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Pollutants preserved in Antarctic ice document historic fires in the Southern Hemisphere, offering a glimpse at how humans have impacted the landscape and providing data that could help scientists understand future climate change. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey tracked fire activity over the past 150 years by measuring carbon monoxide trapped in Antarctic ice.

Multiple biological pathways involving organs and the brain play a key part in physical and mental health, according to a new study from UCL, the University of Melbourne and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in Nature Mental Health , analysed UK Biobank data from more than 18,000 individuals.

Here's a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial. From new treatment targets for balance problems, to space weather missions, here is some quick-read news from across Imperial. Space weather mission  researchers will be building kit for a new space mission to understand a component of the solar wind and how it interacts with the Earth to create potentially dangerous 'space weather'.

Older trees have important carbon capture role - countering existing theories that mature woodland has no capacity to respond to elevated carbon dioxide levels Mature forests have a key role to play in the fight against climate change - extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and locking it into new wood, a new study reveals.

Researchers at Oxford Population Health have found that proteins carried in the blood offer new insights into ageing and how it influences our risk of developing age-related diseases such as dementia, heart disease, and liver disease later in life. The study is published in Nature Medicine . Chronological age is the most important factor determining risk of disease and death in adults.

Weight loss surgery may reduce the risk of developing heart failure for people living with obesity by improving blood flow through their heart muscle, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. People living with obesity are at increased risk of heart failure. It's thought that this may be due, in part, to reduced blood flow through the small vessels in their hearts.

New research finds outsourcing care homes in England disproportionately disadvantages poorer areas Outsourcing care homes has compromised the accessibility and quality of care for the most vulnerable, particularly in areas of greatest deprivation, according to new research led by the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at Oxford University and funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

A pioneering study, led by UK universities*, including the University of Oxford, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, the University of Manchester and the University of Leeds, has provided the most comprehensive analysis to date of the genetic makeup of colorectal cancer (CRC). Cancers develop partly through genetic abnormalities within cells of the body.

Scientists at UCL have discovered a novel role played by ribosomes during the folding of new proteins in cells, described in their paper in Nature. Ribosomes, the cell's dedicated molecular machines for protein synthesis, make all proteins in life and do so by piecing together one amino acid building block at a time.

Scientists have recovered the first long section of rocks that originated in the Earth's mantle, the layer below the crust and the planet's largest component. The rocks will help unravel the mantle's role in the origins of life on Earth, the volcanic activity generated when it melts, and how it drives the global cycles of important elements such as carbon and hydrogen, according to the team which includes researchers from Cardiff University.

Glasgow researchers spearhead study on justice system's health impact Researchers from the University of Glasgow are set to play a crucial role in a groundbreaking £1 million study examining the impact of Scotland's justice system on public health. The project, led by the University of Strathclyde and funded by the Scottish Government's Chief Scientist Office, aims to identify ways to improve health outcomes in disadvantaged communities across Scotland.

Meeting even the least ambitious child poverty reduction target could make a marked difference in children's health in the UK, according to the latest health data modelling research. The new study, led by the University of Glasgow and published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, is the first to explore the health impacts of meeting future child poverty targets, and shows that reducing child poverty would substantially improve child health and reduce health inequalities overall.

Modern commercial aircraft flying at high altitudes create longer-lived planet-warming contrails than older aircraft, a new study has found. The result means that although modern planes emit less carbon than older aircraft, they may be contributing more to climate change through contrails. Led by scientists at Imperial College London, the study highlights the immense challenges the aviation industry faces to reduce its impact on the climate.

Scientists have found that a worker's lifetime exposure to 'permissible' levels of silica dust results in a considerable risk of developing silicosis. New research led by Imperial College London has found that workplace exposure to silica dust is linked to an increased risk of the acute lung condition silicosis and recommends current occupational exposure limits should be halved.

Increasing serotonin can change how people learn from negative information, as well as improving how they respond to it, according to a new study published in the leading journal Nature Communications .

In a new study, published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology , endocrinologists and researchers from the Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health (NDWRH) at the University of Oxford, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the William Harvey Research Institute (WHRI) at Queen Mary University of London and the National University of Singapore have emphasised the critical need for further research into the effects of heat exposure on the endocrine system.

Researchers from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), as part of a team from Cornell University, have identified chromosomal errors as a common cause of pregnancy loss in mares. Whilst chromosomal abnormalities are widely acknowledged as a common cause of human miscarriage, responsible for up to 82 per cent of pregnancy loss, there have been limited reports in other species until now.

Scientists have developed a new method for detecting supermassive binary black holes, pairs of the largest kind of black holes in the Universe and located at the very centre of galaxies. The new technique will require a deci-Hz gravitational-wave detector and would enable astronomers to study supermassive black hole binaries, which might otherwise remain inaccessible.

Astronomers have discovered that red dwarf stars can produce stellar flares that carry far-ultraviolet (far-UV) radiation levels much higher than previously believed. The discovery suggests that the intense UV radiation from these flares could significantly impact whether planets around red dwarf stars can be habitable.

A University of Bath study reveals that ketogenic low-carbohydrate diets can increase cholesterol levels and reduce beneficial gut bacteria. A study from the University of Bath reveals that ketogenic low-carbohydrate diets can increase cholesterol levels and reduce beneficial gut bacteria, specifically Bifidobacterium.