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A team of scientists from the University of Manchester has achieved a significant breakthrough in understanding lithium-ion storage within the thinnest possible battery anode - composed of just two layers of carbon atoms. Their research, published in Nature Communications , shows an unexpected 'in-plane staging' process during lithium intercalation in bilayer graphene, which could pave the way for advancements in energy storage technologies.

A drug known as a "gene silencer" has shown promise in reducing hospitalisation and deaths from a devastating condition known as transthyretin (ATTR) cardiac amyloidosis, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.

Political posts on social media that most frequently referenced ancient history tended to be more extreme, hostile and overwhelmingly negative in tone than average, finds a new study by researchers from UCL and the University of Edinburgh. Their study, published in PLOS One , scrutinised nearly 1.5 million posts using a combination of AI, computational and manual techniques and used a range of sentiment analysis tools to evaluate the attitudes behind those posts that reference Britain's distant past.

Researchers have uncovered how hormones profoundly affect our immune systems, explaining why men and women are affected by diseases differently. Scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Imperial College London have shown for the first time which aspects of our immune systems are regulated by sex hormones, and the impacts this has on disease risk and health outcomes in males and females.

Our risk of developing atherosclerosis - 'furring' of the arteries - can begin much earlier in life than was previously thought, highlighting the need to keep cholesterol levels low even when we are young, new research has discovered.

Scientists use AI to unlock protein structures of hundreds of viruses for the first time Scientists are pioneering the use of machine-learning artificial intelligence software to investigate viruses, revealing never-before-seen viral mechanisms which yield immediate fundamental insights and pave the way for vaccine development.

Most people who exercise using VR drop out when things gets too tough or dull - could programs that use sensors to tune into a person's emotional state help? Virtual reality (VR) video games that combine screen time with exercise are a great way to get fit, but game designers face a major challenge - like with regular exercise, adherence to 'exergames' is low, with most users dropping out once they start to feel uncomfortable or bored.

Scientists have revealed new insights into the mechanisms behind cerebral small vessel disease, a condition that affects the smaller blood vessels in the brain and causes approximately half of all dementia cases. The latest study, which is led by the University of Glasgow and published in eBioMedicine, has unlocked insights into the mechanisms behind some of the causes of cerebral small vessel disease by studying COL4A1/COL4A2, the genes responsible for the production of the collagen IV protein, which is crucial for vascular health.

World first breakthrough could lead to improved, personalised treatments for children with leukaemia and bone marrow failure disorders. Researchers have made a world first breakthrough into creating blood stem cells that closely resemble those in the human body, and the discovery could soon lead to personalised treatments for children with leukaemia and bone marrow failure disorders.

Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalisation in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and also in those with mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction (HFmrEF/HFpEF), according to new research.

Here's a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial. From brain fluid surgery to a lunar-Earth flyby from the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), here is some quick-read news from across Imperial. Spacecraft slingshot success The European Space Agency (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), with Imperial kit on board , has successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby.

New research from the University of Bath shows discrimination against women worsens if Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used by lenders for loans but that ethical lenders could choose to tweak the AI algorithms to address this bias and still improve their profits as well as their brand reputation.

A new study, involving our Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, has revealed that autistic individuals' involvement in hate forums is more complex than previously thought. An international team of autism researchers, healthcare practitioners, anti-extremist experts and autistic advocates, including Durham's Dr Patrick Jachyra, have published a new study that explores the reasons behind some autistic adults' participation in online and offline hate forums.

Climate change will move and reduce the land suitable for growing food and timber, putting the production of these two vital resources into direct competition, a new study has found. The sight of vineyards in Britain is becoming more common as hotter summers create increasingly suitable conditions for growing grapes.

A new report from the WHO Regional Office for Europe reveals that condom use among sexually active adolescents has declined significantly since 2014, with rates of unprotected sex worryingly high. The new data were published as part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, which surveyed over 242,000 15-year-olds across 42 countries and regions in the period 2014 to 2022.

People from diverse backgrounds must be included in the development of healthcare policies to ensure all groups' needs are met, finds a new study led by UCL researchers into palliative care for the Muslim community. The study, published in BMJ Open , investigated the experience of British Muslim people and their families who were accessing palliative care services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The number of people with food allergy in the UK has more than doubled since 2008, with the largest increase seen in young children. In a new analysis, researchers from Imperial College London estimate that the number of people living with food allergies in England has increased significantly between 2008 and 2018.

Imperial research has found limits to how quickly we can scale up technology to store gigatonnes of carbon dioxide under the Earth's surface. Current international scenarios for limiting global warming to less than 1.5 degrees by the end of the century rely on technologies that remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Earth's atmosphere faster than humans release it.

Male fruit flies will become oblivious to physical danger as they become more engaged in courtship and sex. Male fruit flies will become oblivious to physical danger as they become more engaged in courtship and sex, new research shows. Researchers at the University of Birmingham have shown that pursuit of a coveted reward - in this case a female fly - will cause a male fruit fly to ignore threats such as predation.

More people in the UK are at risk of a hereditary form of cardiac amyloidosis, a potentially fatal heart condition, than previously thought, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and Queen Mary University of London. The study, published in JAMA Cardiology , used data from the UK Biobank to analyse the genes of 469,789 people in the UK and found that one in 1,000 possessed genetic variants with a likely link to cardiac transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis.