Katrina Krämer
After finishing my A-levels, I wanted to study arts or languages, but then decided that being a chemist in a white coat was definitely cooler.
So I went on and spent ten years studying chemistry in Germany, Spain and the UK, before realising that not working in a lab can also be fun. After one year in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s graduate trainee scheme, I joined Chemistry World first as editorial assistant and now as science correspondent.
My favourite CAS number is 102-54-5.
NewsGiant periodic table four times larger than previous record holder
Enormous 660m2 periodic table adorns Australian university’s new science building
- Research
Trigold anion is first example of strange twisted aromaticity
A blue tin–gold cluster is the first to show in-plane σ-Möbius aromaticity
- Podcast
Book Club – Language Unlimited by David Adger
We discuss linguist David Adger’s book that delves into the origins of human language and tries to uncover the hidden structure behind what we say (or sign)
- Opinion
John Hartwig: ‘There’s a lot of distrust of science’
The catalysis innovator on the thrills of heading to the mountains and having a reaction named after him
- Research
Tiny water droplets reveal minimum number of molecules to make ice
Ice as we know it ceases to exist in droplets that fall below this threshold
- Research
Protons are even smaller than scientists thought, experiment reveals
The proton-radius puzzle isn’t solved just yet though
- Research
Double aromaticity found in boron analogue of metallabenzene
Boron–rhenium cluster is both σ- and π-aromatic
- Research
Steric shield leads boron to aromatic rings’ most remote region
Bulky blocking counterion makes quick work of borylating arenes’ inaccessible para position
- Research
First stable solid pentavalent plutonium compound stumbled upon by chance
Never-before-seen form of plutonium could shake up models of how radioactive contaminants disperse in the environment
- Review
Exhibition: On Edge
Through artwork – videos, audio pieces, installations and paintings – this exhibition looks at how anxiety affects individuals and society.
- Podcast
Book Club – How to by Randall Munroe
We discuss xkcd comic creator Randall Munroe’s new book that deals out absurd – but scientifically accurate – advice for everyday problems
- Research
Mystery of whether or not kekulene is superaromatic unravelled after 41 years
Second-ever synthesis and first atomic resolution images of superbenzene reveal its electronic nature
- News
Study claiming gene-edited babies were more likely to die young was wrong
Database bias introduced major error in a now retracted study on Crispr babies’ mortality
- News
Structures in more than 150 papers may be wrong thanks to NMR coding glitch
Chemical shift-calculating bug casts doubt on studies ranging from natural product discovery to biosynthesis
- Feature
The lithium pioneers
Katrina Krämer traces the full story of how lithium-ion batteries won the 2019 Nobel prize
- Opinion
Donna Blackmond: ‘I often get my best ideas in the middle of the night’
The chirality expert on late-night notes and Harrius Potter
- News
Chemistry Nobel prize ‘finally’ goes to developers of lithium-ion batteries
John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino rewarded for revolutionising the storage of energy and helping to usher in the microelectronics age
- News
Medicine Nobel prize rewards discovery of cells’ oxygen sensing machinery
William Kaelin, Peter Ratcliffe and Gregg Semenza win prize for unravelling how cells sense and adapt to the life-sustaining gas
- News
Fact checkers take up the fight against fake science on Facebook
Facebook teams up with fact checkers to tackle its science misinformation problem – but is it working?
