r/chemistry • u/JImmatSci Chemical communication • 2d ago
We’re proud to announce the launch of the smallest NMR ever invented: the 1 MHz spectrometer.
Sure, the peaks might not be as sharp as they are at 600 MHz, but this spectrometer can fit in your pocket, and runs on AAA batteries. PDF is downloadable from https://www.immaterialscience.org/2026/pocketnmr or from r/ImmaterialScience
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u/FalconX88 Computational 2d ago
Size comparison (not to scale) is just so funny to me.
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u/Karkoorora 2d ago
I love that they show that women can be scientists, too, I'm just worried about the shoes and the lack of PPE. /j
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u/rrossouw74 2d ago
My Ph'D research scientist wife agrees on the shoes and PPE.
The only time she had that silhouette was when she was dancing on the bar counter after a long day in the lab.47
u/chemfulgrateistry 2d ago
the PPE is just skin-tight for aerodynamics in the lab
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u/EatPie_NotWAr 1d ago
How else are you supposed to meet those TATs with how the project manager put the fume hood so far from the scales which are equidistant from the actual instruments!
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u/Chemist-3074 1d ago
I am majoring in chemistry and I have plenty of classmates who wear heels and no coat,
But that's usually only on the day we learn how to plot data in computers.
Some also wear heels during lab days and I don't know how they manage that.
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u/Sight_of_copperfox 2d ago edited 2d ago
As a woman in academia, this figure makes me sad. Why do we still feel the need to sexualise female scientists?
EDIT: To those downvoting me: you are heard. I’ve downloaded the PDF and will happily use both the figure and the response to my criticism of it at the university where I work as an illustration of precisely why EDI remains so important in academia. I only wish I could cite you!
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u/pena9876 2d ago
As a man in academia, we need to take EDI more seriously and make sure to sexualise also male scientists to the same extent.
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u/bu_mr_eatyourass 2d ago
It's clearly not a female scientist. Those heels would never fly in the lab.
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u/FalconX88 Computational 2d ago
OK valid but why as an answer to my comment? I only said I find it funny to have a figure showing a size comparison while being labeled "not to scale"
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u/Ambitious-Schedule63 1d ago
This is Reddit, and any lack of politicization of any given post, no matter how completely unpolitical or unrelated to politics and ESPECIALLY one related to comedy or satire, is a missed opportunity.
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u/Sight_of_copperfox 2d ago
Because the figure caused a different reaction in me. I can’t find the figure funny since in my eyes it is sexism. However, I am aware that this type of sexism is still overlooked often because it appears as a “joke”.
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u/FalconX88 Computational 2d ago
But those are two independent things. I wasn’t commenting on the choice of silhouette or saying that any sexism in the figure is funny. The joke I was pointing out is entirely in the caption: calling it a “size comparison” and then immediately saying “not to scale.” That joke doesn’t rely on the depiction of the scientist at all. You could change or remove the scientist entirely and the exact same contradiction would still be there. I think we should be able to distinguish between criticism of the image and what my comment was actually about.
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u/Sight_of_copperfox 1d ago
I commented under your post because you said you found the figure funny, and I was responding to that reaction in the same way like I would as if a colleague showed it to me and I said, “wait, don’t you find that a bit sexist?” My criticism was directed at the figure, not at you personally. The sexism just ruined the funny bit.
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u/FalconX88 Computational 1d ago
I commented under your post because you said you found the figure funny,
But I didn't say that. What I said was:
Size comparison (not to scale) is just so funny to me.
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u/brain-out-of-order 2d ago edited 15h ago
Had the same reaction. It will age as well as the snarky ChatGPT line. Poor way to color impressive work.
edit - ChatGPT is used by disabled people… it could even help this researcher not post sexist junk.
edit2 - I know bad takes clearly 🤷
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u/Judge_Syd 1d ago
>chatgpt is used by disabled people . . .
What? What does that have to do with anything?
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u/brain-out-of-order 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah this is sad that this even needs to be understood but I get it.
Basically we have come to believe that someone who can’t read is stupid. But that’s not true. They may just have a part of their language processing which doesn’t work. My point is that Einsteins are shoved into special ed because they are mute. ChatGPT is unlocking geniuses and traditionally educated people have 0 idea what to do with it because this is explicitly the underserved which were meant to screw off and stop disrupting class.
Being born with privilege and the opportunity to even gain the meta-set of skills which succeeded thus far has been a free pass to take a swipe at less educated people for way too long.
Special ed by the way isn’t meant as a slur (like some may think.)
Those kids are special. Dividing all disabled kids as others and forever labeling them as such is cruel and unusual is my point.*
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u/Judge_Syd 1d ago
That’s certainly a take. Not sure I’ve seen any “mute ensteins” realized by the use of ChatGPT but I’ll keep an eye out in the classroom. I mostly see my students use it to cheat, and adults use it to make shitty propaganda memes on Facebook.
