science wire

Think big, think seahorse
Amanda Vincent - one of the world's leading experts on seahorses and their relatives - is spending a year at Cambridge's Department of Geography on a sabbatical from the University of British Columbia.

Everything, everywhere, ever’ – a new door opens on the history of humanity
The history of humanity, from our earliest ancestors to today's indigenous people spread across the globe, is being retold as a Cambridge University museum reopens following a £1.8m redevelopment.

The art of survival
A collection of artefacts made by prisoners from the Channel Islands in World War II has gone on display in Jersey to mark the 70th anniversary of the Channel Island deportations, with the help of a Cambridge researcher.

With the people, for the people: applying mental health research
From campus to community, the worlds of mental health research and medical practice are being brought together by a collaboration involving researchers, health and social care providers, and the patients themselves. When you have liaised with the consumer very early on, you know that their question is your question and they're eager for your results." —Professor Peter Jones Imagine a 17-year-old man with a learning disability arriving in A&E with suspected appendicitis.

Can Hollande live up to expectations?
As Francois Hollande takes up his seat as President of France, will he be able to live up to the huge expectations of those who voted for him or will his reputation for indecision be his undoing, asks Robert Tombs.

Bronze Age Facebook
Large clusters of rock art spanning thousands of years but located at the same site may hold key to detecting massive cultural changes in prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the north.

Intoxicating history
In tracing the modern history of Germany's policy on intoxicant and drug use, which favours therapy rather than punishment, Cambridge historian Victoria Harris highlights that criminalisation may not be the only route.

Encounters in medieval matrimony
Scholars from five different institutions, and both Christian and Muslim backgrounds, will gather in Cambridge tomorrow to look at medieval Islamic marriage and how it was viewed by contemporary Christian travellers and polemicists.

The End Of Honecker
A film about the downfall of the East German head of state, Erich Honecker, which includes an astonishing with his apparently unrepentant widow, will receive its UK premiere next week.

Butterfly genome reveals a promiscuous past
An international collaborative study to map the genome of a South American butterfly has identified the secret behind its mimetic nature. These butterflies, in order to better survive in the wild, have taken successful survival techniques from other butterflies and have incorporated them into their own genetic code." —Dr Chris Jiggins of the University of Cambridge The genome sequence of the Postman butterfly, Heliconius melpomene, was used as a reference to study species that live together in the Peruvian Amazon.

Frugal innovation
Co-author of recently published book 'Jugaad Innovation', Professor Jaideep Prabhu argues that a frugal and flexible approach to innovation can generate breakthrough growth not only in the developing world but also in the West.

A new dimension to DNA and personalised medicine of the future
By investigating the existence of an unusual four-stranded structure of DNA in human cells, scientists have opened the door to novel cancer therapeutics and a new era for personalised medicine. We've come such a long way from thinking that we understand the genome - and it appeared that this structure could tell us something new." —Professor Shankar Balasubramanian When Watson and Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, they declared they had "found the secret of life".

Ethical dilemmas and global health
Sociologists Sridhar Venkatapuram and David Stuckler discuss how tensions within society are slowing down the process of combating disease worldwide.

Benefit changes raise pressure on country life
Significant numbers of social tenants in rural areas may have to move away from their friends and communities because of changes to housing benefit criteria, a report reveals today.

Unhealthy diet and physical inactivity: understanding these silent killers
Population-based interventions for tackling unhealthy diet and physical inactivity could save millions of lives. An ambitious research programme is providing evidence for how best to deliver the goal. It might be that the biggest influences on the population's diet and activity won't just come from simply urging people to change.

Delivering better ways of preventing stillbirth
Despite recent dramatic reductions in cot death rates in the UK, and the development of sophisticated screening for Down's syndrome, preventing stillbirth is proving tougher to tackle. Now, a major study under way at Cambridge could change all that. " In the UK, one in every 200 women reaching their 24th week of pregnancy will have a stillborn baby.

