Oliver Steinbock's Avatar

Oliver Steinbock

@osteinbock

Chemistry professor studying chemical self-organization and far-from-equilibrium processes. Opinions are my own and not the views of FSU.

316
Followers
548
Following
198
Posts
01.11.2023
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Oliver Steinbock @osteinbock

Scientific Reports might benefit from some LLM reviewers ... no current LLM would have approved this paper.

09.03.2026 11:51 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Fact Check: Image Of Bodies Wrapped In White Fabric Does NOT Show Mass Funeral Of Minab School Strike's Victims In Iran Does a viral image actually show the funeral of the children killed during the U.S.-Israel attack? No, that's not true: It contains multiple artifacts characteristic of AI. The account that was the so...

I believe this photo is AI-generated www.yahoo.com/news/article...

08.03.2026 13:53 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I see that makes sense. Thanks!

07.03.2026 14:46 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Also, if NIH believes in the merit of their rankings, shouldn't the curve be more sigmoidal? Looks like review percentiles only explain about half of the funding decision variance.

07.03.2026 13:28 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

how does this line up with a steady NIH budget? Applications increased? Bigger grants?

07.03.2026 13:22 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

... ergo, older scientists should get longer grants ... everything else is cruel :)

07.03.2026 13:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

you can see the demon doing a lot of information processing πŸ˜… (and work) ... that's where the "paradox" is resolved

01.03.2026 15:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Charge-Selective Adsorption of Organic Molecules in Microfluidic Mg(OH)2 Precipitate Membranes | ChemRxiv The porous mineral structures of alkaline hydrothermal vent chimneys have been proposed as natural concentrators of dissolved organic molecules, potentially addressing the longstanding dilution problem in deep-sea origin-of-life hypotheses. Here, we use ...

New preprint posted on ChemRxiv: "Charge-Selective Adsorption of Organic Molecules in Microfluidic Mg(OH)2 Precipitate Membranes" chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10....

25.02.2026 13:24 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It's a bit perplexing, but I agree. I believe the biggest trap is giving out lecture notes. Coming to class & taking handwritten notes is the 1st step toward learning the material. Downloading the pdf's for possible future consumption is not, but it does feel good (equiv. to us downloading papers).

16.02.2026 13:44 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

New paper on arXiv arxiv.org/abs/2602.07183. We show that the aging of precipitate membranes and chemical gardens controls pattern formation by favoring growth at freshly formed regions. This time dependence follows stretched exponentials that transition to a scale-free power law.

12.02.2026 04:50 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

great idea!

08.12.2025 01:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Symmetry Breaking in Chemical Systems: Engineering Complexity Through Self‐Organization and Marangoni Flows We show that solutal Marangoni flows in thin films climbing the outer surfaces of hydrophilic obstacles break circular Belousov-Zhabotinsky waves into striking flower-like patterns. Evaporation-drive....

Marangoni convection meets chemical waves in the BZ reaction, where small pillars cause flower-like patterns. New paper from a collaboration with Azam Gholami, Detlef Lohse, and others.
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

18.10.2025 12:01 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
PDB 2NZ2

PDB 2NZ2

Today in our #RareDiseaseThursday spotlight: Argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency (ASSD), a urea cycle disorder caused by pathogenic variants in ASS1, impairing the conversion of citrulline+aspartate to argininosuccinate. This leads to long-term neurological damage.

16.10.2025 20:39 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Some thoughts on grading ... if you want to see how ThermoTutor is doing it, check out thermo-tutor.qwyzzee.com

#HigherEd #Chemistry #STEM #college #thermodynamics #pchem

19.09.2025 14:09 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

My photo is in Discover magazine! Looks great πŸ˜€

19.09.2025 03:30 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
FSU chemist earns $2.1 million NIH grant to investigate molecular causes of disease A Florida State University researcher has received a multi-million-dollar grant to investigate the role enzymes β€” which influence nearly every process in

Congrats Wen! πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰βž‘οΈFSU chemist earns $2.1 million NIH grant to investigate molecular causes of disease: news.fsu.edu/news/science...

17.09.2025 19:26 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Over the past summer, I built an AI-powered learning platform for thermodynamics students. It’s called ThermoTutor. Here’s a short manifesto on what it does and why I think it’s useful:
thermo-tutor.qwyzzee.com

16.09.2025 13:59 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

And Einstein's dissertation? Basically physical chemistry! 😊
β€œA New Determination of Molecular Dimensions” estimated molecular radii and Avogadro’s number from sugar diffusion and viscosity. From macroscopic measurements to molecular insight ... classic pchem move.

14.09.2025 19:30 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

Quick introduction to ThermoTutor. Get personalized thermodynamics tutoring with instant feedback and follow-up conversations. This 3-minute demo shows how ThermoTutor works, from problem selection to grading to asking follow-up questions. #chemistry #studyhelp #pchem

11.09.2025 23:56 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
PDB: 8GS8

PDB: 8GS8

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) uniquely powers both the TCA cycle & electron transport chain. SDH mutations cause SDH deficiency, disrupting energy metabolism & leading to developmental delays. #RareDiseaseThursday

11.09.2025 23:27 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

KARS1 encodes lysyl-tRNA synthetase. Biallelic KARS mutations cause KARS syndrome, a severe disorder that affects multiple organs, particularly the nervous system. #RareDiseaseThursday

28.08.2025 19:51 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Co-motion of catalytic tubes and host droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces The ability to convert chemical energy into directed motion is a defining feature of living systems and a central goal in the design of synthetic active matter. Here, we report a self-propelling syste...

Our new paper describes a synthetic "cell" that moves over superhydrophobic surfaces. It consists of an H2O2 drop and a chemical garden tube that spins like a propeller or orbits around a large internal O2 bubble; bursting causes repeating cm-scale motion. @softmatter.rsc.org doi.org/10.1039/D5SM...

24.07.2025 13:34 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

great photo!

23.07.2025 14:02 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The abstract submission deadline for our symposium is TODAY! Submit your abstract at sermacs-swrm2025.abstractcentral.com/submission before it’s too late; I hope to see you all in sunny Orlando this October!

21.07.2025 13:08 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Congratulations to Julia and Adwaith for completing the 2025 Young Scholar Program and research symposium. It was a joy having you both in lab and we are very proud of you!

22.07.2025 18:05 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image
22.07.2025 00:03 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I always enjoy GRCs. And if you criticize GRCs for being mainly in the US ... well, it's a US org and they do have several international sites (Italy, Switzerland, HK, Spain ... UK in the past). I think the science is awesome and, at ~$1300 for 5 days incl. fees, food, room, it's a great deal.

20.07.2025 15:15 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

I agree it's complex and there are many layers to it. But then look at Nat Comm which published >10,000 papers last year, probably absorbing >$70m alone. Contrast this to the 2nd most cited paper ever that wasn't peer-reviewed at all ... The current system needs a fundamental overhaul, not tweaking

13.07.2025 15:54 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

In 2024, Elsevier net profits alone were $4 billion. For reference, the NSF budget (with staff salaries and everything) was $9 billion that year.

PS: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... gives a 17-paper average. Yes, multiple PIs contribute, but unis also subsidize from overhead etc.

13.07.2025 15:20 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Or look at it from the other side ... wouldn't science be better off if the enormous profits of Nature, Elsevier et al. were spent on students, postdocs, and actual research? If a PI or university wants to buy "prestige", the money should come from other sources

13.07.2025 14:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0