James Mitchell Crow
James Mitchell Crow is an organic chemist by training.
He began his science journalism career in 2007 at Chemistry World, where he was shortlisted for several awards, including Features Writer of the Year at the UK Magazine Design and Journalism Awards. In 2009 he joined New Scientist in London as a features editor. In 2010 he moved to Australia and wrote freelance for several years, for publications including New Scientist and Nature, before joining COSMOS magazine as deputy editor. After 3 years at COSMOS, during which time he won the Crawford Fund Journalism Award, James returned to freelance science writing in 2016.
FeatureFast charging supercapacitors
Rapid development of the alternative energy storage technology to rechargeable batteries is already having real world impact. James Mitchell Crow talks to the scientists working on upping their performance
FeatureIlluminating antiaromaticity
Aromaticity’s dark alter-ego is ready to emerge into the sunlight. James Mitchell Crow talks to the scientists trying to exploit the instability
FeatureEditing polymer backbones
Changing the chemical makeup of a polymer backbone could revolutionise how we make, use and even recycle plastics. James Mitchell Crow reports
FeatureThe mechanical side of bonding
Synthetic chemists are finally mastering the assembly of interlocked molecules held together by the mechanical bond, find James Mitchell Crow
FeatureThe liquid metals giving catalysis a new phase
They’re not like solid metals or like other liquids, but scientists are starting to understand and exploit them. James Mitchell Crow reports
FeatureBuilding better batteries
The next generation of battery technologies might pack significantly more power into the electric cars and mobile devices of the future. James Mitchell Crow reports
FeatureThe robots revolutionising chemistry
Researchers working with automated systems are pushing the boundaries of what chemists can achieve in the lab, reports James Mitchell Crow
FeatureWhen will molecular electronics make the connection?
Computer chips based on single molecules may remain a work in progress, finds James Mitchell Crow but the technologies developed along the way are being used by chemists to explore their reactions
FeatureA lightning burst of chemistry
Trying to understand the chemistry that occurs around immensely powerful but short-lived lightning bolts is a feat in itself. James Mitchell Crow looks for a flash of inspiration
FeatureThe bioorthogonal revolution
A set of reactions operating silently inside live cells or whole animals are lighting up chemical biology and inspiring new medicines, James Mitchell Crow finds
FeatureWiring up organic synthesis
James Mitchell Crow talks to the organic chemists using electrochemistry to add or remove electrons to their molecules at the flick of a switch
FeatureKeeping cell therapy under wraps
Materials to safely encapsulate transplanted cells for could enable a revolution in the treatment of diabetes and a wide range of other diseases. James Mitchell Crow reports
FeatureSupermetals versus superbugs
With pathogenic bacteria rapidly overcoming our arsenal of organic antibiotics, James Mitchell Crow asks if it is time to revisit metal-based antimicrobials
FeatureSustainable solar power
Getting energy from the sun isn’t renewable until the panels are recyclable. James Mitchell Crow talks to the scientists making it happen
FeatureAmmonia synthesis goes electric
James Mitchell Crow finds that the outlook for renewables-powered electrochemical ammonia production is beginning to brighten
FeatureMetalloenzyme mastery
There are natural metalloenzymes that make difficult chemistry look easy. James Mitchell Crow talks to the bioinorganic chemists figuring out how to copy them
FeatureSustainable lab buildings
After a decade of grassroots growth, the laboratory sustainability movement is bursting into the mainstream finds James Mitchell Crow
FeatureCan smart biomaterials deliver?
James Mitchell Crow explores the next generation of therapeutic biomaterials, which aim to interact dynamically with the body and help to control diabetes and heal wounds
FeatureHydrogen storage gets real
As production costs fall and demand is poised to rocket, James Mitchell Crow finds the hydrogen economy is finally ready for take-off – as long as we can find ways to store it
FeatureThere’s something about boron
Boron’s chemistry is as much defined by what it isn’t – carbon, or a metal – as by what it is. Recent years have started to fix this misconception, as James Mitchell Crow reports