news 2011

A fundamental problem that has long puzzled scientists has been solved after more than 70 years. An international team of researchers has discovered a subtle electronic effect in magnetite, the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals. The effect causes a dramatic change to how this material conducts electricity at very low temperatures.

A new technique which lets scientists 'see' our brain waves at work could revolutionise our understanding of the human body's most complex organ and help transform the lives of people suffering from schizophrenia and ADHD. Although, scientifically, the brain is the most studied organ in our body we still know relatively little about it.

Researchers have developed a form of crystal that can deliver highly accurate temperature readings, down to individual milli-kelvins, over a very broad range of temperatures: -120to +680 degrees centigrade. The researchers used a "birefringent" crystal which splits light passing through it into two separate rays.

UCL scientists are part of an international team which has developed a novel X-ray technique for imaging atomic displacements in materials with unprecedented accuracy. The team has applied the technique to determine how a recently discovered class of exotic materials - multiferroics - can be simultaneously both magnetically and electrically ordered.

Internet connection speeds could be tens of times faster than they currently are, thanks to research by University of Manchester scientists using wonder material graphene. A collaboration between the Universities of Manchester and Cambridge, which includes scientists Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov, has discovered a crucial recipe for improving characteristics of graphene devices for use as photodetectors in future high-speed optical.

Researchers have taken a step forward in studying the wonder material graphene and revealing its exciting electronic properties for future electronic applications. The academics have revealed more about the electronic properties of its slightly fatter cousin - bilayer graphene. The researchers, from the universities of Manchester, Lancaster (UK), Nijmegen (the Netherland) and Moscow (Russia), have studied in detail the effect of interactions between electrons on the electronic properties of bilayer graphene.

Researchers have taken another step forward towards the understanding of wonder material graphene. Research institutes and universities around the world are already looking at ways to build devices such as touch-screen phones, ultrafast transistors and photodetectors. Now the new findings promise to accelerate that research, and potentially open up countless more electronic opportunities.

Expert discovers simple method of dealing with harmful radioactive iodine A novel way to immobilise radioactive forms of iodine using a microwave, has been discovered by an expert at the University of Sheffield. Iodine radioisotopes are produced by fission of uranium fuel in a nuclear reactor. Radioactive iodine is of concern because it is highly mobile in the environment and selective uptake by the thyroid gland can pose a significant cancer risk following long term exposure.

University of Manchester scientists have found a way to make wonder material graphene magnetic, opening up a new range of opportunities for the world's thinnest material in the area of spintronics. A team led by Professor Andre Geim, a recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize for graphene, can now show that electric current - a flow of electrons - can magnetise graphene.

Links: UCL Ear Institute Research paper in Current Biology The antennal ears of different fruit fly species are actively tuned to high-frequency components of their respective mating songs, according to new research led by UCL scientists. During courtship, male fruit flies serenade females with a 'love song' produced by quiet, close-range wing vibrations.