science wire

Pilgrims and Boys arrive at the ADC
Dramatised and adapted by Mike Poulton, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales offers a humours and familiar collection of characters.

Under the Microscope #5 – Daisy
In this video Beverley Glover explains how a daisy is a collection of tiny flowers grouped together to make it look like a single big flower. " Under the Microscope is a collection of videos that show glimpses of the natural and man-made world in stunning close-up. They will be released every Monday and Thursday for the next couple of months and you can see them here: http://bit.ly/A6bwCE Glover: “The flowering plants (Angiosperms) form the dominant vegetation over most of the Earth's land surface.

Canopy commerce: forest conservation and poverty alleviation
Innovative approaches for protecting the future of Sierra Leone's Gola Forest - globally important for its biodiversity and its carbon reserves - are being developed by a collaboration of conservation agencies and University of Cambridge researchers.

All set and ready to glow
A breakthrough technique for manufacturing LEDs on silicon is to be exploited in the UK, putting mass-produced, energy-efficient lighting within reach. —Colin Humphreys A new technique that paves the way for manufacturing affordable LED light bulbs is to be exploited in the UK, in a deal that researchers say could have a dramatic impact on carbon emissions.

Objects of devotion
Why did Renaissance shoppers fill their baskets with rosaries, crucifixes, Christ-dolls and devotional paintings? A new study by historian Mary Laven investigates the significance of Catholic clutter, as she explains.

Q&A with Scott Centenary Tour composer
The Scott Polar Research Institute is proud to have provided the inspiration for a major new composition by leading British composer, Cecilia McDowall.

Biodiversity conservation for life
This month, the University of Cambridge will be profiling research that addresses biodiversity conservation.

‘Picture This #14′ Polymelus, Museum of Zoology
All British thoroughbred racehorses, including Polymelus, are descended from three stallions - the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk.

Under the Microscope #4 – Liquid crystals
Tim Wilkinson is combining liquid crystals with nanotechnology to try and create 3D displays which would look like real life.

Project to improve radiotherapy planning
A collaborative project between physicists, oncologists and computer scientists at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, launched last month, will develop improved tools for the planning of high precision radiotherapy.

Great handbags – but what about the politics?
Audiences are spellbound by Meryl Streep's performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. As a PhD student looking at British politics in the same era, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite was keen to see how the movie portrayed the woman who changed the face of Britain.

Narratives of Conversion
A project concluding this weekend examines why women choose to convert to Islam - and what the experience is like.

Life extinguished, life rekindled
This year's Darwin Lectures address the theme of life. Tonight's speaker, Cambridge academic Robert Macfarlane, will discuss "Life in Ruins" in art and literature.

Under the Microscope #3 – mouse embryo
In this video, we see a mouse embryo developing. Erica Watson tells us that studying this process helps us better understand human pregnancy. We can get valuable information from a mouse model about how an embryo and its placenta develop over time." —Erica Watson Under the Microscope is a collection of videos that show glimpses of the natural and man-made world in stunning close-up.

Using real-time road traffic data to evaluate congestion
A new project has shown that by using existing sources of information about traffic flow it is possible to create a minute-by-minute image of congestion in cities. Most cities have the types of data we have used in Cambridge and the approach could be used more extensively by Cambridge County Council and extended nationally." —Professor Jean Bacon Britain's roads are getting more and more congested.

How wings really work
A 1-minute video released by the University of Cambridge sets the record straight on a much misunderstood concept - how wings lift.

Viking mass grave linked to elite killers of the medieval world
A mass grave found in Dorset could belong to a crew of Viking mercenaries who terrorised Europe in the 11th century - according to a new documentary on National Geographic which pieces together the story behind the burial. Clearly these men had shown a level of bravery similar to the Jomsviking code." —Britt Baillie A crew of Viking mercenaries - some of the fiercest and most feared killers in the medieval world - could be the occupants of a mysterious mass grave in the south of England, according to a new theory.

Thoroughbred speed gene has its origins in native breeds
Research by a team of scientists suggests that a variant of the so-called speed gene found in top racehorses can be traced back to a single British mare living around 300 years ago. That mare may have had a similar genetic make-up to today's sturdy native ponies.

Weaving electronics into the fabric of our physical world
The integration of electronics with materials opens up a world of possibilities, the surface of which is just being scratched. Professor Arokia Nathan has joined the University to take up a new Chair in Engineering, where he will be exploring the application of research that allows us to glimpse a world rivalling our wildest dreams of the future.

