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I am a freelance science journalist. I have written for multiple physics publications and am currently branching out into the field of Artificial Intelligence and science communication of psychedelic medicine. I otherwise cover stories in particle and astrophysics, as well as topics relating to diversity and inclusion in STEM and effective communication of science.
Feature Articles
Feature Articles
The switch to electric vehicles comes with many challenges: one yet to be properly met is accessibility. So is there a design solution for wheelchair users?
Imagine buying a new car and being told that you must travel in the luggage area. Not because the technology doesn’t exist to have you up-front, but because the vehicle has been engineered in a way that makes your comfort and inclusion inconvenient. No view of the road ahead, no conversation with the driver. Just straps, restraints and a position at the back, physically and socially removed from everyone else...
Engineering and Technology Magazine, May 2026
There’s a lot of useful information to be gained from sewage, and new technology can give us essential health warnings. But from a sociological perspective, it needs to be used carefully.
Picture two neighbourhoods on opposite sides of a city. One is a leafy suburb, the other a dense council estate with a history of under-investment. In theory, both communities could benefit from a powerful public health tool: wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). By analysing what we flush down the drain, scientists can detect early signs of disease and viral outbreaks – sometimes before anyone even feels sick...
Engineering and Technology Magazine, November 2025
Beyond the Buzz: How generative tools can augment, not replace, journalism
Beyond the Buzz: How generative tools can augment, not replace, journalism
At the Science Journalism Forum 2025, Dr Claire Malone explored how AI tools can support journalists with disabilities. Here are her key takeaways.
Artificial intelligence is transforming every corner of our profession—from research and transcription to editing and publishing—but its impact is often misunderstood.
When we think about the intersection of AI and journalism, the first image that comes to mind is often one of anxiety. We see a future where bots churn out generic content, deepfakes impersonate trusted news anchors, and the hard-won credibility of a journalist’s voice simply disappears. If a machine can write fluently, will readers still care who wrote it?
ABSW, November 2025
Part technology demonstrator, part educational project and part sustainability showcase – the Waste2Race car is motoring into a net zero future.
Motorsport has long been the pinnacle of speed, technology and performance. It is an intensely exhilarating and evocative environment to showcase cutting-edge engineering. Sustainability, on the other hand, can be seen to lack excitement – despite being a major driver for young engineers seeking employment – and is perceived as being dry and dull, especially with the incremental redesign of existing technology to be greener.
Engineering and Technology Magazine, May 2025
From hunting for evidence of subatomic particles to speeding up the diagnosis of disease, generative artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming science and led to the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physics. Claire Malone explains why this rapidly developing technology could also – despite some misgivings – be good news for communicating science.
In August 2024 the influential Australian popular-science magazine Cosmos found itself not just reporting the news – it had become the news. Owned by CSIRO Publishing – part of Australia’s national science agency – Cosmos had posted a series of “explainer” articles on its website that had been written by generative artificial intelligence (AI) as part of an experiment funded by Australia’s Walkley Foundation. Covering topics such as black holes and carbon sinks, the text had been fact-checked against the magazine’s archive of more than 15,000 past articles to negate the worry of misinformation, but at least one of the new articles contained inaccuracies.
Physics World, November 2024
The boson that physics almost rejected
The boson that physics almost rejected
Nobel Laureate Peter Higgs died earlier this year. Twelve years ago this week, physicists discovered the particle that bears his name.
When researchers at the Large Hadron Collider announced the discovery of the Higgs boson on July 4, 2012, physicist Peter Higgs reacted to the vindication of his most important theoretical work in a typically mild manner, saying, “It’s very nice to be right sometimes.”
The discovery triggered global celebration among the particle physics community. The Higgs boson was, until then, the only particle in the Standard Model of particle physics yet to be experimentally measured. Looking for it was a key motivation for building the LHC, and the defining question for many in my generation of particle physics researchers. Finding it confirmed long-standing predictions about the fundamental particles and forces that govern the universe.
Symmetry Magazine, February 2024
Physicists who want to solve the world’s great challenges don’t just need deep technical expertise, but also excellent networking skills. Claire Malone explains that getting the most out of networking is all a question of practice – and providing those opportunities is key to increasing diversity in physics.
Whether it’s providing clean water around the world or designing space craft to monitor the impact of climate change, today’s young people are keen to find solutions to the many challenges society is facing. That effort needs many different approaches, but studying physics undoubtedly increases the arsenal of tools a young person can use towards these aims.
Physics World, December 2023
Applications of quantum mechanics at the beach
Applications of quantum mechanics at the beach
How does sunscreen work on the atomic level?
Summer 2023 in the Northern Hemisphere is on track to be the hottest on record, and the sun is blazing in the sky. One way to deal with it is to slap on the sunscreen. But have you ever thought about how sunscreen actually works? It all comes down to how photons from the sun interact with our skin.
Photons are the messenger particles of the electromagnetic force—one of the four fundamental forces of nature—and are responsible for an array of phenomena including the X-rays we use to examine broken bones, the microwaves we use to reheat food, and, probably most importantly for many people, the visible light we use to see.
Symmetry Magazine, August 2023
Shorts
Shorts
Spontaneous symmetry breaking explained.
