Jennifer Newton
Newsletter and research editor, Chemistry World
As the daughter of a chemistry teacher, chemistry has always been in my blood. Teaching science for 5 weeks in Ghana when I was 16 confirmed my suspicions that I didn’t also want to be a teacher.
I studied natural sciences at the University Bath, doing a little bit of everything, mainly chemistry and pharmacology but no physics. My degree included a year-long industrial placement at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, part of the Ministry of Defence – although if I told you what I did there, I’d have to kill you.
I joined the Royal Society of Chemistry in September 2008, collecting over 4 years of experience in journals publishing, before moving to Chemistry World in April of 2013. Cooking and gardening dominate when I'm not at work.
ResearchReviving organobismuth chemistry
Despite its low cost and low toxicity, bismuth has found limited applications in organic synthesis. Liam Ball is working to change that
CareersHow I became the crossword compiler for Chemistry World
Paul Board has been setting Chemistry World’s crosswords for over 15 years. To celebrate the centenary of the (fully) cryptic crossword, he explains his crossword setting process and dissects some of his favourite science-based clues
OpinionThe atomic weights of most chemical elements aren’t constant
But those values are constantly refined
OpinionNon-hallucinogenic psychedelics
Chemical insights and advances are contributing to a new therapeutic avenue for mental health conditions
ResearchThis nanotechnology expert works with both plant and brain cells
Could Markita Landry’s research group be any more interdisciplinary?
OpinionSharing the burden of contraception could also mean sharing the risk
What if risk assessments for contraception considered the sum of risk to both members of a couple?
ResearchTeaching enzymes new reactions through genetic code expansion and directed evolution
Anthony Green’s research group at the University of Manchester, UK, reengineers enzymes to have catalytic functions beyond those found in nature
OpinionAllotrope or not?
Loose terminology causes disquiet among guardians of the chemical nomenclature
OpinionHigh entropy or just complex?
Several elements mixed in a single crystal phase isn’t necessarily a high entropy material
ResearchExplainer: What are water microdroplets and why are chemists talking about them?
Researchers are struggling to agree on the underlying reasons for accelerated rates and altered reaction mechanisms in water microdroplets. Here’s what we do know and where open questions lie…
OpinionCrystal prophecies
There’s no guarantee that making a thermodynamically feasible structure will be easy, or even possible
ResearchDeveloping custom apparatus to determine battery electrolyte sweet spots
Susan Perkin discusses the unique technique she uses to understand liquids and how they interact with surfaces
OpinionN-heterocyclic carbenes are more than passive spectators
The practical importance of N-heterocyclic carbenes continues to grow
OpinionHow long until papers list an AI as an author?
Artificial intelligence is superior to humans at numerous tasks, but it is still vulnerable to human biases