What the Olympic Games have done for us
The genuine scientific benefits that have emerged from the modern Olympic Games have often been lost in the hype surrounding these high profile international events.

Rock ‘n Roll Royalty comes to Kettle’s Yard
Kettle's Yard has unveiled its 2012 New Music Series featuring 12 cutting edge concerts performed by world class musicians.

Ancient lessons for a modern challenge
The seat of the Khmer Empire in Cambodia mysteriously collapsed in the 15th century. Now a University of Cambridge Gates Scholar has pieced together its climate history and put forward a compelling new theory to explain its demise. There is a lot we can learn from studying how climate change affected populations in the past which could help us to devise ways of coping in the future." —Mary Beth Day What caused the collapse of the Cambodian city of Angkor, the largest preindustrial city in the world, 600 years ago?

Shipwrecked: women and children first?
Romantic notions of heroism - the captain refusing to leave his sinking ship, women and children being ushered to safety - have been shattered by reports emerging from the Costa Concordia.

Small things, big thinking
Using an electron microscope it's possible for the human eye to see in minute detail the foot of the fruit fly - an appendage that is just about the same width as a human hair.

‘Picture This #13′ Mary Anning’s Ichthyosaur, Sedgwick Museum
Mary Anning's fossil discoveries revealed an 'ancient Dorset', and were influential contributions to the blossoming science of palaeontology during the early 19th century.

University Library’s greatest treasures on show
An unpublished Rupert Brooke poem will sit alongside some of Cambridge University Library's greatest treasures when a free exhibition of highlights from its priceless collections opens to the public today.

Report backs government-funded older people’s advice service
Analysis of the FirstStop initiative reveals that the service saves money and improves quality of life. With better information and advice about how to deal with the housing, care and financial challenges of ageing, people are able to remain independent in their own homes or move to housing that really suits them." —Gemma Burgess A government-funded information and advice service helping older people to prepare for later life is proving a much-needed resource as Britain becomes an increasingly top-heavy society, a new report says.

Celebrating the centenary of Captain Scott reaching the South Pole
marks the 100th anniversary of the first British team reaching the South Pole. Founded as a memorial to Captain Scott and his four companions, the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is marking the occasion with two days of celebrations.

Breeding better grasses for food and fuel
Newly discovered family of genes could help us breed grasses with improved properties for food and fuel. Unlike starchy grains, the energy stored in the woody parts of plants is locked away and difficult to get at.

Competition to find architects and landscape architects for North West Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is looking for a number of complementary architectural and landscape firms - large and small - for its ambitious new urban extension in North West Cambridge.

Scientists: they are surprisingly normal
One in four of us suffer from mental illness at some point in our lives - but the stigma surrounding mental health has proved hard to shift.

Picture This # 12 – they’re going on a bear hunt, Madingley Hall
" What is it? This image of a bear hunt is taken from one of three remarkable wall paintings in the Murals Room at Madingley Hall.

Test your memory!
Online test allows public to assess their recall; scientists will use data to study long-term memory. We're hoping that thousands of people from all walks of life, and from all over the world, will go to the website and take part." —Dr Jon Simons from the University of Cambridge's Department of Experimental Psychology Today, Tuesday 10 January, researchers at the University of Cambridge launch what could be the world's biggest ever memory experiment.

Stephen Hawking 70th Birthday Symposium
A capacity 550-strong audience gave a standing ovation at the end of a moving, amusing and wide-ranging autobiographical speech by Stephen Hawking on the occasion of his 70th birthday on Sunday.

Seeing Quantum Mechanics with the naked eye
New research lays groundwork for new generation of ultrasensitive gyroscopes to measure gravity, magnetic field, and create quantum circuits Just to see and prod quantum mechanics working in front of your eyes is amazing." —Dr Gab Christmann A Cambridge team have built a semiconductor chip that converts electrons into a quantum state that emits light but is large enough to see by eye.

‘Extreme Sleepover #12’ – An equestrian adventure on the Mongolian steppes
In the final report of the Extreme Sleepover series, undergraduate Robin Irvine explains how a fascination for the relationships between humans, horses and dogs took him to the Mongolian steppes.

‘Extreme Sleepover #11’ – moulins and meltwater on the Greenland ice sheet
In the eleventh of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, glaciologists Ian Willis and Alison Banwell watch as a lake disappears before their eyes.

‘Extreme Sleepover #10’ – an encounter with ‘Hell’s Gate’
In the tenth of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, PhD student Robert Hird pitches his tent next to a gas crater in Turkmenistan in the course of his studies on the stability of saline soils.

