Moonlighting molecules: finding new uses for old enzymes
A collaboration between the University of Cambridge and MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, has led researchers to identify a potentially significant new application for a well-known human enzyme, which may have implications for treating respiratory diseases such as asthma.
£75 million investment for University's Cavendish Laboratory
The Government announced a £75 million investment in the University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory as part of yesterday's Spending Review. This will be matched with a further £75 million from the University to transform the Cavendish, helping maintain Britain’s position at the forefront of physical sciences research.
Stored fat fights against the body’s attempts to lose weight
The fatter we are, the more our body appears to produce a protein that inhibits our ability to burn fat, suggests new research published in the journal Nature Communications. The findings may have implications for the treatment of obesity and other metabolic diseases.
GSK/Cambridge Strategic Partnership aims to develop next wave of ‘game-changing’ medicines
GSK, the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have announced their Strategic Partnership, with the long-term ambition to jointly deliver new medicine to patients in the next five to 10 years.
Play matters! New centre will examine role of playfulness in learning
The University of Cambridge and the LEGO Foundation have launched a new research centre and professorship.
Opinion: Blocking out the sun won’t fix climate change – but it could buy us time
Hugh Hunt (University of Cambridge Department of Engineering) discusses whether we could directly engineer the climate and refreeze the poles.
More or less ethical: study looks at negotiating tactics
The ethics of a person’s negotiating tactics may differ according to the nationality of the other party to the negotiation, according to a new study.
Evolution website sets out to tackle great scientific unknowns
Ever wondered if a fly can ride a bicycle, or whether you could survive only on water? A new website on evolution, created by Cambridge scientists and featuring contributions from luminaries including Sir David Attenborough, has some intriguing answers.
Endurance descendants to mark centenary by completing ancestor’s unfinished business
The family of the chief scientific officer from Ernest Shackleton’s famous Endurance expedition are to mark its centenary by completing part of his intended route to the South Pole and by digitising unpublished journals kept by their ancestor, James Wordie.
Given in evidence: turning research into business
How do we get better at taking the research knowledge from our science and engineering base and turning it into technologies, industries and economic wealth? The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy aims to give policymakers the information they need to provide effective support for emerging technologies and industries
Hallucinations linked to differences in brain structure
People diagnosed with schizophrenia who are prone to hallucinations are likely to have structural differences in a key region of the brain compared to both healthy individuals and people diagnosed with schizophrenia who do not hallucinate, according to research just published.
Ancient stars contain ‘fingerprints’ from the very early universe
Astronomers have discovered some of the oldest stars in the galaxy, whose chemical composition and movements could tell us what the universe was like soon after the Big Bang.
New partnerships for ‘low carbon cities’ in the UK and China
Researchers from UK and Chinese universities, including the University of Cambridge, are collaborating on four new projects to work towards achieving low carbon cities in the UK and China.
Climate change sentiment could hit global investment portfolios in the short term
A new report by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) reveals that global investment portfolios could lose up to 45 per cent as a consequence of short-term shifts in climate change sentiment.
Bullet holes and graphene caves: picturing engineering
From a Cambridge guide for robot tourists, to titanium ‘comets’, the winners of the annual University of Cambridge Department of Engineering photo competition highlight the variety and beauty of engineering.
New institute is set to push the boundaries of information science
Philanthropic support of £5m from Cantab Capital Partners establishes the Cantab Capital Institute for the Mathematics of Information at the University of Cambridge.
Cambridge receives £1.2 million donation to support Divinity students
The Kirby Laing Foundation has donated £1.2 million to the University of Cambridge’s newly-launched fundraising campaign.
Opinion: Girls can have it all - how to stop the damaging gender stereotyping in schools
Professor Dame Athene Donald (Cavendish Laboratory) discusses actions that schools can take to eradicate unnecessary gender stereotyping.
Study of half a million people reveals sex and job predict how many autistic traits you have
Measuring autistic traits in just under half a million people reveals that your sex, and whether you work in a STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) job, predict how many autistic traits you have, according to new research published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Curtains drawn on Cambridge Festival of Ideas 2015
The Cambridge Festival of Ideas drew to a close on Sunday, following two intellectually exhilarating weeks packed with 250 events, covering everything from censorship and freedom of speech to privacy in the digital age and the nature of democracy.
Grant will advance work on switchlets
Professor Rodolphe Sepulchre of Cambridge University Department of Engineering’s Control Group has received a €2.5 million grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to advance his work on the topic of switchlets.
New design points a path to the ‘ultimate’ battery
A group of researchers including from Cambridge University Department of Engineering’s Graphene Centre have successfully demonstrated how several of the problems impeding the practical development of the so-called ‘ultimate’ battery could be overcome.
Festival of Ideas culminates with another packed weekend
How has prejudice towards gay men evolved? What forms does Islamophobia take in Britain today? How much power do the media have in the science-religion debate? These questions and more will be explored during the final packed weekend of the 2015 Cambridge Festival of Ideas, which will see over 60 events across the weekend with many hosted at Anglia Ruskin University on East Road.
Phone for a doctor
Worried you might be at risk from diabetes? Check your phone: it might help stop you getting the disease. And if you already have diabetes? Your phone might even help you monitor your condition at home.
Earthquake rocks Afghanistan and Pakistan – an area prone to magnitude 7 quakes
Professor Simon Redfern of Cambridge University's Department of Earth Sciences discusses the devastating earthquake that struck Afghanistan on October 26 and the geological triggers that caused it.