Raychelle Burks
Raychelle Burks is associate professor in chemistry at American University, Washington, DC, US
OpinionI can’t believe it’s not…
The analytical techniques revealing the true identity of what you spread on your bread
OpinionDoes lysergic acid link the Salem witch trials and a Catholic saint?
A fungal factor may have been the common cause of witch hunts and St Anthony’s fire
OpinionWhat’s lurking in your drink and drugs?
How to test illicit substances at festivals and identify the rodent in your beer
OpinionUsing XRF to uncover the secrets of three Irish chalices
Investigating a medieval manufacturing mystery
OpinionWhen the blood keeps on flowing
While warfarins can be lifesaving, superwarfarins are deadly – and not just to rodents
OpinionTom Bullock’s eggnog
Raychelle Burks demonstrates how to make a classic festive cocktail – and dives into the intriguing history of a famous mixologist
OpinionHunting vampires with the help of DNA profiling
What was draining the life out of 18th and 19th century New Englanders?
OpinionCatalysing the clean-up of methamphetamine
Closing a meth lab is just the first step towards making it safe
OpinionThe toxic nature of yew, the tree of the dead
Historically associated with resurrection, yew is poisonous enough to kill
OpinionFrom the St Valentine’s Day Massacre to modern ballistics analysis
Computational methods are making firearm evidence more statistically sound
OpinionMass spectrometry to catch Christmas tree thieves and timber traffickers
Forensic chemistry can help uncover pine pilfering and fiendish fir felling
OpinionConfusing cannabinoids
Decomposition during GC–MS analysis can thwart efforts to determine if a product is legal
