Study enables greater understanding of polycystic ovary syndrome
A new genetic study of over 200,000 women reveals the underlying mechanisms of polycystic ovary syndrome, as well as potential interventions.
Maintaining healthy DNA delays menopause
An international study of nearly 70,000 women has identified more than forty regions of the human genome that are involved in governing at what age a woman goes through menopause. The study, led by scientists at the Universities of Cambridge and Exeter, found that two thirds of those regions contain genes that act to keep DNA healthy, by repairing the small damages that can accumulate with age.
Festival explores censorship versus freedom of expression
Is terror legislation being used to stifle free expression? Where should the line be drawn on pornography? Can national broadcasters be truly independent at a time of war? In a series of provocative debates at this year’s Cambridge Festival of Ideas (19 October – 1 November), censorship and freedom of expression will be explored by a range of leading thinkers and experts in their fields.
Open Cambridge weekend a major success
The annual three-day celebration of heritage, history and architecture in Cambridge ended on a high in the city centre on Sunday at the Bridge the Gap charity walk on Parker’s Piece.
Major new research grant awarded to Professor Sir Mark Welland in the field of nanotechnology
The multi-million pound 5 year project sponsored by Lloyd’s Register Foundation follows the publication of the LRF’s Foresight review in nanotechnology: the next industrial revolution. The Foundation opened an international call for proposals in August 2014 and this grant was one of three awarded.
Scientists 'squeeze' light, one particle at a time
A team of scientists have measured a bizarre effect in quantum physics, in which individual particles of light are said to have been “squeezed” – an achievement which at least one textbook had written off as hopeless.
New manufacturing technique could enable design of hybrid glasses & revolutionise gas storage
A new method of manufacturing glass could lead to the production of ‘designer glasses’ with applications in advanced photonics, while also facilitating industrial scale carbon capture and storage. An international team of researchers, writing in the journal Nature Communications, reports how they have managed to use a relatively new family of sponge-like porous materials to develop new hybrid…
Cells cling and spiral ‘like vines’ in first 3D tissue scaffold for plants
New cost-effective material which mimics natural ‘extracellular matrix’ has allowed scientists to capture previously unseen behaviour in individual plant cells, including new shapes and interactions. New methods highlight potential developments for plant tissue engineering.
Differences in brain structure and memory suggest adolescents may not ‘grow out of’ ADHD
Young adults diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescence show differences in brain structure and perform poorly in memory tests compared to their peers, according to new research from the University of Cambridge, UK, and the University of Oulu, Finland.
Gaia team celebrates first anniversary of observations
A space mission to create the largest, most-accurate, three-dimensional map of the Milky Way is celebrating its first completed year of observations.
Cambridge Festival of Ideas 2015 programme is launched
The full programme has been launched for the Cambridge Festival of Ideas 2015 (19 October – 1 November). This year’s packed programme of events tackles a range of critical issues, including censorship, free speech, privacy, democracy and more, inspired by the theme of power and resistance.
Professor Sir Bob Hepple 1934 - 2015
Former Master of Clare College, Cambridge, Professor Sir Bob Hepple, has died aged 81.
Despite the headlines, dementia epidemic may not actually be getting worse
The number of people with dementia – both new cases and total numbers with the disease – appears to be stabilising in some Western European countries despite populations ageing, in direct contrast to the ‘dementia epidemic’ reported in some recent studies. Professor Carol Brayne and Yu-tzu Wu from the Cambridge Institute of Public Health explore what this means.
Every breath you take
Shortness of breath can be terrifying for both patients and the family and friends who support them. Cambridge clinicians and researchers have developed a way of helping patients manage the condition – but the key lies in how the intervention is delivered.
Young minds think alike – and older people are more distractible
‘Bang! You’re Dead’, a 1961 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents continues to surprise – but not just with the twist in its tale. Scientists at the University of Cambridge have used the programme to show that young people respond in a similar way to events, but as we age our thought patterns diverge.
Collaboration to further geomechanical learning
The University of Cambridge, BG Group and Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro have embarked on a collaborative programme to increase understanding of petroleum geomechanics and well monitoring systems.
Blindingly fast computers within reach
Alumni of the University of Cambridge, including from the Department of Engineering, have gone on to found Optalysys, a company with the goal of making computer processors that use light instead of electricity.
Chinese cave ‘graffiti’ tells a 500-year story of climate change and impact on society
Unique inscriptions found in a cave in China, combined with chemical analysis of cave formations, show how droughts affected the local population over the past five centuries, and underline the importance of implementing strategies to deal with climate change in the coming years.
What are the Big Data challenges for Cambridge-based businesses?
The University of Cambridge Big Data Strategic Research Initiative, in partnership with Cambridge Network, is carrying out a survey to identify the current interests and needs of local firms in dealing with ‘Big Data’.
On the origin of (robot) species
Researchers have observed the process of evolution by natural selection at work in robots, by constructing a ‘mother’ robot that can design, build and test its own ‘children’, and then use the results to improve the performance of the next generation, without relying on computer simulation or human intervention.
Predators might not be dazzled by stripes
New research using computer games suggests that stripes might not offer the ‘motion dazzle’ protection thought to have evolved in animals such as Zebra and consequently inspired ship camouflage during both World Wars.
Alan Turing Institute up and running
National institute for the development and use of advanced mathematics, computer science, algorithms and ‘Big Data’ has announced its first director, and will start research activities in the autumn.
Impact Studies: A suspension revolution in Formula I Motorsport
A Cambridge academic equipped with no more than a pencil and paper invented a completely new suspension component which led to a unique story featuring code names, Formula 1 victories and claims of industrial espionage.
Monoclonal antibodies: the invisible allies that changed the face of medicine
Forty years ago, two researchers at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge developed a new technology that was to win the Nobel Prize – and is now found in six out of ten of the world’s bestselling drugs. Dr Lara Marks from Cambridge University's Department of History and Philosophy of Science discusses the importance of ‘monoclonal antibodies’.
Earliest evidence of reproduction in a complex organism
A new study of 565 million-year-old fossils has identified how some of the first complex organisms on Earth – possibly some of the first animals to exist – reproduced, revealing the origins of our modern marine environment.