Ada McVean

Canada, United Kingdom

Science Writer at Freelance

Science Writer 🐢 @ChemistryWorld, @SkeptInquirer, @McGillOSS 🥼 MSc from McGill 🧬 🇨🇦 in 🇬🇧 she/her 🏳️‍🌈 #LeafsForever

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Articles

Explainer: Why is the UK banning disposable vapes?

1 week ago | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

Shop shelves stacked high with nearly every colour and flavour of disposable e-cigarettes have become a common sight in the UK’s town centres. But from 1 June 2025, single-use vapes will be illegal to sell across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK is not the first country to ban disposable vapes. Last year, the Australian government banned the import of all disposable vapes into the country, while this year Belgium became the first EU country to ban the sale of disposable vapes.
Snuff tube residues push back date of oldest hallucinogen use in Peruvian Andes

3 weeks ago | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

Chemical and microscopic analysis of artefacts believed to be snuff tubes provides the oldest direct evidence for the use of psychoactive plants in the Peruvian Andes. The team of archaeologists that studied the bone- and shell-based paraphernalia believe that they were used in rituals over 2000 years ago to reinforce leadership through links to the mystical world.
Miso fermented on the International Space Station is out of this world

2 months ago | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

For the first time, fermentation has been achieved in space. Miso made aboard the International Space Station (ISS) aged faster than the controls kept on Earth and contained more fungal mutations. Source: © Maggie Coblentz Miso is a Japanese condiment made by fermenting cooked soybeans, kōji (a starter culture containing the fungus Aspergillus oryzae) and salt.
Forbidden electrocyclic reactions can be more allowed than previously thought

Mar 5, 2025 | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

A computational study has challenged the long-standing notion that electrocyclic reactions can be neatly divided into being either ‘allowed’ or ‘forbidden’. ‘The energy difference between allowed and forbidden alternatives can sometimes be very small indeed,’ says Barry Carpenter, from Cardiff University in the UK.
Ancient Vesuvius victim’s brain contains first natural organic glass ever seen

Feb 27, 2025 | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

A unique organic glass discovered in the brain of a victim of the 79 AD Mount Vesuvius eruption is the first known example of high-temperature vitrification of animal tissues. Experiments suggest that the brain was heated to at least 510°C before being rapidly cooled following the catastrophic eruption that destroyed the Roman town of Herculaneum. Source: © Pier Paolo Petrone The transformation of liquids into a glass via rapid cooling is called vitrification.
Mystery of how polar bears keep their coats ice free unravelled

Feb 6, 2025 | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

Polar bears stop ice forming on their fur thanks to the unique composition of their sebum that coats each hair. The discovery could inspire biomimetic alternatives to PFAS-containing ice-resistant coatings currently used. Polar bears are the only land mammal that willingly dives into frigid Arctic waters. While their thermally insulating blubber and fur layers keep them warm, the surface of their fur is typically close in temperature to the ambient air.
Quick test could catch fatal tick fever before it’s too late

Jan 30, 2025 | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

A prototype rapid diagnostic test could save lives by enabling early diagnosis and effective treatment for several kinds of tick-borne fever. The assay uses europium-based nanoparticle reporters to identify a biomarker for the tick-borne disease and could diagnose cases before symptoms appear.
Isotope analysis reveals ‘mundane’ origins of remarkable dinosaur fossil site

Nov 25, 2024 | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

A new chemical analysis challenges the long-held belief that the remarkable fossil preservation in China’s Yixian Formation was caused by cataclysmic volcanic events. While Yixian is often dubbed the ‘Chinese Pompeii’, the new findings point to rapid, but non-catastrophic, forces being behind the preservation of fauna in the region.
Nanoscale peaks and valleys create long-lasting frost-resistant surfaces

Nov 10, 2024 | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

Adding tiny cone structures and a coating of graphene oxide can make a variety of surfaces frost-resistant for over 150 hours – 1000 times longer than current methods. The technique is also scratch and crack-resistant and could be used to help maintain infrastructure in cold and humid climates. Source: © 2024 Kyoo-Chul Kenneth Park et al Frost formation can be annoying in everyday contexts, but costly and dangerous when it affects infrastructure like outdoor power cables and heat exchangers.
Easy to remove tag could make mRNA synthesis for vaccines quicker and cheaper

Oct 31, 2024 | chemistryworld.com | Ada McVean

A new hydrophobic tag enables the high-purity production of a key intermediate in the chemical synthesis of capped mRNA and circular RNA. These RNAs are used in research and therapeutics such as mRNA vaccines and are normally expensive to make because of the way they are produced. Source: © Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library RNA for therapeutic purposes is typically synthesised enzymatically via in vitro transcription or, more recently, using chemical synthesis.