Preparing for the future: artificial intelligence and us
As the University of Cambridge begins a month-long focus on research related to artificial intelligence, four researchers reflect on the power of a technology to impact nearly every aspect of modern life – and why we need to be ready.
Orchids 2018: How to build an orchid
This year, Cambridge University Botanic Garden’s ‘how to build an orchid’ exhibition is going back to basics as it reveals, from the root up, what makes an orchid an orchid.
Zero gravity graphene promises success in space
In a series of experiments conducted last month, Cambridge researchers experienced weightlessness testing graphene’s application in space.
Regional teaching hub is launched
The University of Cambridge launches a regional teaching hub to inspire teachers and children.
New £42m research institute to boost evidence on improving care in the NHS
A new research institute led by the University of Cambridge is seeking to create a world-leading asset for the NHS by improving the science behind healthcare organisation and delivery.
Building life skills – Cambridge hosts regional final of robotics competition
Children and teenagers from across East Anglia descended upon Cambridge University's Department of Engineering for the regional final of a global robotics-based life skills competition.
Think of honeybees as ‘livestock’ not wildlife, argue experts
Contrary to public perception, die-offs in honeybee colonies are an agricultural not a conservation issue, argue Cambridge researchers, who say that manged honeybees may contribute to the genuine biodiversity crisis of Europe’s declining wild pollinators.
Plants increase flower production within a day of soil nutrient application
The molecular mechanisms enabling plants to quickly adapt their rate of flower production in response to changing nutrient levels in soil have been revealed by researchers at the Sainsbury Laboratory.
Cambridge leads £11.9m research project to extend battery life for electric vehicles
The University of Cambridge is leading one of four government-funded projects into battery research, in order to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles and a low-carbon economy.
Cambridge joins partners in Singapore as research programme celebrates 10th anniversary
An international symposium at Singapore’s CREATE campus highlights the global challenges of sustainable energy and suggests innovative ways of reducing industry’s carbon footprint
Growing Underground – how smart monitoring is helping an urban farm to flourish
An innovative and award-winning urban farming facility is creating energy-efficient growing conditions in tunnels 120ft below the busy streets of Clapham in London. Micro greens and salad leaves are thriving with the help of a smart monitoring programme that records temperature, humidity and CO2 levels.
AI 'scientist' finds that toothpaste ingredient may help fight drug-resistant malaria
An ingredient commonly found in toothpaste could be employed as an anti-malarial drug against strains of malaria parasite that have grown resistant to one of the currently-used drugs. This discovery, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, was aided by Eve, an artificially-intelligent ‘robot scientist’.
How incurable mitochondrial diseases strike previously unaffected families
Researchers have shown for the first time how children can inherit a severe – potentially fatal – mitochondrial disease from a healthy mother. The study, led by researchers from the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit at the University of Cambridge, reveals that healthy people harbour mutations in their mitochondrial DNA and explains how cases of severe mitochondrial disease can appear unexpectedly in…
Cambridge engineer awarded prestigious fellowship
Cambridge University's Dr Marina Antoniou has been appointed as a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow for the next five years.
Astronomers detect ‘whirlpool’ movement in earliest galaxies
Astronomers have looked back to a time soon after the Big Bang, and have discovered swirling gas in some of the earliest galaxies to have formed in the Universe. These ‘newborns’ – observed as they appeared nearly 13 billion years ago – spun like a whirlpool, similar to our own Milky Way. This is the first time that it has been possible to detect movement in galaxies at such an early point in the…
Harnessing the power of algae: new, greener fuel cells move step closer to reality
A new design of algae-powered fuel cells that is five times more efficient than existing plant and algal models, as well as being potentially more cost-effective to produce and practical to use, has been developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge.
Professor elected to Chinese Academy of Engineering
Professor Dame Ann Dowling, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, has been elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).
Advances in brain imaging settle debate over spread of key protein in Alzheimer’s
Recent advances in brain imaging have enabled scientists to show for the first time that a key protein which causes nerve cell death spreads throughout the brain in Alzheimer’s disease – and hence that blocking its spread may prevent the disease from taking hold.
Department of Engineering increases student learning with open source Azure service
As the pace of global innovation continues to accelerate, the University of Cambridge is evolving its engineering curriculum to teach core concepts faster using higher level, open source tools in the public cloud.
New brain mapping technique highlights relationship between connectivity and IQ
A new and relatively simple technique for mapping the wiring of the brain has shown a correlation between how well connected an individual’s brain regions are and their intelligence, say researchers at the University of Cambridge.
Researchers chart the ‘secret’ movement of quantum particles
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have taken a peek into the secretive domain of quantum mechanics.
Re-engineering the healthcare system
A new roadmap has been unveiled for engineering and physical science researchers to optimise opportunities for using digital health in remote monitoring and self-management of disease.
Habitable planets could exist around pulsars
It is theoretically possible that habitable planets exist around pulsars - spinning neutron stars that emit short, quick pulses of radiation. According to new research, such planets must have an enormous atmosphere that converts the deadly x-rays and high energy particles of the pulsar into heat.
Making the most of the internet of things
Head of the Institute for Manufacturing's Distributed Information and Automation Laboratory (DIAL) at the University of Cambridge, Professor Duncan McFarlane is a pioneer of the internet of things (IoT) and was part of the research team that coined the term "internet of things" 20 years ago.
Mistletoe and (a large) wine: seven-fold increase in wine glass size over 300 years
Our Georgian and Victorian ancestors probably celebrated Christmas with more modest wine consumption than we do today – if the size of their wine glasses are anything to go by. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found that the capacity of wine glasses has increased seven-fold over the past 300 years, and most steeply in the past two decades as wine consumption rose.