Islamic scholars head to Beijing for “Cambridge in China” conference
A conference exploring Chinese perspectives of the Middle East and the Islamic world, at a time when China's interest in the region is growing, will take place in Beijing later this week.

Archaeologists discover lost language
Evidence for a forgotten ancient language which dates back more than 2,500 years, to the time of the Assyrian Empire, has been found by archaeologists working in Turkey.

Rooted in evidence: a public health response to dementia
Research programmes at the Cambridge Institute of Public Health focus on common chronic disorders.

The human cost of economic policy
New research will bring social scientists closer to uncovering the economic basis of a "gigantic human catastrophe" that followed the fall of communism in the former Soviet Union. " As scenes of violence and anger unfolded on the streets of Greece this year, the effects of radical economic change on society became all too evident.

The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China
In the first exhibition of its kind, the Fitzwilliam Museum will relate the story of the quest for immortality and struggle for imperial legitimacy in ancient China's Han Dynasty.

Inside Hitler’s mind
A secret report, previously unknown to historians, shows how British Intelligence was tracking Hitler's growing preoccupation with "the enemy within" on the eve of the Final Solution.

Melioidosis: exposing the ‘Great Mimicker’
Each year melioidosis - a soil-borne disease dubbed the 'Great Mimicker' because of its frequent misdiagnosis - kills as many people in some regions of Southeast Asia as does tuberculosis.

Industrial inspiration
A Ukrainian steel factory and a BP chemical works in Yorkshire provided the inspiration for a series of artworks on display in Cambridge University Library's Entrance Hall.

New lab to focus on creating sustainable energy source
Research will explore using sunlight to convert greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and water to syngas, the precursor to liquid fuel.

Call of the wired
For generations, we have dreamed of machines with artificial intelligence with which we can have real conversations but, despite amazing technological advances, such devices seem some way off.

From 10th century poetry to live rap – discover more about the culture of Iran
An evening at Lucy Cavendish College next Monday will bring together speakers and musicians from Cambridge and beyond to look at the ways in which the literature, art and music of Iran have flourished through revolution and repression.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star: I’m going to know what you are
A team of astronomers at the University of Cambridge is taking the next big step in a European-wide programme which will lead to the creation of the first three-dimensional map of more than a billion stars.

Heart-Breaking History: Voices of sick children from the past
A new study into the grim and frequently heart-breaking history of childhood sickness and death has opened a window on to a surprisingly tender world of close families and devoted parenting in early modern England.

Zero interest and growing fast
From humble beginnings, Islamic finance is now a trillion dollar industry and growing at a rate some in the West find alarming.

Teaching old cells new tricks
Much hyped by the media, stem cells have tremendous power to improve human health. As part of the Cambridge Stem Cell Initiative, Ludovic Vallier's research in the Anne McLaren Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine shows how stem cells can further our understanding of disease and help deliver much-needed new treatments.

Clare College alumna’s film at the Arts Picturehouse
A debut feature film by a Clare College alumna is showing at the Arts Picturehouse on Tuesday 24 April and again the following evening.

Hay gears up for Greek marathon
Following a successful talk at Hay in 2010, Professor Paul Cartledge will be playing a major part in a series of 10 discussions on Ancient Greece at this year's festival, alongside Cambridge's own regular programme.

Royal Society announces new Fellows
These scientists who have been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society are among the world's finest.

Hot baths extra – a glimpse into the making of Earth sciences
A display of material from the Sedgwick Museum records archive, on view to the public from tomorrow, offers a rare glimpse into the daily lives of the scientists who changed the way we think about the world around us.

Solar-grade silicon at low cost
A new process developed by scientists at the University of Cambridge has the potential to drive down the cost of manufacturing solar-grade silicon and could increase the use of photovoltaic devices for capturing the sun's energy.

