Kit Chapman
After finishing my pharmacy degree at the University of Bradford (including a year working in community and hospital pharmacies), I decided to make the unconventional leap in to science journalism. I cut my teeth on magazines for GPs and pharmacists, before taking over campaigns on the British Medical Association’s website.
From there I headed back to pharmacy, managing all clinical content in The Pharmaceutical Journal and Clinical Pharmacist, before leaping at the chance to join the Chemistry World team. I also occasionally write a bit for the Daily Telegraph and pop up in assorted skeptical podcasts.
ResearchShortest-lived and lightest magnesium isotope ever too unstable to even attract electrons
Magnesium-18 cation has a fleeting half-life of 3 billion trillionths of a second
- News
Chemistry textbooks still portray men as scientists while women perform domestic duties
Unequal representation in terms of both roles and the number of women featured revealed
- Research
Berkelium complex opens door for future nuclear recycling
Complex is only the sixth ever created
- Research
Uranium’s strong covalent bond breaks periodic table predictions
Actinide’s unusual covalency could explain its ability to fix nitrogen
- Research
Heavy metal proteins are the secret weapon in ant bites
Protein-rich biomaterials containing zinc, manganese, copper and bromine allow ants, crabs and scorpions to pack more punch for their size
- Research
Actinium’s radius revised to solve cancer therapy mystery
For decades, scientists have been using the wrong ionic radius for one of Earth’s rarest element
- Business
Sartan contaminant recall hits generics manufacturers
Three European suppliers recalling multiple batches of medicines owing to active ingredient contamination
- Careers
Doctoring the doctorate
There are now more ways than ever before to complete your PhD, finds Kit Chapman
- Research
Oldest human-made quasicrystal discovered in remains of first nuclear blast
Almost 76 years ago, US scientists set off the first nuclear bomb – and accidentally created the first synthetic quasicrystal
- Research
Lightest uranium isotope yet reveals nuclear stability secrets
Discovery offers new insight into isotopic stability seen at ‘magic numbers’
- Feature
How rubber is bouncing back
From their colonial roots to future alternatives, Kit Chapman looks at the chemistry of natural elastomers
- Review
The Chemical Reaction
Badass chemical engineer Jaqueline Silver’s second outing has it all: explosives, villains and periodic table-based code cracking
- Article
Marguerite Perey and the last element in nature
Kit Chapman tells the story of the chemist who discovered francium, but was almost denied the credit
- Feature
The complex chemistry of fire
Despite its ubiquity in human life, chemists have still barely unlocked what’s happening amid the flames. Kit Chapman reports
- Feature
The Middle East’s synchrotron is open Sesame
How difficult is it to build a world-class research facility in the Middle East? Kit Chapman investigates
- Opinion
Jimmy Robinson and the atom bomb elements
USAF pilots flew into mushroom clouds to bring back samples that turned out to contain new elements – one of them didn’t make it home
- Feature
3D printing the future
Kit Chapman takes a tour of a US Department of Energy lab, where 3D printing is performed on a massive scale
- Feature
Polly Arnold’s diversity of interests
Kit Chapman asks the champion of actinide chemistry and diversity in science what comes next as she starts her new role at a US national lab
- Feature
Atom-by-atom experiments at the edge of the periodic table
Only a few atoms of oganesson have ever been made – and they all vanished in less time than it took you to read this
