There’s science at South by Southwest

A chemist said hello as we both got off the plane in Austin, Texas, headed for South by Southwest. She’d seen my C&EN hat and correctly guessed that I work for the magazine. Her greeting was a sign that I had come to Austin for the right reason. South by Southwest, or SXSW , is best known as a music, film, and comedy festival. But over the past few years, more and more emails have hit my inbox from chemistry businesses, academics, and assorted industry folks asking if I’d attend their talk at SXSW or if I wanted to meet there for an interview. So this year, I decided to check out the science scene at the SXSW Conference & Festivals. Even more so than those emails hinted, I found the conference was replete with scientific content—some directly relevant to chemistry and even more on topics that most chemists would