Cambridge in Morocco
In the midst of the historic changes that are affecting much of the Arab world, a team of Cambridge researchers are visiting Morocco to explore new perspectives in the study of the Middle East and North Africa.

Access all areas
The volunteers and students are taking part in real research and will have the opportunity to gain new archaeological skills and knowledge" —Dr Carenza Lewis Access Camb

Meet The Romans with Mary Beard
A three part series starting on BBC2 next Tuesday explores what life in Ancient Rome was really like for normal citizens living in the world's first city of one million people.

Three Cambridge academics announced as leading lights of UK sustainability
In its inaugural list of the top 50 most influential people for sustainability in the UK, Building Design magazine has listed three Cambridge academics.

Unpublished journal offers new take on Darwin’s daughter
A small, lockable leather diary - kept in the vast archives of Cambridge University Library - has led to a reassessment of one of the key relationships in Charles Darwin's life.

From fins to limbs
Tonight Cambridge vertebrate palaeontologist Professor Jenny Clack is the subject of BBC Four's Beautiful Minds series. The programme looks at her contribution to our understanding of early tetrapods - the first four-legged creatures to walk on earth. One of the most intriguing aspects of the fish-tetrapod transition is the development of limbs that made walking on land possible." Cast your mind back 400 million years.

Rage against the machine
April 2012 marks the bicentenary of the high-water mark of the Luddite rebellion - but new research suggests that the movement may be celebrated for the wrong reasons.

Egg Cetera #6: Hunting for the world’s oldest decorated eggs
In the final report of our Egg Cetera series on egg-related research, archaeologist Brian Stewart investigates a remarkable technological leap for early mankind - the use of ostrich eggshells as water carriers.

Egg Cetera #5: Nature’s paradoxical packaging
In the fifth report of our Egg Cetera series on egg-related research, engineers and zoologists work together to discover the secrets of the eggshell.

Plastic electronics: a neat solution
A breakthrough in the development of a new generation of plastic electronic circuits by researchers at the Cavendish Laboratory brings flexible and transparent intelligent materials - such as artificial skin and interactive playing cards - a step closer.

Egg Cetera #4 Mayonnaise and the making of masterpieces
In the fourth report of our Egg Cetera series on egg-related research, conservator Spike Bucklow describes how far the simple egg has extended the richness and splendour of paintings.

Egg Cetera #3: Take thirty Eggs, fifteen whites, beat them well…
In the third report of our Egg Cetera series on egg-related research, Joe Moshenska delves into Sir Kenelm Digby's fantastical and exotic 17th-century recipes and finds an early champion of cooking by science.

Egg Cetera #2: The answer to the riddle of which came first
In the second report of our Egg Cetera series on egg-related research, let's begin with the age-old question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Armed with knowledge of evolution, the answer is straightforward. Eggs came first. Next time you crack open an egg, think of its many unusual features, and the hundreds of millions of years of evolution that preceded its appearance." Dinosaurs, the animal group that includes birds and their ancestors, laid eggs.

Controlling quantum tunnelling with light
The trick to telling electrons how to pass through walls, is to now marry them with light." —Professor Jeremy Baumberg Scientists at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge have used light to help push electrons through a classically impenetrable barrier.

Egg Cetera #1: The immortal egg
In the first report of our Egg Cetera series on egg-related research, biologists Harry Leitch and Professor Azim Surani describe how advances in understanding egg development could transform reproductive and regenerative medicine.

How Usain Bolt Can Run Faster – Effortlessly
Usain Bolt can achieve faster running times with no extra effort on his part or improvement to his fitness, according to a new study by Professor John Barrow, Director of the Millennium Maths Project at the University of Cambridge.

Picture This # 18 – Chicks at the Fitz
This rare tureen from the Fitzwilliam Museum was made in the mid-18th century by the famous Chelsea porcelain manufactory.

Autophagy: when ‘self-eating’ is good for you
New discoveries by Cambridge scientists about a molecular waste-disposal process that 'eats' bacteria are influencing the clinical management of cystic fibrosis, and could be the basis of innovative new treatments to fight off bacteria.

