news 2011

Boosting a woman's confidence makes her better at spatial tasks, University of Warwick scientists have found, suggesting skills such as parking and map-reading could come more easily if a woman is feeling good about herself. Previous studies have established that women are slower and less accurate than men on a range of spatial tasks.

Scientists at King's have found that the body's surveillance for cancer causing damage and its response to allergies share a common pathway, according to research published in the journal, Science. The cells that line the body's surfaces, known as epithelial cells, are exposed to potentially cancer causing damage every day, such as the effects of UV light and tobacco smoke.

Londoners and Scots are less likely to support reductions to immigration than people in the Midlands and Wales, new research by Oxford University's Migration Observatory shows. In their recent public opinion survey undertaken with Ipsos MORI, the Observatory highlights regional findings which suggest that there may not be a direct link between the scale of immigration to an area and public support for cuts to immigration.

Scientists studying populations of gray wolves in the USA's Yellowstone National Park have developed a way to predict how changes in the environment will impact on the animals' number, body size and genetics, amongst other biological traits. Writing in the journal Science , the researchers say they now have a way to predict the extent to which climate change could simultaneously impact animal numbers and the ways in which animals are likely to evolve.

A protein linked to the immune system could play a key role in helping scientists understand how vCJD spreads throughout the body. The disease occurs after corrupted proteins - known as prions - accumulate in the spleen, lymph nodes and tonsils. The prions then spread to the brain where the disease destroys nerve cells.

The test could be especially important for older patients - we often see growths in the adrenal glands during a routine CT scan." —Morris Brown, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge A new test developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge could help doctors diagnose thousands of people with the most common curable cause of high blood pressure (hypertension).

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a way to control how tiny flat molecules fit together in a seemingly random pattern. The researchers have been studying molecules which resemble tiny rhombus/diamond shaped tiles, with a side length of around 2 nanometres — 2 billionths of a metre.

The astrophysicist Stephen Hawking believes that if humanity is to survive we will have to up sticks and colonise space. But is the human body up to the challenge? Scientists at The University of Nottingham believe that Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a microscopic worm which is biologically very similar to the human being, could help us understand how humans might cope with long-duration space exploration.

A University of Cambridge study, which set out to investigate DNA methylation in the human heart and the "missing link" between our lifestyle and our health, has now mapped the link in detail across the entire human genome.

It is currently an efficient filter system that could be used in countries with poor access to fresh potable water, or to remove heavy metals and industrial waste products from ground water sources." —Dr Easan Sivaniah from the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory Scientists have developed a new method of creating nanoporous materials with potential applications in everything from water purification to chemical sensors.

Evidence is key to many topical debates such as global warming, evolution, the search for weapons of mass destruction, DNA profiling, and advances in science and medicine. A new book asks whether, considering the importance of evidence for so many disciplines, a general 'science of evidence' is possible - or even desirable.

The molecular mechanism which makes some plants grow more rapidly when the temperature rises has been identified by researchers at the University of Bristol in a paper published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The Bristol scientists, led by Kerry Franklin, with colleagues at the University of Minnesota and the John Innes Centre in Norwich, found that raising ambient temperature from 20?C to 28?C promoted the rapid elongation of stems in plants with the gene PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4) .

I believe that we are creating a Centre that will become globally recognized for innovation. Our collective expertise, proven ability to collaborate, and open innovation model provide an exciting basis for the future.

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of two huge pits positioned on celestial alignment at Stonehenge. Shedding new light on the significant association of the monument with the sun, these pits may have contained tall stones, wooden posts or even fires to mark its rising and setting and could have defined a processional route used by agriculturalists to celebrate the passage of the sun across the sky at the summer solstice.

Three quarters of patients with cancer are referred within one month Three quarters of patients with symptoms of cancer in England are assessed, investigated and referred within a month of presenting to their GP, according to research led by Durham University. To date, it is the largest and most comprehensive study of the primary care pathway to cancer diagnosis, covering one in seven practices in England.

Innovative technology being pioneered at Cardiff to speed up the discovery of new drugs to tackle lung diseases could also dramatically reduce testing on animals. Scientists at the School of Biosciences have shown it is feasible to integrate human liver cells with lung cells to create the Metabo-Lung - a working model of human lung tissue to test the toxicity of drugs.

By placing real and virtual objects in the flight paths of bats, scientists at the Universities of Bristol and Munich have shed new light on how echolocation works. Their research is published today in Behavioural Processes . The researchers found that it is not the intensity of the echoes that tells the bats the size of an object but the 'sonar aperture', that is the spread of angles from which echoes impinge on their ears.

Scientists at Oxford University and The University of Sheffield have demonstrated that natural silks are a thousand times more efficient than common plastics when it comes to forming fibres. A report of the research is published this week in the journal Advanced Materials . The finding comes from comparing silk from the Chinese silkworm ( Bombyx mori ) to molten high density polyethylene (HDPE) - a material from which the strongest synthetic fibres are made.

Seals show different levels of parenting skills Grey seals have different types of personality that affect the extent to which they guard and care for their young, according to new research. Researchers from Durham University and the University of St Andrews, looking at seal colonies in Scotland, found that seal mothers are often unpredictable and adopt a wide variation of mothering styles when it comes to checking on their pups.

Whether you are playing poker or haggling over a deal you might think that you can hide your true emotions. But telltale signs can reveal that you are concealing something, and now researchers at Oxford University and Oulu University are developing software that can recognise these 'micro-expressions' - which could be bad news for liars.