Ada McVean
Ada McVean is a freelance science writer from Canada. She obtained her BSc in bioorganic chemistry and social justice studies and her MSc in oligonucleotide chemistry from McGill University in Montreal, where she also started working at the McGill Office for Science and Society. Ada moved to the UK, worked as digital content assistant at Chemistry World for a few years, and now finds herself back in Canada freelancing and shovelling snow.
OpinionAs a first-generation student, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing
And that brought challenges and unexpected opportunites
BusinessNew reagents take the burn out of butyllithium
Merck KGaA’s non-pyrophoric butyllithium in poly(α-olefin) oil make BuLi stable to air and water
ResearchPrehistoric humans hunted with poisoned arrows thousands of years earlier than thought
Deadly plant alkaloids discovered on 60,000-year-old arrowheads
ResearchThianthrenium reagent captures elusive protein interactions in living cells
Reagent creates short, stable protein crosslinks, enabling researchers to identify previously unknown protein–protein interactions
OpinionOdile Eisenstein: ‘Some of the most important advice is to be persistent’
The pioneering theoretical chemist on teaching herself programming and the importance of freedom
OpinionNora de Leeuw: ‘Some of my best PhD students weren’t that great at passing exams’
The computational chemist on perspectives from outside academia and the importance of inquisitiveness
ResearchLichen sunscreen blocks extreme UV radiation and might enhance cosmetics, materials
Discovery also suggests that photosynthetic life might survive on planets circling powerful stars
ResearchMammoth task of identifying legal ivory made simpler and cheaper by isotope analysis
Technique could help authorities tell legal mammoth ivory from poached elephant ivory
NewsExplainer: Why is the UK banning disposable vapes?
Prior to the ban, almost seventy million single-use e-cigarettes were being discarded each year in the UK – containing enough lithium for a thousand electric vehicle batteries
ResearchSnuff tube residues push back date of oldest hallucinogen use in Peruvian Andes
Chemical analysis reveals traces of a number of psychoactive compounds thought to have been used to secure leaders’ status
ResearchMiso fermented on the International Space Station is out of this world
Space paste had a nuttier taste than its earthly counterparts thanks to speedier chemistry
ResearchForbidden electrocyclic reactions can be more allowed than previously thought
Study suggests such reactions should instead be described as either ‘Woodward–Hoffmann favoured’ or ‘Woodward–Hoffmann disfavoured’
ResearchAncient Vesuvius victim’s brain contains first natural organic glass ever seen
Extreme heating followed by rapid cooling formed unique material in a Herculaneum man
ResearchMystery of how polar bears keep their coats ice free unravelled
Analysis of fur sebum could inspire new icephobic coatings
ResearchQuick test could catch fatal tick fever before it’s too late
Lateral flow test diagnosed fatal disease in animal model before symptoms appeared
ResearchIsotope analysis reveals ‘mundane’ origins of remarkable dinosaur fossil site
Collapsing burrows, not volcanoes, killed the dinosaurs in China’s Yixian Formation
ResearchNanoscale peaks and valleys create long-lasting frost-resistant surfaces
Treatment could protect energy infrastructure and heat exchangers
ResearchEasy to remove tag could make mRNA synthesis for vaccines quicker and cheaper
Chemical synthesis takes another step towards overtaking more complex enzymatic routes
NewsThe fate of Nobel prize medals
Over the years, Nobel prize medals have been stolen, dissolved and auctioned off. We trace what happened to them and the stories they can tell us
ResearchYellow food dye could give doctors a new way to look beneath the skin
Tartrazine can safely and reversibly turn the skin of mice transparent