Imagine holding a ruler at either end and bending it until it buckles either to the left or right, writes Claire Malone. This is an example of “spontaneous symmetry breaking”. In 1962 Jeffrey Goldstone, a theoretical physicist who was then at the University of Cambridge in the UK, predicted that the symmetry of a system being spontaneously broken in this way would lead to the existence of massless, force-carrying particles, now known as Goldstone bosons.
Physics World, June 2024
A cosmological headache
A cosmological headache
For over a century, scientists have wondered what is counteracting the force of gravity in the universe.
The universe is vast, almost beyond comprehension. It has an estimated diameter of 93 billion light-years. And of the fundamental forces of nature, just one is capable of acting across that entire 93-billion-light-year span: gravity.
Gravity is an attractive force, which means that it pulls matter together. So it would make sense to assume that, over time, gravity should begin to pull the universe together as well. The universe expanded after the Big Bang, and gravity is here to counterbalance that effect.
Symmetry Magazine, June 2023
Opinion Pieces
Opinion Pieces
Claire Malone argues that science communicators should not stray too far into public-relations territory.
The line between science communication and public relations has become increasingly blurred. On one side, scientific press officers highlight institutional success, secure funding and showcase breakthrough discoveries. On the other, science communicators and journalists present scientific findings in a way that educates and entertains readers – acknowledging both the triumphs and the inherent uncertainties of the scientific process.
CERN Courier, January 2025
In just a year, ChatGPT has permeated scientific research. Seven scientists reveal what they have learnt about how the chatbot should — and shouldn’t — be used.
Claire Malone: Not always reliable but it does spark joy.
A year ago, I was sceptical about how useful ChatGPT would be in my day-to-day work as a science communicator, which at its core involves presenting complex scientific ideas in an accessible manner. So far, many of my reservations have been well founded. For example, when I instructed the chatbot to rewrite the abstract of my PhD thesis in simpler terms, I was not impressed. It retained much of the argon and failed to make key ideas accessible to a broad audience.
Nature Comment, November 2023
Claire Malone highlights the importance of creating a better working environment for those with physical disabilities.
Sharing scientific information is as old as science itself. Early scientific pioneers agreed that it was important to discuss ideas, show experiments to others and read what other scientists were doing. Today’s scientists continue this tradition when they discover something new and interesting about the world, publishing their work in journals and discussing it at conferences. Doing so allows findings to be disseminated and helps others with their own research. But for this vital step to take place, knowledge must be transferred – in other words, science must be communicated.
Physics World, May 2022
Claire Malone says that both physicists and the public benefit if researchers make science communication central to their day-to-day activities
Sharing scientific information is as old as science itself. Early scientific pioneers agreed that it was important to discuss ideas, show experiments to others and read what other scientists were doing. Today’s scientists continue this tradition when they discover something new and interesting about the world, publishing their work in journals and discussing it at conferences. Doing so allows findings to be disseminated and helps others with their own research. But for this vital step to take place, knowledge must be transferred – in other words, science must be communicated.
Physics World, September 2022
Book Reviews
Book Reviews
Claire Malone reviews The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking by Shannon Vallor
Are we at risk of losing ourselves in the midst of technological advancement? Could the tools we build to reflect our intelligence start distorting our very sense of self? Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technological advancement with huge ethical implications, and in The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking, Shannon Vallor offers a philosopher’s perspective on this vital question.
Physics World, March 2025
Claire Malone reviews Molecular Storms: the Physics of Stars, Cells and the Origin of Life by Liam Graham.
Can you explain the origin of life on Earth using the principles of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics? It’s not a question that even physics students see in their more challenging assignments. But it is one that Liam Graham – physicist turned economist – attempts to answer in his debut book Molecular Storms: the Physics of Stars, Cells and the Origin of Life.
Physics World, March 2024
Claire Malone reviews This Way to the Universe: a Journey into Physics by Michael Dine.
We’ve all been there – scrolling through the latest physics books, hoping that something will stop us in our tracks, turn our understanding on its head or be a thoroughly entertaining read. But when I picked up This Way to the Universe: a Journey into Physics, it was more to keep pace with the art of describing the most baffling questions in physics, past and present, to a general audience. The book largely did what I had hoped for, but it offered so much more.
Physics World, December 2022
Blog posts
Blog posts
in collaboration with Ian Bollinger of Critical Consulting
The burgeoning entheogenic movement, emboldened by the promising results of psychedelic research, faces a myriad of questions and challenges as it strides towards mainstream acceptance. Central to these challenges is the conversation around dosing, especially concerning psilocybin-containing mushrooms. This post endeavours to delve into potential trajectories this conversation might take, underpinned by three hot takes that beckon a shift from conventional paradigms to more precise and scientifically grounded narratives.
Understanding Entheogens, May 2025
Climate change is undoubtedly one of the most pressing scientific and technological challenges of our time. However, at the centre of many of the solutions to this global problem are people – our attitudes and behaviours.
Poetry is able to convey and emphasise messages that, even though we can be presented with them in “black and white”, only really hit home in the form of rhyme and verse.
This is exactly what struck me when I listened to the multitude of poems on the subject of climate change at Poets for the Planet hosted by the Exhibition Road Festival in October 2021.
Poets for the Planet, October 2021
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