Online insecurity
Online passwords are so insecure that one per cent can be cracked within 10 guesses, according to the largest ever sample analysis.

A policy of mass destruction
A new study reveals how a radical economic policy devised by western economists put former Soviet states on a road to bankruptcy and corruption. The most radical privatisation programme in history failed the countries it was meant to help.

Growing bones with Lego
A video produced for Google Science Fair shows how researchers at Cambridge making synthetic bone have turned to legendary children's toy Lego to give them a helping hand.

Endowment creates “the most attractive job in German Studies in the world”
A distinguished Professorship of German at the University of Cambridge has been endowed in perpetuity thanks to a generous £2 million benefaction from The Schroder Foundation, the charitable trust of the Schroder family.

Henley Boat Races triumph for Cambridge Women and Lightweight Men
In perfect conditions at Henley-on-Thames, Cambridge beat Oxford over 2km in the 2012 Newton Women's Boat Race.

Evolution Revolution
Developments in evolutionary biology have a significant impact on the way we look at the world and ourselves in it, according to a conservation scientist who will be speaking on the subject at Cambridge University's annual Science Festival.

Visions of future healthcare
On 14 March, academics and members of the public gathered at Emmanuel College to hear a panel of distinguished speakers discuss their personal visions of future healthcare in an event sponsored by the Science AAAS as part of the Cambridge Science Festival.

Nanotechnology and your views
What are the implications of nanotechnology for the general public? What use is it to them? What are the risks and benefits? These are the types of questions that an online Knowledge Debate hopes to provoke.

Exploring University with the Realise Project
A clock without a face, a really big door and a stone wedding cake: just three of the unusual things young explorers were asked to find in the grounds of St John's College during You-niversity Day 2012, which took place on the first day of February half-term.

Who wants to be an engineer?
Some of our most brilliant inventions came about by mistake. On Saturday the Institute for Manufacturing will open its doors to children aged five upwards - and show them just how exciting engineering can be.

Cambridge announces Centre for Carbon Reduction in Chemical Technology in Singapore
The University of Cambridge and National Research Foundation, Singapore, have today announced plans for a collaborative research centre, specialising in energy efficient, low-carbon chemical process technology.

The dark side of the art world
Looting of antiquities from archaeological sites is a serious crime. A talk at Cambridge Science Festival on Thursday will unearth some of the dirty secrets of the illicit trade in precious objects and ask tricky questions about the relationships between looters, dealers and museums.

One step for early hominins: Study reveals why our ancestors switched to bipedal power
Our earliest ancestors may have started walking on two limbs instead of four in a bid to monopolise resources and to carry as much food as possible in one go, researchers have found. Bipedality as the key human adaptation may be an evolutionary product of this strategy persisting over time.

How to engineer intelligence
"Do we actually want machines to interact with humans in an emotional way? Will it be possible for them to interact with us?" There are already research programmes that attempt to gauge

Was St Patrick a slave-trading Roman official who fled to Ireland?
With St Patrick's Day approaching, a new study asks whether the saint fled his native Britain to escape a career as a Roman tax collector, only to arrive in Ireland and sell slaves.

Thatcher papers reveal her ‘grimmest year’
Thousands of papers relating to perhaps the toughest year of Margaret Thatcher's premiership are to be opened to the public at Cambridge University's Churchill Archives Centre from Monday.

Mystery of Anglo-Saxon teen buried in bed with gold cross
Extraordinary 7th century discovery on outskirts of Cambridge offers unique insights into the origins of English Christianity. To be buried in this elaborate way with such a valuable artefact tells us that this girl was undoubtedly high status, probably nobility or even royalty." —Dr Sam Lucy One of the earliest Anglo-Saxon Christian burial sites in Britain has been discovered in a village outside Cambridge.