‘Extreme Sleepover #9’ – waiting for sunrise in the Congo
In the ninth of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, historian Catherine Porter visits the Democratic Republic of Congo to people in the city of Lubumbashi about their political and cultural identity.

‘Extreme Sleepover #8’ – unlocking the universe from the Atacama desert
In the eighth of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, we hear about John Richer's night-time research activities at the ALMA observatory in Chile's Atacama desert.

‘Extreme Sleepover #7’ – on the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River
In the seventh of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, architect Michael Ramage travels to South Africa to build strength out of weakness.

‘Extreme Sleepover #6’ – drilling deep into geological history
In the sixth in a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, earth scientist Marian Holness investigates the secrets locked into an ancient magma chamber that never erupted.

‘Extreme Sleepover #5’ – a night in the life of a shift-working medic and clock biologist
In the fifth of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, medic and scientist Ak Reddy describes the challenges of disrupting our circadian programming.

‘Extreme Sleepover #3’ – gathering the views of indigenous women in rural Ecuador
In the third of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, geographer Sarah Radcliffe describes her work with women from impoverished indigenous communities in Ecuador.

‘Extreme Sleepover #2’ – A night in Ghana’s tropical forest
In the second of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, zoologist Ben Phalan ventures into a tropical forest to understand the impact of encroaching agriculture.

‘Extreme Sleepover #1′ – Breathless at Everest base camp
In the first of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, physiologist Andrew Murray studies responses to extreme altitude as part of a programme that will improve hospital treatments for critically ill-people.

New Cambridge study measures countries’ well-being
The key message is that the UK government, like many around the world, now recognises that economic measures such as GDP do not provide adequate information about a society's progress." &m

Extreme sleepover: the importance of being there
Tomorrow we launch a series of 12 articles by Cambridge researchers who tell us about the unfamiliar places where they've spent the night in the course of their work.

Cambridge Enterprise announces 2011 results
Income generated from the University of Cambridge's commercialisation activities continued to rise in 2011, as did the number of intellectual property, consultancy and equity agreements signed on behalf of the University and its researchers.

Deep heat
A whole range of alternative technologies will be needed to fill our huge appetite for energy and reduce our dependency on finite resources.

The man with the golden brain
What's the point of a brain? A fundamental question that has led Professor Daniel Wolpert to some remarkable conclusions about how and why the brain controls and predicts movement.

Cambridge gives Newton papers to the world
Isaac Newton's own annotated copy of his Principia Mathematica is among his notebooks and manuscripts being made available online by Cambridge University Library.

Memory like a fish
The traditional belief that fish have short memory spans may not be as true as we thought. Gates scholar Alex Vail is carrying out research that reveals how fish remember other sea creatures and even people.

The Bronze Age – now in 3D
One of the most important later Bronze Age sites ever discovered in Britain is being excavated near Peterborough, providing a richly detailed, "3D" view of life around the year 1,000 BC. This is a 3-D vision of of life during the Bronze Age that we only see very rarely anywhere in the world, let alone in this country." —David Gibson The world will get its first glimpse of one of the most significant later Bronze Age sites ever recorded in Britain today, yielding a rare and extraordinarily detailed view of life 3,000 years ago.

Island language in a sea of change
Norman languages spoken in the Channel Islands for a thousand years are now severely endangered. Cambridge linguist Mari Jones has been analysing the languages and tracing why they have declined.

‘These rough notes and our dead bodies…’
The story of the Terra Nova expedition, explored through the letters, diaries and photographs of its members, is to be told during a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition at Cambridge University's Polar Museum.

Kaiser, Reich and the making of modern Germany
Europe is in crisis and its future is said to depend on Germany. The most comprehensive study of Germany's early modern history ever undertaken, published this week, questions just how much we know about its past - and how much we understand it as a result.

A beast with four tails
The Milky Way galaxy continues to devour its small neighbouring dwarf galaxies and the evidence is spread out across the sky.

200 lorry loads of concrete in one day: a construction challenge
A major construction logistics operation was staged on the West Cambridge site recently to create a substantial concrete base for some of the world's most powerful microscopes.

Six steps to a better material world
Every year we make 10 times our own bodyweight of steel, aluminium, cement, plastics and paper, for every person alive, using a fifth of all the world's energy supply to do so. Now researchers are releasing a manifesto to change that and help cut carbon emissions. And they've also released an album of songs to go with it.

