news 2018

Policies aimed at removing sweets and crisps from checkouts could lead to a dramatic reduction in the amount of unhealthy food purchased to eat 'on the go' and a significant reduction in that purchased to take home, suggests new research led by the University of Cambridge.

There is growing evidence that lithium could be re-purposed as an anti-aging drug, and a new study from King's College London suggests that lithium's protective effects are due to a slowing down of the molecular aging process in cells. The research, published today in Neuropsychopharmacology , also finds some individuals may benefit from lithium's anti-aging properties more than others, depending on their genetics.

Researchers have found that gently stroking a baby seems to reduce activity in the infant brain associated with painful experiences. The results, published in the journal Current Biology , suggest that lightly brushing an infant at a speed of approximately 3cm per second could provide effective pain relief before clinically necessary medical procedures.

Patients with an abnormal heart rhythm that can leave them at a higher risk of suffering from stroke still need treatment even after their heart rhythm seems to have returned to normal, say researchers at the University of Birmingham. Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disturbance, affecting around 1.6 million people in the UK.

The eyes of psychopaths have an unusual reaction when they are shown images of nasty things, such as mutilated bodies and threatening dogs, reveals a new study by researchers at Cardiff and Swansea Universities. The team examined the effect of nasty images on offenders who are psychopathic and offenders who aren't and found a marked difference in their eye response: the eyes of psychopathic offenders did not show pupil enlargement while those of non-psychopathic offenders did.

Smoking during pregnancy causes chemical changes to a baby's DNA that affect its risk of smoking-related conditions in adulthood, a study has found. The research, led by scientists at Imperial College London and the University of Oulu in Finland, analysed data from more than 18,000 people in several countries, including the UK, US and Australia, to study the impacts of maternal smoking on cardiovascular health.

The visual inspection of a suspicious skin lesion using the naked eye alone is not enough to ensure the accurate diagnosis of skin cancer, a group of experts have concluded following a largescale systematic review of research. Published today in The Cochrane Library, the Special Collection of Cochrane Systematic Reviews brings together a review of a large body of research on the accuracy of tests used to diagnose skin cancer.

Technology from the LHC's ATLAS experiment to be used in cancer detection and treatment at UK's first high energy proton beam therapy centre Technology from the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - where the Higgs Boson was discovered - will be used in hospitals to improve cancer treatments that employ proton beam therapy.

An international team of palaeontologists, which includes the University of Bristol, has discovered that the flying reptiles, pterosaurs, actually had four kinds of feathers, and these are shared with dinosaurs - pushing back the origin of feathers by some 70 million years. Pterosaurs are the flying reptiles that lived side by side with dinosaurs, 230 to 66 million years ago.

Thermal-sensing cameras mounted on drones may offer a safer and more cost-effective way to locate nests of the elusive European nightjar in forestry work and construction areas, finds new research by Cardiff University. The team from the University's School of Biosciences conducted a pilot study in Bryn, a Natural Resources Wales conifer plantation in South Wales, to test the suitability of drones to detect nest sites of the protected bird.

New research from King's College London finds that an exaggerated immune response can trigger long-lasting fatigue, potentially explaining how chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) begins. The study is the most in-depth biological investigation yet into the role of the immune system in lasting symptoms of fatigue.

Could a commonly-prescribed anti-sickness drug be the answer for the 1.3 million people in the UK who suffer the pain and misery of irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea (IBS-D)? A nationwide clinical trial led by researchers at The University of Nottingham and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) will assess the medication ondansetron, which is currently used by doctors to help cancer patients cope with the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery.

Imperial scientists have created an algorithm to predict when specific cryptocoins are at risk of 'pump-and-dump' schemes. The algorithm could help market regulators predict and prevent cryptocurrency schemes that sees traders spend seven million US Dollars per month, only to find the price of their purchased currency falls as the scheme unfolds.

New recommendations, led by experts at the University of Birmingham, have been published to improve the use of liver blood tests. The recommendations, published in Gut, are aimed at helping healthcare workers diagnose patients with liver disease as well as preventing unnecessary repeat tests for people unlikely to have significant liver disease.

A small star has been observed forming out of the dust surrounding a larger star, in a similar way to how planets are born. Astronomers were observing the formation of a massive young star, called MM 1a, when they discovered an unexpected object nearby. MM 1a is surrounded by rotating disc of gas and dust.

An experimental study has suggested that alcohol consumption contributes to self-blame in rape, and women who blame themselves may not be as likely to report it. Following a hypothetical interactive rape scenario, participants who believed that they had consumed alcohol rather than a non-alcoholic beverage were more likely to self-blame, and those participants who reported higher levels of self-blame indicated that they would be less willing to report the hypothetical rape to the police.

Researchers from the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations have announced gravitational wave observations of four new binary black holes and released their first catalogue of gravitational wave events. Since the detectors first started operation in September 2015 , the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations, which include researchers from the University of Birmingham, have completed two observation runs.

Rabbits are one of the most popular pets in the UK and yet little is known about where these very cute and appealing animals come from. Now a new study by researchers at the Universities of Nottingham and Winchester has shed light on this elusive industry, calling for more to be done to regulate and improve the breeding of rabbits as pets.

The quality of research into the impact of social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions in UK schools needs to improve in order for the programmes to be successful, says new research. The research , led by Professor Roisin Corcoran, Chair in Education at the University of Nottingham, and published in Educational Research Review , provides the first comprehensive review of the research into SEL interventions in the UK and United States over the last 50 years.

A study to develop new methods for evaluating the UK's greenhouse gas emissions using atmospheric observations has been awarded £3M by NERC. The project, led by researchers in Bristol's School of Chemistry, is vital for assessing climate change mitigation measures. Led by Dr Matthew Rigby , the study will deploy a new generation of greenhouse gas measurement techniques that will allow us to better determine emissions from different sectors of the economy.