Maud Leonora Menten: Canadian leader in chemistry

Chantal Mustoe, Chemistry co-editor Few people will recognise the Canadian in the photo here. She was a talented painter whose work was exhibited in galleries, a gifted linguist, speaking English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Halkomelem (a British Columbia First Nations language), an inspiring teacher, a diligent pathologist, and, above all, a passionate scientist. Maud […]

Continue reading


To fingerprint or not to fingerprint? That is the question

Chantal Mustoe, Chemistry co-editor In October 2013, in the case of Regina v. Bornyk, a man was arrested, tried and acquitted of breaking and entering in Surrey, British Columbia. The judge assessed the fingerprint evidence himself and dismissed it due to “unexplained discrepancies” and possible effects of “institutional bias” in fingerprinting and the “subjective certainty” […]

Continue reading


Visualising the invisible: Cool tools that reveal chemistry’s hidden secrets

Chantal Mustoe, Chemistry co-editor Featuring science cartoonist Armin Mortazavi Take a moment to imagine a scientist in a chemistry lab. Perhaps they sport a white lab coat, protective glasses, and gloves. Around them, strangely shaped glassware contains different coloured liquids alternately fizzling, glowing and smoking. You hear a whoosh as the hissing gas in a […]

Continue reading


La science se cachant derrière le sirop d’érable

M. Rehemtulla - CC BY-SA 3.0

Par Chantal Mustoe, co-éditrice, Chimie Février tire à sa fin et partout au pays, les érables seront bientôt entaillés afin de recueillir leur sève sucrée. Étape 1 : Percer un petit trou. Étape 2 : Insérer un chalumeau. Étape 3 : Enfoncer légèrement le chalumeau à l’aide d’un marteau. Étape 4 : Suspendre une chaudière […]

Continue reading