The communicative brain
What is it about the human brain that makes language possible? Two evolutionary systems working together, say neuroscientists Professor William Marslen-Wilson and Professor Lorraine Tyler. " The ability to communicate using language is fundamental to the distinctive and remarkable success of the modern human.

New database for vital model organism launched
An important novel component of this project is the construction of intuitive tools to allow the research community to involve itself in database curation, and ensure that the scientific information published in their papers is visible to the entire biological research community." —Steve Oliver, Professor of Systems Biology & Biochemistry, who is spearheading the initiative A new database promises to be an invaluable resource to scientists who use a unique single-celled fungus to study human diseases.

Recreating ‘The Great Escape’
First it was the Dambusters raid, now Cambridge University's Hugh Hunt has helped to recreate 'The Great Escape' from Germany's infamous Stalag Luft III.

Where God meets physics
Eminent thinker and commentator Revd John Polkinghorne, Fellow of the Royal Society, will be giving a public talk - titled A Destiny Beyond Death - tomorrow lunchtime at St Edmund's College, Cambridge.

Living with the Inugguit
In 2010, researcher Stephen Leonard began a 12-month research project, documenting the disappearing oral traditions of the northernmost settled people on Earth.

Music – or language in action?
Music is more than just sound. Sharing many features with language, it has all the hallmarks of a communicative system, as Cambridge researchers are showing.

New wave of Danish art to be explored
A free public lecture looking at the recent rise of the Danish contemporary art scene will take place at Churchill College on November 24, given by top art critic Lisbeth Bonde.

Who owns the City?
Foreign investors now own the majority of City of London offices, according to a new study from the Department of Land Economy.

Two for joy
An innovative dance performance with creative input from Professor Nicky Clayton, a expert on bird cognition, goes on tour this week.

A consequence of the thalidomide disaster
It is some fifty years since the thalidomide disaster when several thousand children around the world were born with severe limb defects after their mothers had been given thalidomide as sedative and remedy for morning sickness.

Smart listeners and smooth talkers
Human-like performance in speech technology could be just around the corner, thanks to a new research project that links three UK universities.

Communication Power in the Network Society
The world-renowned sociologist, Professor Manuel Castells, is to be the second Humanitas Visiting Professor in Media at the University of Cambridge, from 16 to 21 November 2011.

‘Picture This #10’ – The Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 lines, University Library
The Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 lines is the oldest dated and illustrated Sanskrit manuscript known worldwide.

Testing the world’s English
English language testing, and the research that underpins it, has been elevated to a new level by the increasing global dominance of English, now used by an estimated 1.8 billion people worldwide.

New treatment for multiple sclerosis: Cambridge University translates research at the bench into a drug at the bedside
New treatment for multiple sclerosis: Cambridge University translates research at the bench into a drug at the bedside CARE-MS2 represents the culmination of many years clinical and laboratory research aimed at demonstrating the potential for alemtuzumab as a highly effective treatment for multiple sclerosis and understanding mechanisms involved in the complex natural history of the disease." —Professor Alastair Compst

For lust of knowing what should not be known
Clare Holtham (1948-2010) had a huge enthusiasm for learning. After a troubled childhood, which led to a spell of homelessness, she became an intrepid traveller and independent-minded student at Newnham College, Cambridge.

The State of the Unions
Don't write off the unions yet - a new study reveals how trade unions are adapting to 21st century pressures in an effort to reclaim the hearts and minds of the British workforce.

How will we remember them?
As we approach Remembrance Day, a Cambridge University project that looks at the role of memorials in conflict-torn communities is drawing to a close.

Powerful words
Ancient manuscripts that hold important clues to India’s intellectual and religious traditions will be the focus of a new study.

How languages are built
A team of Cambridge linguists has embarked on an ambitious project to identify how the languages of the world are built - from Inuit Yupik to sub-Saharan Bantu, from Navajo to Nepalese.

Known and unknown: great travellers of the Pacific
Islanders: The Pacific in the Age of Empire tells the story of the Pacific Islanders and their early interactions with Western travellers from the viewpoint of the Islanders themselves and sets the arrival of Westerners within a context of existing voyages within the region.

‘Picture This #1’ – The Bury Bible, Corpus Christi College.
In the first of a new series of short articles exploring images from around the University, we look at the 12th-century Bury Bible from the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College.

Selecting the fittest embryos for survival
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a new technique which could significantly increase success rates of pregnancies and reduce the frequency of multiple pregnancies associated with in vitro fertilisation (IVF).