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.

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Business
Nitrosamine contamination withdrawals spread to new drugs
2019-10-15T09:29:00
After ranitidine recalls, EU regulators instruct companies to review all their products for potential impurities
Research
Another 43 new kinds of carbon could still be out there to find
2019-09-23T14:30:00
Predictions could lead to forms of carbon that are even harder than diamond
Research
AFM images show bond formation in greatest detail yet
2019-09-12T20:05:00
Strange ring-shaped sub-atomic images result from Lennard-Jones physisorption–chemisorption energy curve
Research
Solution to 120 year-old puzzle reveals new chemical phenomenon
2019-09-11T09:30:00
Seemingly identical acetaldehyde phenylhydrazone crystals melt at different temperatures
Research
Nanowires become smallest-ever spectrometers
2019-09-06T08:27:00
50–100µm devices are small enough to squeeze into smartphones – but must first become easier to make into arrays
Research
Catalyst cleans up alcohol couplings
2019-08-29T19:03:00
Eight years’ work yields Mitsunobu chemistry with nothing but water as a byproduct
Research
Ultraslim solar cells retain healthy efficiency
2019-08-06T14:40:00
A patterned reflector on the back of a thinned-down GaAs cell traps light in the device, keeping efficiency near 20%
Research
Corrections promise more accurate CO₂ measurements from space
2019-07-31T14:36:00
Improvements to cavity ring-down spectroscopy could also benefit quantum science
Research
Crispr treatment reverses muscular dystrophy in mice
2019-07-29T14:30:00
Upregulated gene triggers laminin-α1 protein production, reviving paralysed limbs
Feature
The forgotten female crystallographer who discovered C–H⋯O bonds
2019-07-08T09:06:00
Andy Extance tells the overlooked story of crystallographer June Sutor, whose C–H⋯O bonding hypothesis was unjustly suppressed
Research
Helicopter NMR prepares to detect Arctic oil spills
2019-06-21T10:27:00
ExxonMobil-funded project readies giant airborne coil for accidents as shipping lanes open up
Business
Industry adopts quantum computing, qubit by qubit
2019-06-12T09:30:00
Companies looking to solve complex chemistry problems are among early adopters of quantum technology
Research
Baran and Blackmond team up to wave farewell to tough ether syntheses
2019-06-06T14:30:00
Oxidative decarboxylation produces carbocations that greatly speed up hindered ether production
Research
Spin sensor promises atomic-scale magnetic imaging
2019-05-21T09:34:00
Nickelocene-tip scanning tunnelling microscope provides measurements to challenge quantum theory calculations
Feature
Changing the locks
2019-05-20T10:28:00
Designer receptors help understand cellular signals and could treat epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, but need new tools, finds Andy Extance
Research
Putting water in a spin harnesses proton magnetism
2019-05-10T09:30:00
Exceptionally high rotation speed NMR measures the nuclear Barnett effect
Research
Helium hydride ion detected in space for the first time
2019-04-17T18:05:00
Terahertz rotational spectroscopy identifies long-sought molecular bond in a nebula
Research
Supple sugars enable smallest cyclodextrins ever
2019-04-15T09:46:00
Bridge that connects hydroxyls enables control over ring conformations in synthetic breakthrough
Research
Flexible catalyst systems open up nitrile chemistry
2019-04-05T14:30:00
One new strategy enantioselectively produces amines from nitriles, and another generates valuable alkenyl nitriles
Research
Can sodium make organic cross-couplings sustainable?
2019-03-20T14:27:00
Microparticle dispersions make abundant but feisty sodium safer to use as replacements for organolithium in carbon–carbon bond formation