Simon Maechling

Hi 👋 I’m Simon.
I’m a chemist with a PhD.

I spent years learning how science actually works.

Now I spend far too much time on the internet watching people confidently explain how it doesn’t.

So I write about chemicals, food, agriculture, medicine, AI and evidence.

I make complicated science simple.
I challenge claims that don’t survive the evidence.

And I explain what the headlines leave out.

Science is complicated enough.
The internet doesn’t need to make it worse.

Welcome.

Things were NOT better in the past.

80 years ago, life expectancy was around 45 years. Today, it’s over 73.

We’ve eradicated smallpox, reduced child mortality, and turned once-deadly diseases into treatable conditions.

Humanity has never lived longer. Actually.

Vaccines save lives.
Antibiotics save lives.
Chemistry saves lives.
Fertilisers feed billions.
Biotechnology saves lives.
Modern medicine saves lives.
Food preservation saves lives.

The greatest threat to humanity isn’t science. It’s forgetting what science has done for us.

Everything you eat is made of chemicals. Everything you drink is made of chemicals. Everything you clean with is made of chemicals.

YOU are made of chemicals.

The question isn’t whether something contains chemicals. It’s whether those chemicals pose a risk.

I don't defend science because scientists are always right.

I defend science because it gives us a way to discover when we're wrong.

That's a much stronger foundation than confidence, popularity or ideology.