diff --git a/src/gaspype/_main.py b/src/gaspype/_main.py
index 1bd0afe..33f96d9 100644
--- a/src/gaspype/_main.py
+++ b/src/gaspype/_main.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import numpy as np
 from numpy.typing import NDArray
 from typing import Sequence, Any, TypeVar, Iterator, overload, Callable
 from math import log as ln, ceil
-from scipy.linalg import null_space
+from ._numerics import null_space
 from gaspype._phys_data import atomic_weights, db_reader
 import re
 import pkgutil
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ class fluid_system:
 
         self._t_offset = int(t_min)
         self.species = species
-        self.active_species = species
+        self.active_species = species  # for backward compatibility
         element_compositions: list[dict[str, int]] = list()
 
         for i, s in enumerate(species):
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ class fluid:
                 The array can be multidimensional, the size of the last dimension
                 must match the number of species defined for the fluid_system.
                 The indices of the last dimension correspond to the indices in
-                the active_species list of the fluid_system.
+                the species list of the fluid_system.
             fs: Reference to a fluid_system. Is optional if composition is
                 defined by a dict. If not specified a new fluid_system with
                 the components from the dict is created.
@@ -585,7 +585,7 @@ class elements:
                 The array can be multidimensional, the size of the last dimension
                 must match the number of elements used in the fluid_system.
                 The indices of the last dimension correspond to the indices in
-                the active_species list of the fluid_system.
+                the species list of the fluid_system.
             fs: Reference to a fluid_system.
             shape: Tuple or list for the dimensions the fluid array. Can
                 only be used if composition argument is a dict. Otherwise
diff --git a/src/gaspype/_numerics.py b/src/gaspype/_numerics.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a136aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gaspype/_numerics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import numpy as np
+from .typing import FloatArray
+
+
+def null_space(A: FloatArray) -> FloatArray:
+    """
+    Compute an orthonormal basis for the null space of A using NumPy SVD.
+
+    Args:
+        A: Input matrix of shape (m, n)
+    
+    Return:
+        Null space vectors as columns, shape (n, n - rank)
+    """
+    u, s, vh = np.linalg.svd(A, full_matrices=True)
+    M, N = u.shape[0], vh.shape[1]
+    rcond = np.finfo(s.dtype).eps * max(M, N)
+    tol = np.amax(s, initial=0.) * rcond
+    num = np.sum(s > tol, dtype=int)
+    Q = vh[num:,:].T.conj()
+    return Q
\ No newline at end of file