Under the Microscope #16 – Nanowires
This video is a bright field environmental transmission electron microscopy video of silicon nanowires growing from gold catalyst particles." —Andrew Gamalski This is the last video in the Under the Microscope series.

Sir Alan Cottrell FRS (17 July 1919 – 15 February 2012)
Head of Department of Metallurgy (1958-65), Master of Jesus College (1974-86), and Vice-Chancellor of the University (1977-79) Alan was the most outstanding and influential Physical Met

The rise and fall of Kodak’s moment
On a shelf in his office in Cambridge Judge Business School, Kamal Munir keeps a Kodak Brownie 127.

Rainforest remedy could spell end of dental pain
An ancient Incan toothache remedy - for centuries handed down among an indigenous people in the rainforests of Peru - could be on the cusp of revolutionising worldwide dental practice.

From pamphlet to pixel: the humanities in transition
The humanities have been quick to embrace the potential of computer technology but universities have been reluctant to accept digital projects as bona fide scholarship.

String theory, duality and art
We want ideas from the cutting edge of physics to penetrate the art world just as has already happened for relativity and quantum mechanics." During the talks, theoretical physicist D

Under the Microscope #15 – Elephant fish embryo
Andrew Gillis shows us an embryonic skate head and explains how the red denticles dotted all over it have very similar properties to human teeth.

Can a scientist be religious?
The relationship between science and religion has had its rocky moments. But Robert Asher, author of the newly published book 'Evolution and Belief: Confessions of a Religious Paleontologist', argues that the two sides can find common ground.

Strengthening the bond between policy and science
When public policy is supported by scientifically-sound evidence, it is to the benefit of all of society. In order to strengthen the relationship between science and policy, we have, for the first time, compiled a clear set of research questions on scientific advice to governments." —Professor William Sutherland One only has to be reminded of the BSE crisis and the MMR vaccine scare to recognise the importance of having policy informed by the best available science.

It’s ‘not’ history
University of Cambridge linguists have pieced together the curious evolving history of the word 'not' across the languages of Europe. In doing so, they suggest that overuse of words such as 'literally' may be a natural linguistic development. Cycles of usage such as that seen in negation appear to be a normal part of language development." —Dr David Willis What would we do without the word 'not'? Language depends on negation: 'the defendant is not guilty', 'it's not fair', 'it's not you, it's me'.

Invading Trees?
Rumours of trees 'invading' the Arctic as a by-product of climate change have been 'greatly exaggerated' according to a polar scientist due to lecture on the subject at Cambridge University's annual Science Festival.

Job security and pay fears at heart of manufacturing’s “image problem”
Misplaced fears about job security and low pay could thwart efforts to strengthen British manufacturing and rebalance the economy, a new analysis of the sector's image among the general public has revealed.

The Eruption after tomorrow
Imagine the perfect storm. A series of severe volcanic eruptions engulf the globe, spewing ash and sulphur into the atmosphere, causing widespread chaos on our intricate global economy, impacting our ability to grow food and grounding trans-continental air travel.

Old meets new at 800-year old Leper Chapel
There are 21st century ideas in prospect for the 800 year old Leper Chapel in East Cambridge following a unique collaboration between Cambridge Past, Present and Future, and an Architecture student at the University of Cambridge.

The carriers of memory
Almost 100 years after the outbreak of World War I, public opinion about war in many of the countries that fought appears to have shifted completely.

Under the Microscope #14 – Fruit fly brain and gut
This video shows the anatomical and functional connection between the brain and the gut in the fruit fly" —Paola Cognigni Check out the rest of the Under the Microscope video ser

What is the price of free?
Scientists from the Computer Laboratory at Cambridge University have designed a method to improve privacy control in the Android apps market. The method reaches a balance between the need for developer's revenue and the need for user's privacy. We've developed a method that can control how much personal information is released to advertisers depending on the revenue that a developer receives.

Looking the part
Throughout history, clothes and the messages they convey have been a powerful part of our identity.