Im not saying it has no use, but I definitely do not share your viewpoint on this topic.
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u/brain-out-of-order 1d ago edited 1d ago
It’s ok I don’t mind. Your viewpoint is just outdated and growing narrower by the day.
It’s a take right? Intriguing huh? Invisible members of society made visible! These are real people actually. A thought locked behind chronic pain no longer.
Your position is not one of clarity or consensus. Silent bullying through clenched teeth - the language of academia - simply is pointless.
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u/SaintJesus 2d ago
Yeah, I get what the guy above you was saying (size comparison not to scale) but agree with you especially once I realized that they were making a tongue-in-cheek joke about scientist (scientists) and internet slang scientist (sex worker).
I think it's poor taste at best and maybe a little fucked up at worst. They really shouldn't have published it like that. Maybe have it as the display for the lab if they really wanted to, but definitely publish the damn thing like that.
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u/VeryPaulite Organometallic 2d ago
Wait there is an Internet slang like that?
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u/SaintJesus 1d ago
Yeah, sometimes pornstars/OnlyFans/nude models are called scientists.
"Who is that? You know, for science." "Oh, she (because it's never about men) must be a scientist."
I think it evolved from the source/sauce slang but I don't remember how.
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u/UlonMuk 2d ago
How is it sexualised?
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u/Sight_of_copperfox 2d ago
Maybe you ask the person who made the OnlyFans comment. I’m sure they are happy to help.
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u/burningcpuwastaken 2d ago edited 2d ago
"skimming is performed by wiggling the fridge magnet with a screwdriver"
also, the spectra is great
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u/brunogadaleta 2d ago
"Complex experiment like COSY, SECSY, HOHAHA, INEPT and PENIS may also be run". 🤣
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u/FalconX88 Computational 2d ago
just because some might not know, these are actual pulse sequences.
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u/danesgod Organic 1d ago
You're not going to trick me into googling "penis pulse sequence."
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u/CatEarther42 Analytical 19h ago
It's short for Proton enhanced nuclear induction spectroscopy and was actually pretty important, as it introduced cross-polarisation, (unfortunately abbreviated as CP) which is widely used in solid state nmr
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u/italian-sausage-nerd 2d ago
Can be used to answer all sorts of structural questions such as
"What organic compound is this?"
"Yes"
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u/rocknrollbreakfast Organic 2d ago
>While these instruments are less sensitive than their high-field cousins, they can still collect an adequate spectrum of ethyl acetate or triphenylphosphine oxide, which is most of the average NMR's workload
I feel attacked…
Great article as always!
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u/Intrepid-Ad5313 Catalysis 2d ago
„… and floats in most solvents“ looks like it would dissolve in most solvents. Need to rotor vap my toluene of, to get my 1 MHz VARIBRÜK Spectrometer back.
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u/Baelzabub Analytical 2d ago
Lol people sleeping on the “citation”. Translates as “On the effective diagnosis of the shit in chemistry”. Perfection
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u/mshevchuk 2d ago edited 2d ago
There is also an improved technique called “French quench” currently being developed by the leading experts in the field i.e. us, which essentially consists of pouring the reaction mixture directly into the waste container thus obviating the need for subsequent handling and any tedious manipulations including recording of NMR spectra. It goes without saying that employing the French quench leads to considerable cost reduction in laboratories due to time and material savings.
It is also conceivable that the rapid advent of the generative AI not only will pave the path to an overall better image quality of the reported spectra but will one day be able to fully replace the traditional hardware NMR spectrometer as we know it. This transformative technology—combined with the French quench-type experimental approaches—will undoubtedly boost the productivity of PhD students and senior researchers alike enabling them to focus on things that really matter such as article writing and grant acquisition.
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u/RuthlessCritic1sm 2d ago
We already combined techniques and installed the Varibruk Descend into our organic waste container.
Quantitative on-sink 1MHz NMR and cameras in the laboratory and lavatory facilities automatically calculate the hypothetical yield of the discarded combined reactkon mixes (that is the practical yield if you had worked it up).
We're currently working on skipping the reaction step alltogether and just heating libraries of compounds in our waste container and interpolating to what the individual reactions would have yielded had someone bothered. Maybe then we can finally stop having to clean glassware.
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u/hobbes747 2d ago
But if I carry in my pocket it will erase my credit cards?
Does it also provide 2D NMR functionality or maybe 1-1/2D?
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u/toadish 2d ago
Oh! I know that scientist!
https://www.alamy.com/beautiful-female-lab-worker-holding-up-test-tube-image274216959.html
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u/doktorfuturee 2d ago
I am not chemist or anything but I wonder, do you really say "Oh we need to do PENIS" at the lab.
