science wire

Queen Victoria's personal journals put online
All the personal journals of Queen Victoria have been launched online by Her Majesty The Queen today, thanks to a partnership between the Bodleian Libraries, the Royal Archives and information company ProQuest.

Project to examine 'Yeti' DNA
A new collaboration between Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology will use the latest genetic techniques to investigate organic remains that some have claimed belong to the ‘Yeti' and other ‘lost' hominid species.

Statins for the many?
Even people at low risk of heart problems would benefit from statins, cheap drugs that lower levels of ‘bad' cholesterol in the blood. That's the main finding of a giant collaborative study coordinated by Oxford's Clinical Trial Service Unit and the Health Economics Research Centre, and published in The Lancet today.

Oxford experts call for sugary drinks tax in the UK
Experts at Oxford University are calling for the introduction of taxes on sugary drinks as one measure that would encourage healthier diets and help tackle the obesity crisis in the UK.

New centre for research into fostered and looked after children
The University of Oxford has announced the creation of a new centre to conduct research into how to improve outcomes for foster children and looked after children (in care) so they achieve more and have more fulfilling lives. The new centre called the Oxford University Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education is a collaboration between Oxford's Department of Education and the Core Assets Group, a major provider of children's services in the UK that will also financially support the centre.

Feathers show their true colours
For millennia birds have been prized, even hunted, for their beautiful plumage but what makes their feathers so colourful?

Letters shed new light on Rule Britannia
New accounts of the first performance of Rule Britannia uncovered by an Oxford University historian suggest that it was not initially received as an anthem of triumphant British national identity but as a reinforcement of opposition to King George II. Oliver Cox of the History Faculty came across two letters between audience members at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, the home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, on 1 August 1740, where Rule Britannia was first performed as the finale to Alfred: A Masque .

Six researchers elected to Academy of Medical Sciences
Six medical researchers at Oxford University have been elected as Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Links between biodiversity and language diversity
Areas of the world with high levels of biodiversity also contain more linguistic and cultural diversity, researchers at Oxford University, Penn State University and Conservation International have found. The study in the journal PNAS showed that 70% (4,824) of the world's known languages occur in an area that is less than a quarter of the earth's land surface.

Even poorer families in India increasingly opt for private schools
A study examining children's schooling in Andhra Pradesh, India, has revealed a dramatic rise in the number of parents opting for fee-paying private schools over state-funded government schools.

Cocoon clue to lightweight armour & cars
A new examination of silkworm cocoons suggests how they could inspire lightweight armour and environmentally-friendly car panels. Scientists from Oxford University's Department of Zoology studied 25 types of cocoons for clues to how the structures manage to be very tough but also light and able to ‘breathe'.

Bodleian uses crowd-sourcing to catalogue music collection
The Bodleian Library is asking the public for help in cataloguing one of its collections. As part of a new project, members of the public are being asked to help describe 4,000 music pieces from the Bodleian Libraries' collections.

First blind patient in UK has electronic retina implanted
Chris James has become the first person in the UK to have an electronic retina implanted into the back of his eye.

Destination: Ganymede
It's official: it was announced today that Oxford University scientists will help to prepare a mission to Jupiter and its icy moons.

Billion euro Jupiter mission approved
A new space mission, involving Oxford University scientists, will explore Jupiter and its icy moons to reveal fresh insights into the habitability of the ‘waterworlds' orbiting the giant planets in our solar system and beyond.

Project finds postcard from Hitler
A postcard from Adolf Hitler as a young soldier has been uncovered by Europeana 1914-18, an archival project partnered by Oxford University and the British Library.

Casting Mr Higgs
Exactly what sort of headgear do sub-atomic particles wear? This is one of the important issues addressed in an animation about the Large Hadron Collider ( LHC ), the first offering fr

'More carrot, less stick' needed to regulate the press
A new report published by Oxford University's Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) argues that a 'carrot rather than stick' approach might be recommended in the framing of any future press regulation.

Shakespeare's co-author revealed
All's Well that Ends Well may be a collaboration between William Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton, Oxford University academics have found. It has long been thought the comedy in the First Folio of 1623 is textually problematic: it has a low incidence of Shakespeare's spelling, inconsistent speech prefixes and unusually narrative phrasing in its stage directions.