Stories without borders
A public lecture at Cambridge University today (March 2) will explore the role of storytelling in narratives that address global history.

Under the Microscope #13 – Tiny worm faecal pellets
I have discovered that sediments from these areas contain millions of tiny faecal pellets that have been produced by burrowing invertebrates (worms)" —Matthew Kuo Under the Microscope is a collection of videos that show glimpses of the natural and man-made world in stunning close-up.

A musical expedition to Scott’s South Pole
A cycle of songs imagining the final thoughts of Captain Scott and his polar party has been composed by Cambridge graduate Jake Wilson - with the help of the University's Scott Polar Research Institute.

Landscape, literature, life
Over the past few years, the genre of 'nature writing' has seen a new sense of urgency, fostered by a growing awareness of a natural world under pressure.

Under the Microscope #12 – Brain cells from skin cells
—Yichen Shi This is a beautiful image of human brain cells, which can now be grown from adult skin cells.

Artificial liver cells win their creator prize for their potential to reduce animal experiments
Cambridge research that created liver cells from stem cells has today been recognised with a national prize by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).

The emotional historian?
Danelle van Zyl-Hermann, a Gates scholar with an interest in the emotional history of South Africa, explains why the study of society's sentiments can unlock a better understanding of the past.

Benefitting from history
A Cambridge academic's research into the final days of the Old English Poor Law has thrown up some remarkable parallels to today's welfare state - and casts new light on the 'benefits system' of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Games for nature
Can digital games and virtual worlds help us save nature? Conservation scientists Bruno Monteferri, Chris Sandbrook and Bill Adams explore whether computer gaming is a new frontier for conservation.

Under the Microscope #11 – Jet streams
—Dr Sungjune Jung Under the Microscope is a collection of videos that show glimpses of the natural and man-made world in stunning close-up.

Cambridge ranked ‘most visible’ on social networks
A ranking produced by Econsultancy has listed the University's website as the most visible Russell Group website on some of the biggest social media networks. Our 'Under the Microscope' videos, bite-sized snapshots of Cambridge research, have recently produced our most watched film to date on YouTube" —Barney Brown New research by digital publisher Econsultancy into the visibility of universities digital content on some of the major social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, has placed the University of Cambridge top amongst the Russell Group.

‘Picture This #17′ – Ezra Pound by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Kettle’s Yard
Jim Ede, creator of Kettle's Yard, acquired the estate of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska after his death and Kettle's Yard now contains one of the largest collections of his work.

Under the Microscope #10 – Mouse tail skin
Through the work that I am completing, I hope that I can also gain a perspective as to what goes wrong in disease processes such as skin cancer." —Claire Cox Claire Cox: “

Conservation clusters: making the case
A new study reveals how the gathering together of conservation organisations in one location - a 'conservation cluster' - can work best to reap global rewards.

Lyrics without music, poetry without borders
A series of recitals organised by poet John Kinsella look at the relationship between song lyrics and poetry, inviting renowned musicians to perform their poetry and lyrics without instruments at Cambridge University.

Pluripotent stem cells: medical dream or ethical nightmare?
Paul Fairchild, University of Oxford, to give a public seminar tomorrow, 21 February, discussing this topical issue.

How quickly things spread
Understanding the spread of infectious diseases in populations is the key to controlling them. If the UK was facing a flu pandemic, how could we measure where the greatest spreading risk comes from? This information could help inform decisions on whether to impose travel restrictions or close schools.

The fate of a thin liquid filament
Scientists have solved one of the printing industries greatest challenges - whether a liquid thread will break up into drops.

Under the Microscope #9 – Skate head
Andrew Gillis shows us an embryonic skate head and explains how the red denticles dotted all over it have very similar properties to human teeth.

Under the Microscope #8 – Beetle embryo
The beetle shown in this video has been genetically modified so that the nucleus of each cell is labelled with a fluorescent protein." —Matt Benton Under the Microscope is a collection of videos that show glimpses of the natural and man-made world in stunning close-up.

