t really leave the surface, then I would say that framing by even the study’s authors is overblown; hetcats gain and lose surface ligands all the time.

If it was an x-ray, isn’t it a little weird to use a radioactive probe (or contrast agent)? I thought that for GI things it is usually a just contrast agent that absorbs x-rays really well… barium or some shit.

Outside Minnesota? Yes, unfortunately, I live out there.

If I stood up straight, my eye level was above the window. Also, glove boxes. The shorter group members could use platforms to raise their height but had trouble reaching the corners, while I had to do a mix of taking an uncomfortably wide stance and slouching. I wish they had been more suitable for my height… I thought everything would be better with taller hoods in my current workplace, but all they did was extend the sash to the floor.

I got one because I was intrigued by its lead rotation, but I found that it really didn’t rotate the lead enough while I wrote. I kept having to rotate the barrel manually to keep a thin line like I do for every other mechanical pencil, and then would get annoyed every time the clip came around to brush my hand. I’ve been wondering if I’m doing something wrong, or if Japanese just uses more shorter strokes. Do you also like it when writing English?

Arsenic is a classic murder poison. It’s been known since anciemt times, though possibly unsuited to your onset requirement. Acute poisoning by ingestion is generally within a few hours, but if your character sustains lower doses over time, you could probably draw out the timeline to whatever you wanted. It would be obvious that the character is unwell during this time, but the symptoms aren’t super specific and could be confused with e.g. food poisoning.

Or just invent a mushroom like others said. The toxins are diverse enough that I doubt anyone would be too upset if you tuned it exactly to your timeline and desired symptoms.

Cyanide poisoning is famously pretty fast though…

If those undergrads could figure out how to turn acetone into TNT…

Amateurs. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone_peroxide

EHS would raise hell if they caught us putting waste solvent in anything but a hazardous waste container…

What a coincidence, the end of my support for windows is also approaching.

jk I scrubbed that shit from my personal devices years ago after graduating.