Human rights today suffer from a 'democratic deficit'
A new report finds that while there has been an increase in the UK parliament's involvement in debates about human rights over the last decade, and in the quality of that debate, there is still considerable scope for parliament to have a bigger role in making human rights more democratic.

Educated women do more paid work than in the 1970s
The time diaries of working age men and women in the UK reveal that women in the 2000s who went to college or university spent more time doing paid work and did less housework compared with similarly educated women in the 1970s. The study also shows that there has been a sharp drop in the amount of paid work being done by men who did not go on to take further qualifications at a college or university.

Hawks win, doves pay for being odd
In a crowd, looking different can be dangerous, at least if you're a pigeon.

Stop fungal rot to save crops
More than 600 million people could be fed each year by halting the spread of fungal diseases in the world's five most important crops, according to new research. Data reviewed by an international team, led by scientists from Oxford University and Imperial College London, also suggest that in 70% of cases where infectious disease causes the extinction of a type of animal or plant, an emerging species of fungus is behind the problem.

Bodleian and Vatican libraries to digitise ancient texts
A collaboration between the Bodleian and the Vatican Libraries will bring ancient texts into the digital era.

Most fatal Tudor accidents happened in summer
More than half of all accidents in Tudor England happened in summer when farming work was at its height, an Oxford University study has found.

500,000 Brits allow health research on a new scale
UK Biobank opens today for research into the causes of disease, having amassed one of the most detailed large-scale health resources ever. The giant resource provides a snapshot of the health and lifestyles of the nation, with more than 1,000 separate pieces of information already available for half a million Britons.

Coral links ice to ancient 'mega flood'
Coral off Tahiti has linked the collapse of massive ice sheets 14,600 years ago to a dramatic and rapid rise in global sea-levels of around 14 metres. Previous research could not accurately date the sea-level rise but now an Aix-Marseille University-led team, including Oxford University scientists Alex Thomas and Gideon Henderson, has confirmed that the event occurred 14,650-14,310 years ago at the same time as a period of rapid climate change known as the Bølling warming.

Shearwaters take 'females only' summer holiday
Male and female Balearic Shearwaters may head for different migration hotspots over the summer period a new study suggests. The Balearic Shearwater is a frequent visitor to southern UK coastal waters, yet with just 3,200 estimated breeding pairs left in existence it is the only European seabird to be officially classified as Critically Endangered.

Chimps show food link to walking
A study of chimpanzees gives tantalizing evidence that humans may have evolved upright walking in order to carry more food. A team of scientists from Oxford University, Cambridge, and Kyoto University tested the theory that two-legged (bipedal) walking should occur more of the time when animals are carrying prized but rare resources.

Largest gene therapy trial for cystic fibrosis begins
British scientists are to carry out the largest trial anywhere in the world of a gene therapy for cystic fibrosis. A consortium of researchers from Oxford University, Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh will start enrolling patients on the trial this month. The UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium hopes that the study will show for the first time whether the gene therapy they have developed can improve the health of patients.

Nanopore: the Oxford story
Last month Oxford University spinout firm Oxford Nanopore revealed that it is to produce a new DNA sequencing machine the size of a USB stick. The announcement caught many by surprise, with the prospect of shrinking today's bulky DNA sequencers into tiny devices that could decode the building blocks of life in hours (even seconds) instead of days, being widely reported in the media.

New report on how UK should deal with future energy needs
A new report by the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford says an urgent remodelling of the UK's energy infrastructure is needed.

Birds evolved compass 'head up display'
Certain birds may have compass information mapped directly onto their vision, much as fighter pilots have ‘head up displays' overlaying flight information on their view of the skies. It's well known that birds, such as the European Robin, can detect the Earth's magnetic field in order to help them navigate on long migratory flights.

The 21st century - the last century of youth?
At this year's Oxford London Lecture, Oxford University gerontologist Professor Sarah Harper spoke about the implications of a falling birth rate coupled with rising longevity – a phenomenon affecting most countries across the globe.

Womb rupture is rarer than previously thought
The risk of womb rupture in pregnancy and labour is very small and lower than previously thought, according to a new Oxford University study. Uterine or womb rupture is a rare complication where the womb wall tears open, and occurs most often in labour when the womb is under pressure and contracting.

