news 2017

Adopting a lying down position rather than being upright in the later stages of labour for first-time mothers who have had a low dose epidural leads to a higher chance of them delivering their baby without any medical intervention, a study has found.

Professor Alice Roberts , Professor of Public Engagement in Science answers questions about her new book 'Tamed: 10 Species That Changed Our World' . What is the latest book about? Tamed is about the deep histories of ten familiar species: dogs, apples and wheat; cattle; potatoes and chickens; rice, maize, horses, and finally, humans.

No-growth economy could mean fewer crashes and higher wages, study shows An economy based on zero growth could be more stable - experiencing fewer crashes - and bring higher wages, suggests a new University of Sussex study. Running counter to dominant economic thinking, the new research shows that economies can be stable with or without growth and are in fact likely to be less volatile if we stop chasing ever-increasing GDP.

Women may only need three cervical screens in their lifetime if they have been given the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, according to a new study by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). The Cancer Research UK-funded team found that three screens at 30, 40 and 55 would offer the same benefit to vaccinated women as the 12 lifetime screens currently offered in England.

Children and adolescents who are regularly confronted with violence in their communities have a greater tendency to show antisocial behaviour according to the authors of a new study published in the journal Frontiers of Behavioral Neuroscience . The research, from psychiatrists and psychologists at the University Psychiatric Hospital Basel (Switzerland) and the Universities of Bath, Southampton and Birmingham (UK), examined the link between exposure to community violence and antisocial behavior in over 1000 children and adolescents from seven European countries.

Matching young players according to their developmental or biological age, as opposed to their chronological age, has positive effects in terms of performance, talent identification and injury reduction in football, according to a new significant new study. The paper, published in the Journal of Sports Sciences , from researchers in our Department for Health was also the first to explore athletes' experiences of competing in a 'biobanded tournament'.

Depletion of a fatty molecule in human blood propels malaria parasites to stop replicating and causing illness in people and instead to jump ship to mosquitoes to continue the transmission cycle, according to a new study by an international research team co-led by the University of Glasgow. The discovery, published online in Cell, answers a longstanding question about what controls this critical step in the life cycle of Plasmodium falciparum , the parasite responsible for about half a million malaria deaths worldwide each year.

Scientists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have shown for the first time that it is possible to incorporate DNA analysis into antenatal screening for three serious chromosome disorders, including Down's syndrome, in a way that is far more accurate, and safer and less stressful for mothers.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham have pioneered a breakthrough method to rapidly 3D print fully functional electronic circuits. The circuits, which contain electrically-conductive metallic inks and insulating polymeric inks, can now be produced in a single inkjet printing process where a UV light rapidly solidifies the inks.

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine , funded by Cancer Research UK, has found that the risk of breast cancer recurring persists undiminished for at least 20 years after diagnosis, suggesting that hormonal treatments should continue for even longer to reduce the risk of late recurrence.

A team involving UCL scientists has developed a new device that could revolutionise our understanding of the brain by allowing researchers to map the activity of complex neural networks that control behaviour and decision making, in a way never before possible. The Neuropixels probes are described in a paper .

The largest study to date of body sizes over millions of years finds a "pulse and stasis" pattern to hominin evolution, with surges of growth in stature and bulk occurring at different times. At one stage, our ancestors got taller around a million years before body mass caught up.

Sheep can be trained to recognise human faces from photographic portraits - and can even identify the picture of their handler without prior training - according to new research from scientists at the University of Cambridge. We've shown that sheep have advanced face-recognition abilities, comparable with those of humans and monkeys Jenny Morton Sheep can be trained to recognise human faces from photographic portraits - and can even identify the picture of their handler without prior training - according to new research from scientists at the University of Cambridge.

For the first time, scientists have directly detected gravitational waves - ripples in space and time - in addition to light from the spectacular collision of two neutron stars. This is the first time that astronomers have been able to study the same event with both gravitational waves and light. The discovery was made using the U.S.-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO); the Europe-based Virgo detector, and some 70 groundand space-based observatories.

Research by experts at The University of Nottingham suggests that current injection techniques in UK dairy cattle need to change to avoid the risk of nerve injury. The study, carried out by a team of vets with anatomical, pathological and clinical expertise, discovered that current methods of injection are more likely to damage the sciatic nerve - particularly in dairy cattle with a low body condition score, such as those cows who have recently calved.

The first country-wide map of relative land motion has been created by a team at the University of Nottingham. Using hundreds of satellite radar images the team, working with Geomatic Ventures Limited (GVL), an innovative University spin-out company, created a complete map of mainland Scotland. The map covers a two-year period from 2015 to 2017 and was created using Intermittent Small Baseline (ISBAS) analysis, a novel satellite remote sensing technique.

New novel smartphone and tablet apps for patients with atrial fibrillation and healthcare professionals have been launched by heart experts in collaboration with the University of Birmingham. Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder and significantly increases the risk of stroke and death.

Mammals only started being active in the daytime after non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out about 66 million years ago (mya), finds a new study led by UCL and Tel Aviv University's Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. A long-standing theory holds that the common ancestor to all mammals was nocturnal, but the new discovery reveals when mammals started living in the daytime for the first time.

A two-in-one solar bio-battery and solar panel has been created by researchers who printed living cyanobacteria and circuitry onto paper. Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic micro-organisms that have been on Earth for billions of years. They are thought to be the primary reason why the Earth's atmosphere is oxygen rich.

A potential new antidepressant and antianxiety treatment with a unique mechanism of action has been developed by scientists at the University of Bath. The compound has shown significant potential after studies in mice. The research is published in the British Journal of Pharmacology. Around one in six adults will experience depression in their lifetimes.