news 2015

Oxford University researchers across the globe are working to beat Malaria. Now, a team of Oxford scientists in the UK and Kenya, working with colleagues in three Swiss institutes, have found two people who could reveal a new approach to targeting the malaria parasite. Malaria still claims over 400,000 lives every year, mostly due to infection by a single species of malaria parasite called Plasmodium falciparum .

Scientists determine how to control parasite without harming bees Scientists at the University of Sussex have determined the best way of controlling Varroa mites - one of the biggest threats facing honey bees - without harming the bees themselves. A team from the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI) has determined the best dose and method for treating hives with oxalic acid, a naturally occurring chemical already being used by beekeepers to control Varroa.

Plants are unable to maintain a high level of resistance to infection 24/7 - Fungal infection appears more likely to occur at dawn - Plants use their molecular clock to raise resistance levels before dawn in anticipation of infection - Molecular clock and immune system found to be connected by a single protein Plants are able to predict when infections are more likely to occur and regulate their immune response accordingly, new research has found.

Lancaster is working with the University of Oxford on a £5.2m project which aims to design and develop the world's most efficient thermoelectric material. QuEEN (Quantum Effects in Electronic Nanodevices) funded by the EPSRC involves teams from the Physics Department at Lancaster and the Departments of Materials and Chemistry at Oxford.

State-of-the-art simulations will investigate the cause and potential prevention of plaque build-up in the brain Experts at the University are using state-of-the-art computer simulations to study the fundamental chemistry underpinning the development of Alzheimer's disease. Dr Jamie Platts, from the School of Chemistry , has been awarded a major research grant to investigate the build-up of 'sticky' plaques in the brain, which are believed to contribute to the degradation of nerve cells in the brain and the subsequent symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

A new method of guiding microscopic swimming devices has the potential to deliver drugs to a targeted location inside the body, according to new research published in Nature. Engineers at the University of Sheffield have discovered that tiny spherical bead-like devices can be guided by physical structures while swimming inside fluids.

Fundamental research carried out by the University of Bristol's School of Chemistry into how chemical reactions happen in a liquid has been recognised as a World Changing Idea by Scientific American, the US's leading popular science magazine. The research , which uses infrared spectroscopy and computer simulations to reveal the hidden world of solvent-solute interactions, is one of ten big advances made this year that, the magazine believes, will improve life, transform computing and maybe even save the planet.

Scientists from the University of Liverpool and Queen's University Belfast, as part of an international team, have made the first porous liquids which could create new industrial applications. The new liquid dissolves unusually large amounts of gas, such as methane, the main component of natural gas, which is absorbed into the 'holes' in the liquid.

Astronomers have discovered some of the oldest stars in the galaxy, whose chemical composition and movements could tell us what the Universe was like soon after the Big Bang. Finding these rare stars is really like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Humans have been exploiting bees as far back as the Stone Age, according to new research from the University of Bristol published in Nature today. Previous evidence from prehistoric rock art is inferred to show honey hunters and Pharaonic Egyptian murals show early scenes of beekeeping. However, the close association between early farmers and the honeybee remained uncertain.

Scientists led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Aberystwyth University have revealed 'sweet points' for dental fillings, where cement used to fill cracks regain elasticity before hardening indefinitely. This could have implications for creating more durable and longer-lasting fillings in the future.

A University-led project is testing ways of automatically repairing concrete without human intervention The first major trial of self-healing concrete in the UK, led by a team of researchers from the School of Engineering , is being undertaken at a site in the South Wales Valleys. The project, entitled Materials for Life (M4L), is piloting three separate concrete-healing technologies for the first time in real-world settings, with a view to incorporating them into a single system that could be used to automatically repair concrete in the built environment.

The mechanism behind a process known as singlet fission, which could drive the development of highly efficient solar cells, has been directly observed by researchers for the first time. Harnessing the process of singlet fission into new solar cell technologies could allow tremendous increases in energy conversion efficiencies in solar cells Alex Chin An international team of scientists have observed how a mysterious quantum phenomenon in organic molecules takes place in real time, which could aid in the development of highly efficient solar cells.

A study has been launched to identify small molecules secreted by the skin that are believed to emit a subtle but unique scent in people in the early stages of Parkinson's. Researchers believe that Parkinson's may affect a change in the sebum – an oily substance in the skin – of people with the condition that results in a unique and subtle odour on the skin only detectable by people with an acute sense of smell.

The first official experimental results since the National Graphene Institute (NGI) opened in March have been produced. The novel collaboration between industry and academia is exploring the production of graphene in the first stage of a long-term project. Morgan Advanced Materials joined forces last year with The University of Manchester – where graphene was first isolated a decade ago – to explore the potential of the material, with a full-time team based at the University's National Graphene Institute (NGI) .

Scientists have developed a new form of 'chemical search engine' which could provide clues to the origins of life on Earth. In a new paper published today (Wednesday 7 October) in the journal Nature , a team from the University of Glasgow's School of Chemistry describe a new approach to solving a 50-year conundrum in which they used an automated robot system to explore many different random combinations of the building blocks of proteins.

A team at The University of Manchester is testing a Volkswagen diesel engine to try to get an accurate picture of how polluting it is. Even before the recent scandal erupted over software that fakes tests, research results from Manchester were starting to show the true picture of just how dirty diesel engines can be.

What colour were the animals that roamed the Earth 50 million years ago? For the first time, the original colour of a fossil mammal has been described by scientists from the University of Bristol, UK and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, US. The researchers combined morphological, experimental and chemical techniques to determine the colour of two species of bat, which lived in the Eocene Epoch, 56-33.9 million years ago.

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have discovered evidence of carbonaceous aerosols - organic dust - transported from Asia and deposited in the Arctic over the last 450 years, according to research published today (28th September) Scientific Reports. They have also found that increased levels of dust were being deposited during warmer periods when the Arctic Oscillation - changes in the prevailing wind direction centred on the Atlantic - was at its strongest.

Graham Ladds, lecturer in pharmacology, discusses the controversy around a group of drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes. We should continue to evaluate and investigate this treatment as new information about its interaction with the body emerges Graham Ladds Nearly all medications have some sort of side effects , some more unpleasant and dangerous than others.