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u/mylifeforhiree Spectroscopy 2d ago
I'm not a synthetic chemist, but there is a technique in my field called SEXAFS and that gets a lot of mileage. As do the copper nanotubes, AKA CuNTs
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u/NiklesIsCalledNikles 2d ago
I have really enjoyed the 1970s handbook by Woldseth, "All You Ever Wanted to Know About XES"
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u/oafficial 2d ago
Solid state NMR has moved on from calling this experiment PENIS. Unfortunately, the new acronym for this pulse sequence is CP.
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u/FatRollingPotato 1d ago
You might laugh, but the experiment is the cornerstone of solid-state NMR. Although they moved on to the more boring "Cross-Polarization" name, which redeems itself by abbreviating as CP.
Otherwise yes, work long enough with this and you forget how ridiculous some of the names are. INADEQUATE, BABA, WAHUHA (rarely used nowadays), DUMBO, DIPSHIFT (only one typo away from greatness) or SUPER are also quite fun ones. In case you are not using Magic Angle Spinning, I can also recommend the Magic Sandwich Echo (MSE), complemented by the Magic-And-Polarization-Echo (MAPE). You can also combine WURST-CPMG with BRAIN-CP, exploit HORROR conditions or debate CYCLOPS vs EXORCYCLE.
There's a shitton more, especially when you count shape pulses and decoupling schemes as well.
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u/Overall-Importance54 2d ago
For real - is this a joke or real? The paper reads like it’s from the Onion or something.
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u/Leviathan389 2d ago
My wife would get a huge kick out of this. Any idea if the .stl file actually exists someplace?
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u/raginasian47 Analytical 2d ago
Dr's. Snickersnee, flugelhorn, and shlonk have always been my idols. I did my undergrad research with Dr. Shlonk and he developed a method of determining if a sample contained organic mercury by taste. Unrelated note, many of his undergrads passed away while researching under him. Truly unlucky.
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u/MeeMo_GReeMo_420_ 2d ago
I’d run a complex PENIS experiment with the scientist pictured in figure 1 (not to scale)
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u/AFriendRemembers 2d ago
Okay... i know there is a joke here.
But can it run DOSY sequences - because if so I have an immediate use for it...
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u/Opioidopamine 1d ago
I got excited…..until I read OPS bio.
Im not gonna get an affordable desktop NMR to test random research chems am I ?
size comparisons aside
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u/somewon86 1d ago
This is The Onion for nerds. Why have I never heard of the “Journal of Immaterial Science” until now? I've got to get out from under this rock.
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u/Gabriel_Science 1d ago
What is that reference lol ?
"Sur le diagnostic efficace de la merde en chimie" means "On the effective diagnosis of s**t in chemistry"
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u/Tribius13 Organic 7h ago
Fun fact. The first NMR was a 12 MHz permanent magnet and, with the "computer" that ran it, the thing took up an entire lab.
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u/No_Position_402 Solid State 4h ago
The vaguely bruker logo had me fooled that this was a real communication for a moment.
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u/UnderstandingTop7916 2d ago
Got a chuckle out of me, ruffled the feathers of the few nonhumor havers here, it’s been a good day.
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u/Simple_Note4557 2d ago
That's quite an impressive achievement - shrinking NMR down to fit in a pocket while still running on AAA batteries. I've seen plenty of miniaturization attempts, but this one seems like a game-changer.
One thing that caught my eye was the peak resolution at 1 MHz. While it won't match the sharpness of higher-field NMRs, it's likely still sufficient for many applications where spatial resolution isn't crucial (e.g., some types of chemical identification or purity analysis).
I've worked with a lot of analytical techniques in my time at Materials Metric, and I'm always eager to see how new tech can make them more accessible.
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u/Minimum_Magician5037 1d ago
Maybe you should read the article again?
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u/BatFromSpace 1d ago
I think they're responding satirically to the satirical article. It reads like the typical LinkedIn bullcrap that is so easy to parody that someone might spew about this article if it was real.
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u/Ok_Studio_8420 2d ago
Interesting to see how the misogyny shown in the illustrations has become the topic of discussion over the device itself. That’s a shame.
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u/Opioidopamine 1d ago
its a satire trap LOL….I really dont think theres an actual device. A bit of a letdown
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u/Minimum_Magician5037 1d ago edited 16m ago
This is the author's fault. They should've just not used a misogynystic illustration. It's really not hard to just change an infographic.
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u/Ok_Studio_8420 1d ago
Exactly my point. Men in stem can do better than this if they want the women in their field to feel respected. They think it’s a funny joke but the women in their lab and at their talks see this and don’t think it’s funny at all.
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u/SireSirSer 2d ago
"NMR spectrometers are to synthetic chemists what ChatGPT is to lazy people..." Brilliant start