Jon Evans
Jon Evans is a science writer, editor and author. He has written on a wide range of scientific subjects for publications like New Scientist, Chemistry World and Materials Today. His latest book, The Big Ideas in Science (2020), is published by John Murray Press, and he has also contributed to and edited several other popular science books and science textbooks.
CareersThe facts of being a fiction-writing chemist
Meet the chemists making creative use of their scientific skills
ResearchCalculations predict pentagonal graphene
New carbon allotrope could have interesting physical and electrical properties
FeatureMicrobial miners
Jon Evans discovers the microbes hard at work on our behalf, extracting valuable metals from low-grade ore
FeatureSafety first?
Just how safe is working in a laboratory? Jon Evans discovers that it depends on where you are
FeaturePreserving the Mary Rose
Jon Evans explores the chemistry stabilising the Tudor battleship for display
FeatureBeyond graphene
Other materials can be made into ultra-thin nanosheets. Jon Evans finds out whether they can generate the same buzz
FeatureA forensic injustice?
Jon Evans examines how the closure of the Forensic Science Service has affected justice and science in the UK
FeatureExtreme extraction
The increasing price of precious metals has prompted mineral prospectors to consider unusual places. Jon Evans looks into the future of mining
NewsData challenges for UK chemists
Academic chemists are being overwhelmed by the amount of information they both produce and feel they ought to be reading, a report claims
NewsHorse meat scare offers food for thought
Burger safety scandal highlights holes in the UK’s food testing regime
FeatureChemical climate proxies
With the climate change debate as heated as ever, how do scientists reconstruct what the weather was like in the past? Jon Evans looks at the detective chemistry behind such environmental forensic work
- Research
Messenger spots Mercury performing organic chemistry
Probe finds evidence of a thick layer of organic chemicals sitting atop ice sheets at the poles
NewsChemistry goes into the field to battle metal theft
New DNA and metal nanoparticle technologies are helping to catch thieves that target railways, telecommunications and churches
FeatureStationary phases move ahead
What’s in those columns? Jon Evans looks at the increasingly sophisticated materials being used to separate compounds in chromatography
- Research
World's smallest ice cube created
The minimum number of water molecules needed to form an ice crystal has been figured out
- Research
Drawing maps to hunt for biological gold
A short list of plant families containing potential drug compounds has been drawn up by pooling traditional medicine knowledge
- Research
Attack of the cyborg jellyfish
Researchers have created half-biological, half-synthetic jellyfish that can swim just like the real thing
ResearchWhy can we walk on custard?
Scientists take a closer look at how shear-thickening fluids respond to impacts
- Research
Anti-social amino acids gang up
The mystery of how a build-up of phenylalanine causes the genetic disorder phenylketonuria has been solved
- News
Can magma crystals predict eruptions?
Researchers home in on a chemical fingerprint for volcanic eruptions but can currently only examine it after the eruption