news 2016

The discovery of the shape and binding capability of epidermal cells could explain how skin maintains a barrier even when it is shedding. The discovery of the shape and binding capability of epidermal cells could explain how skin maintains a barrier even when it is shedding. Our study is also helping us to see how the cells that make up our skin can switch on a mechanism to make a kind of glue, which binds the cells together, ensuring that our skin maintains its integrity.

A unique two-year research project to better identify the cardiac function of monochorionic twins with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) has been unveiled by St Michael's Hospital and Bristol's Clinical Research and Imaging Centre (CRICBristol) today [Thursday 17 November]. Funded by The Capella Foundation , a charity that helps increase awareness of medical complications during pregnancy, the project will seek to find out how the syndrome develops and identify ways to improve survival outcomes.

The first step on a new path to quantum supremacy has been proposed by a mathematician from the University of Bristol. Quantum computers are a new type of computing device that use the principles of quantum mechanics to do things that standard computers cannot do. Large-scale quantum computers are predicted to dramatically outperform current supercomputers for tasks ranging from simulating quantum-mechanical systems to cracking cryptographic codes, and could be used to design new drugs and novel materials.

A scientist has shown mathematically that the dynamics that govern swarms and bird flocks may also govern the properties of things like magnets. The researcher from Imperial College London has developed a mathematical equation to understand more about motility. This phenomenon refers to the ability of individual birds, insects or cells to actively influence the overall shape of swarms, flocks and human tissue.

A link between handedness and mathematical skills exists but is more complex than thought, according to a study by the University of Liverpool. The relationship between handedness and mathematical abilities is controversial. Some studies have claimed that left-handers are gifted in mathematics, and strong right-handers perform the worst in mathematical tasks.

Knowing that there is a small chance of getting a painful electric shock can lead to significantly more stress than knowing that you will definitely be shocked, finds a new UCL study funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC). The study found that situations in which subjects had a 50% chance of receiving a shock were the most stressful while 0% and 100% chances were the least stressful.

Researchers have built the first biologically realistic mathematical model of how the brain plans and learns when faced with a complex decision-making process. By combining planning and learning into one coherent model, we've made what is probably the most comprehensive model of complex decision-making to date Johannes Friedrich Researchers have constructed the first comprehensive model of how neurons in the brain behave when faced with a complex decision-making process, and how they adapt and learn from mistakes.

It has long been argued that women are under-represented and marginalised in relation to men in the world's news media. New research, using artificial intelligence (AI), has analysed over two million articles to find out how gender is represented in online news. The study, which is the largest undertaken to date, found men's views and voices are represented more in online news than women's.

Scientists have discovered how the distinctive piebald patches seen in black and white cats and some horses are formed in the womb. Their insights could shed light on medical conditions that occur early in development, such as holes in the heart, which are caused by cells not moving to the right place as an embryo develops.