Women, leadership and mosques
Scholars and female Muslim preachers and leaders from Europe will meet in Oxford University to discuss the phenomenon of Islamic women rising through the ranks to hold important leadership roles in Muslim mosques and madrasas.

New index to empower women and fight hunger
Oxford University researchers have helped create a new index designed to help empower women working in agriculture in developing countries. The 'Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index' (WEAI) is the first measure to directly capture women's empowerment and inclusion in the agricultural sector.

Festival gears up for science week
Fancy making your own slime or chilling out with liquid nitrogen? How about discovering the microscopic world of magma or how plants keep us healthy? If you do then you're in luck as this month se

More data on knee replacements needed
Oxford University experts have called for better monitoring of knee replacement surgery to improve outcomes for patients. Writing in the medical journal the Lancet , they say there is a lack of reliable information for surgeons to compare outcomes for different implants and surgical techniques.

Genetic changes tracked as bacteria become a fatal infection
An unusual case could tell researchers more about the genetic changes that occur when a common bacteria, normally carried without any problems, on rare occasions causes potentially life-threatening infections. Eight mutations occurred in the common bacteria Staphylococcus aureus as it turned from an innocuous resident inside one person's nose into a fatal blood infection, an Oxford University study has found.

Is British democracy in danger?
In tonight's Reuters Institute/BBC David Butler lecture, President of YouGov Peter Kellner will warn that Britain's democratic system is 'in danger'.

'The net migration 'bounce'
New analysis by Oxford University's Migration Observatory shows that any short term cut to net-migration brought about by reductions in immigration will be partially reversed in the long term because of declining emigration.

Austen display marks World Book Day
The Bodleian Libraries are celebrating World Book Day today (1 March) with a one-day exhibition about Jane Austen. On display for the first time will be a decorative cross stitch sampler by Jane Austen and a newly-discovered portrait which has been the subject of recent research by Austen scholars.

Red mud's carbon capture clue
An environmental disaster that occurred in Hungary in 2010 could lead to a new way of removing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. In October 2010 around 1 million cubic metres of highly caustic ‘red mud' sludge was released from a waste containment facility near the Hungarian town of Ajka when a retaining wall failed.

Life with the lions
They are one of the world's most charismatic big cats, but what does it take to understand the lives of wild lions? Someone who knows is Andrew Loveridge of Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit ( WildCRU ), who has been studying lions in Zimbabwe for over a decade and recently won the SATIB Trust Award for his lion biology and conservation work.

Levers to cut the rate of home repossessions in the UK
Oxford University academics have produced an economic forecasting model which suggests that the rate of home repossessions in the UK in 2011 would have been at least 23 per cent higher had the government not intervened with a range of policies to protect mortgage payers in difficulties.

Flesh-eating bacteria inspire superglue
A bio-inspired superglue has been developed by Oxford University researchers that can't be matched for sticking molecules together and not letting go.

Finding the maths on your street
A series of walking tours launched next week show how you can discover the maths hidden in our urban surroundings. Anyone can join the free tours of London and Oxford (book your place here ) which explore how cities – their buildings, roads, railways, sewers, and power systems – are all built on mathematical foundations.

Libyans ’would prefer one-man-rule over democracy’
The first ever National Survey of Libya suggests that Libyans would still prefer one-man-rule over alternatives like democracy. The publication of the survey of over 2,000 Libyan people coincides with the anniversary of the first protests triggered by rebel forces against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Start-up finds online meaning
Software developed at Oxford University that accurately assesses what people mean from what they say online will provide a valuable ‘sentiment analysis' tool for businesses, particularly finance companies.

Getting the measure of MRI
A method for imaging the brain that has largely been confined to neuroscience labs may now find its place as a proper tool for medical diagnosis. Oxford University scientists have come up with a new approach that turns functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) from something that produces pictures of changes in brain activity into a full numerical measure of how the brain is working.

