Andy Extance
Before becoming a full-time science writer, Andy Extance worked for six and a half years in early-stage drug discovery research, followed by brief stint in silicone adhesive and rubber manufacturing.
However, when he had his first feature – on a cause of common heart-related problems in new drug candidates – published in Chemistry World in 2004, the course of his career shifted. After working as news editor for Compound Semiconductor magazine, he went freelance in 2009. Today Andy’s science writing explores everything related to chemistry, from Earth’s environment to space, from food to fusion, and from solar cells to how we smell.
NewsUK reaches the gigahertz NMR level – behind other nations
New instruments push the limits of this vital analytical technique – but other countries are already reaching even higher fields and frequencies
- Research
Room temperature superconductivity finally claimed by mystery material
At high pressures carbon–hydrogen–sulfur compound becomes superconducting at 15˚C
- Research
Super-cool study finds hints as to why water is so weird
Preventing complete freezing down to 135K supports theories suggesting a two-state mixture exists
- Research
Carbon bond formation reproducibility runs into reagent stability problem
Solid sodium alkoxides react with carbon dioxide and can hamper performance – but sometimes improve it
- Research
Liquid hydrogen rethink has astronomical implications
Machine learning simulates smooth transition between states, which could affect giant planets
- Research
Viewpoint shift designs drug binding proteins from scratch
New method focuses on the groups touching amino acid side chains
- Research
IBM seeks to simplify robotic chemistry
RoboRXN system extends AI approach to extracting and checking chemistry information from patent literature to programming automation
- Research
Sound choreographs chaotic reactions
Bass tones create reproducible patterns in unpredictable out-of-equilibrium systems
- Research
Twists of orange odorant reveal smell secrets
Modifying octanal produces hard-to-get information about olfactory receptors
- Business
Questions surround deadly Beirut blast
Ammonium nitrate explosion that killed at least 135 appears to have been caused by poorly-stored cargo from an abandoned vessel
- Research
NMR findings suggest solution to enhanced diffusion dispute
Energy release rate may solve the puzzle of why the phenomenon is seen in some systems but not others
- Research
Common inactive drug ingredients not as inert as thought
38 out of 639 excipients tested interact with toxicity-related proteins, some reaching levels that might produce unwanted effects
- Research
Your new labmate does 700 reactions in eight days – and it’s a robot
Robotic chemist optimises water-splitting photocatalyst by working continuously for eight days even in complete darkness
- News
Explainer: The science of Covid-19 testing
Rapidly-deployed methods are saving lives and easing minds
- Business
Scrambling and gambling to scale up Covid-19 medicines
Organisations work towards making billions of doses of products not yet proven to work
- Feature
The difficulties of drugging our brains
Following the withdrawal of many large pharma companies from central nervous system research, Andy Extance finds new drug development patterns are emerging
- Research
Molecular experiments hope to reveal new physics
Detecting extremely short-lived radium fluoride can explore standard model’s limits
- Research
Amazing slow motion video catches hydrogen flames going fractal
The clean fuel can combust with potentially devastating beauty in narrow gaps when mixed with air
- Business
Taking responsibility for waste
How well are companies that produce and use plastics living up to their duty?
- Research
Palladium catalyst voyage prompts carbon–carbon bond formation rethink
Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling catalyst atoms leach away but then return to their supports
