Here at Asynt we are keen for the scientific community to grow as this can only be a great thing in our opinion. Chemistry blogger, “Dr Galactic“, manages a really pro-active twitter following using the hashtag #realtimechem which promotes the sharing of non-sensitive lab activity to build a community feeling. This has been running for many years now and, according to the FAQ’s on the blog, in September 2016 there have been more than 39,000 tweets containing the #RealTimeChem hash tag and the @RealTimeChem account has over 6,500 followers. That’s quite a community!
The community has an annual celebration of chemistry which is known as #RealTimeChem Week! For those not in the know, #RealTimeChem Week is a 7 day event to help raise awareness of the #RealTimeChem chemistry community on Twitter and encourage as many chemists to tweet about their chemistry as possible. During the week various events, competitions and prizes are on offer, just to make it all the more fun and exciting. This years spectacular is running from 31st October-6th November. It runs all day for all 7 days. This year’s overall event theme is “New Elements in Chemistry” i.e. #NewElemChem – but this is not just about the periodic table’s new additions, it’s all about you. What new elements have been introduced in your life as a chemist or to your chemistry this year? Perhaps you’ve just started your life as a chemist? Maybe you’ve made some new, ground breaking discoveries? Had to learn new skills? Got new equipment or glass ware? All the new things.
There are awards and even the odd prize available so find out more about this event either on the blog HERE or over on Twitter HERE!