Midges 'actively spread' bluetongue epidemic
The midges that spread bluetongue, a devastating livestock disease, across Europe in 2006 weren't ‘passengers' on the wind but actively transported the disease, Oxford University scientists have found. Bluetongue is a non-contagious virus that causes symptoms such as drooling, and swelling of the neck, head and tongue in sheep, cattle, goats, deer and other ruminants.

Pupils given a taste of US Congress
Oxfordshire schoolchildren gained an insight into the workings of the United States Congress from two former Congressmen at the Rothermere American Institute on Monday 6 February 2012.

New deal brings men's and women's boat races onto same day
New sponsorship deals for the boat race will enable the men's and women's races to be held on the same stretch of river on the same day for the first time, it has been announced today (8 February 2012).

Is third party funding effectively regulated in the UK?
A study shows that the market for litigation funding, otherwise known as third party funding, is firmly established for commercial disputes in the UK and is extending into cases involving ordinary citizens, such as personal injury and group actions.

Degree matter mimics stars
Extreme conditions of temperature and pressure found in stars have been recreated on Earth using the world's brightest X-ray source.

Courts endangering religious freedom, academic claims
Religious freedom in Europe and North America is being endangered by the courts, an Oxford University academic has claimed in a new book.

Spin-out targets better cancer treatment
A new Oxford University spin-out firm, Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Limited, is to develop technology to ensure that only patients who are likely to benefit from anti-cancer drugs will receive them and that the best treatment for each person can be quickly identified. Isis Innovation, the University's technology transfer company, has licensed the CancerNav biomarker technology to Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Limited (OCB).

Ageing UK infrastructure systems need to be more joined up
A research consortium led by Oxford University warns that significant investment will be needed in many cases to replace the UK's ageing infrastructure systems.

Exhibition tells 'a detective story about obsession&apos
An exhibition curated at the Bodleian Library by an English academic and a Music professor uncovers the story behind the largest donation ever made to the library.

Fake malaria drugs threaten crisis in Africa
Source: Wellcome Trust The emergence of fake and poor quality anti-malarial drugs could dash hopes of controlling malaria in Africa, warn experts writing in the Malaria Journal . Millions of lives could be put at risk unless urgent action is taken, they argue. The international team led by Oxford University researchers report cases where medicines are on sale in Africa that have been deliberately counterfeited by criminals or are of poor quality resulting from factory errors.

For crying out loud!: Baby cries get a speedy response
The sound of babies crying is uniquely able to get adults to react at speed, Oxford University researchers have found. They compared the scores of 40 volunteers on the classic arcade game 'Whack-a-mole' after listening to babies crying with their scores after hearing sounds of adults in distress or birdsong similar in pitch and variability to infants' cries.

EMMA promises better cancer therapy
The first results from a new type of particle accelerator suggest how smaller, cheaper therapy machines, which could revolutionise cancer treatment, could be built. The prototype accelerator EMMA (Electron Model for Many Applications), which was constructed at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Daresbury Laboratory, was designed by an international team including Oxford University scientists.

Sherlock: the case of Moriarty's maths
In the movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows the sleuth's arch-enemy has a new weapon: mathematics supplied by a team from Oxford University.

What happens to the young and educated without a job?
A new study led by the University of Oxford is looking at how young educated people who are unemployed become politicised in different ways - either through violent struggle or as reformers working for a more equal society.

Bodleian Libraries book move completed
The Bodleian Libraries' Swindon Book Storage Facility has taken delivery of its seven millionth book – just over a year after opening its doors.

Treating sleep problems may be important in schizophrenia
A study of schizophrenia patients has found profound disruptions in their sleep patterns, with half also having irregular body clocks that are out of synch with the pattern of night and day. The Oxford researchers argue that the extent and severe nature of these long-term sleep problems should be considered for treatment along with the other symptoms of schizophrenia, as they have such a strong impact on mood, social function, mental abilities and quality of life.

Learning left from right
Pop psychology assertions about left-brain/right-brain differences are pretty much tosh. Our personalities are not dominated by a battle between the creative skills residing in one half of the brain competing with the hard reasoning in the other. But that's not to say there aren't any differences between the left and right sides of our brains.

Mystery of car battery's current solved
Chemists have solved the 150 year-old mystery of what gives the lead-acid battery, found under the bonnet of most cars, its unique ability to deliver a surge of current.