From buskins to brothel-creepers: our love affair with shoes
Tomorrow Cambridge historian Ulinka Rublack will give a public talk that will set footwear at the centre of her argument that in neglecting to explore the history of things we miss a golden opportunity to further our understanding of the past.

‘Smart’ microcapsules in a single step
A new, single-step method of fabricating microcapsules, which have potential commercial applications in industries including medicine, agriculture and diagnostics, has been developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge. The findings are published Friday (10 February) .

A mineral way to catalysis?
Recent European legislation has proposed increasingly strict legislative limits on the concentration of NOx that can be emitted by vehicles; therefore the search for new and more efficient catalysts that can capture these molecules and transform them into innocuous gases such as nitrogen and water vapour, is urgently relevant." —Dr Marco Sacchi Catalytic materials, which lower the energy barriers for chemical reactions, are

Jürgen Moltmann,’the most influential Christian theologian’
Professor Richard Bauckham, Senior Scholar at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, discusses the theologian Jürgen Moltmann.

Under the Microscope #7
In this video Ingrid Graz shows us a thin layer of gold on top of rubber. Cracks in the gold allow it to stretch and we can use this for stretchable electronics.

Infrastructure revolution
Technology has advanced to the point where the condition of bridges, tunnels and buildings can be monitored in unprecedented detail.

The question of life in the ancient world
Just what was life like in the ancient world? Michael Scott, Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Classics and Research Associate at Darwin College, shares some of his thoughts as he prepares to talk this Friday on 'Life in the Ancient World' as part of the Darwin Lecture series 2012.

Theatres of war: public spending on buildings for the arts
National recommendations for using public money to build arts venues are only succeeding in enforcing a system that is already flawed, a new study concludes.

Picture This #15, Queens’ College sundial
" What is it? This beautiful sundial is one of the world's most remarkable, particularly well known for its intricate design and detail.

Here comes the sun…
Scientists have developed a new kind of solar cell which could capture significantly more of the energy from the sun than current cells. Organic and hybrid solar cells have an advantage over current silicon-based technology because they can be produced in large quantities at low cost by roll-to-roll printing.

Defeating dementia in Down’s syndrome
A £1m brain-imaging study has just been launched at the University of Cambridge to investigate why people with Down's syndrome (DS) are at such high risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Research, policy, practice: conservation in the round
Conservation scientists working in partnership with practitioners and policy makers are building practical tools for real-world conservation.

Ever your affectionate Father, Charles Dickens
A letter written in 1868 by Charles Dickens, the bicentenary of whose birth falls today, to his son Henry, who had newly arrived at Cambridge, reveals a touching concern for Henry's welfare in matters physical, moral and spiritual.

Brain cells created from patients’ skin cells
This approach gives us the ability to study human brain development and disease in ways that were unimaginable even five years ago." —Dr Rick Livesey of the Gurdon Institute and Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge Cambridge scientists have, for the first time, created cerebral cortex cells - those that make up the brain's grey matter – from a small sample of human skin.  The researchers' findings, which were funded by Alzheimer's Research UK and the Wellcome Trust, were published today .

Under the Microscope #6 – Killer T-cells
—Professor Gillian Griffiths Under the Microscope is a collection of videos that show glimpses of the natural and man-made world in stunning close-up.

Cambridge theological college inspection gives resounding ‘confidence’
In the same month when the Church of England General Synod will discuss the next phase of a radical change in the formation of those training for ministry, Westcott House Theological College in Cambridge has received an unprecedented level of confidence in a Ministry Council Inspection Report.

A Spoonful of Sugar or a Bitter Blocker?
Hannah Newton, an historian of science with an interest in how previous generations coped with childhood illness, digs up some 17th century tips for making medicine taste better and finds evidence for common sense and compassion among the doctors of the day.

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.