The role of social media in protests
A study has explored the dynamics behind social network sites in recruiting and spreading calls for action that contribute to riots, revolutions and protests. Led by Oxford University and published in the journal Scientific Reports , the study finds that the most influential group consists of a small group of users close to the centre of a network.

Vibration rocks for entangled diamonds
Diamonds are celebrated for their enduring beauty and hardness but they can also be a physicist's best friend. In Nature Photonics and Science an international team of scientists report that a strange quantum state called ‘ entanglement ' has been achieved in two 3mm-wide diamond crystals, spaced 15cm apart, at room temperature.

Dwarf star triggered supernova
The star that exploded to create the nearest supernova of its type to be discovered since 1986 has been revealed by an international team including Oxford University scientists. New observations reported in two papers in this week's Nature show that a very dense, very small white dwarf star made of carbon and oxygen, orbiting another star, triggered the explosion.

Higgs hunt narrows
Today scientists at the Large Hadron Collider announced tantalising news about the biggest piece missing from the physics jigsaw. The Higgs boson is a hypothetical particle used to explain why many of the fundamental particles in the Standard Model of particle physics have mass. Proving if it exists is tricky because the model doesn't predict its exact mass.

Road to world's largest telescope
Today saw the ESO give the go-ahead for work to begin on a series of roads on a mountain in Northern Chile.

Wildlife broadcasters ’should pay for ecosystem services’
Media corporations that make and broadcast wildlife programmes and films should pay towards the cost of nature conservation under an existing innovative funding mechanism for the 'use of ecosystem services'.

Tiny electric currents may aid stroke recovery
Tiny electric currents applied across regions of the brain can improve hand movements in recovering stroke patients for a short period, an Oxford University study has demonstrated. The researchers are hopeful that developing this brain stimulation technique may provide a useful addition to standard physiotherapy in helping the recovery of stroke patients.

'Most poor people don't live in the poorest countries'
An Oxford University study of 1.65 billion of the world's poor shows that over twice as many live in 'middle-income' countries as in 'low-income' countries. Researchers used a poverty measure which assesses a range of deprivations in health, education and living standards at the household level to uncover vast numbers of poor people in middle-income countries.

'Alien' eggs benefit mockingbirds
Mockingbirds rarely remove the ‘alien' eggs parasitic cowbirds lay in their nests because keeping them dilutes the risk of their own eggs being attacked.

Being told painting is fake changes brain’s response to art
Being told that a work of art is authentic or fake alters the brain's response to the visual content of artwork, Oxford University academics have found. Fourteen participants were placed in a brain scanner and shown images of works by ‘Rembrandt' – some were genuine, others were convincing imitations painted by different artists.

Chemotherapy reduces breast cancer deaths by a third
Today's chemotherapy treatments reduce deaths from breast cancer by around a third in a wide range of patients, a giant new analysis of data from over 100 different clinical trials has shown. That's the main finding from a new analysis led by Oxford University researchers published in the Lancet medical journal.

EURO 2012 is likely to hit school exam results, study suggests
School students who take their GCSEs during a major international football tournament, such as the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship, get worse exam results than they would in a football-free summer, according to an Oxford researcher.

Blood clot risk halved for patients checking their own warfarin dose
Patients who monitor their own treatment with warfarin or other blood-thinning drugs reduce their risk of developing blood clots by half, an Oxford University study has found.

Has our black hole been blowing bubbles?
Our galaxy is a relatively quiet neighbourhood with the supermassive black hole at its heart gently dozing: or is it? The recent discovery of huge gamma-ray emitting ‘bubbles' around the Milky Way is challenging this assumption and posing a new puzzle: just where do these bubbles come from? Philipp Mertsch and Subir Sarkar of Oxford University's Department of Physics recently reported in Physical Review Letters a model that could explain the origins of these strange phenomena.

Volunteers match whale calls on Whale FM
Curious ‘citizen scientists' can now help marine researchers better understand how Killer Whales and Pilot Whales communicate. Scientific American , in partnership with The Zooniverse team at Oxford University, launched the whale-song project, Whale FM, today at http://whale.fm . The Whale FM website displays calls from both Orcas (Killer Whales) and the lesser known Pilot Whales.