news 2018

Research finds significant inequalities in cuts to council services across the country, with deprived areas in the north of England and London seeing the biggest drops in local authority spending since 2010. Public finance is politics hidden in accounting columns Mia Gray A "fine-grained" analysis of local authority budgets across Britain since 2010 has found that the average reduction in service spending by councils was almost 24% in England compared to just 12% in Wales and 11.5% in Scotland.

Latest research finds significant inequalities in cuts to council services across the country, with deprived areas in the north of England and London seeing the biggest drops in local authority spending since 2010. The government needs to decide whether it is content for more local authorities to essentially go bust Mia Gray The first "fine-grained" analysis of local authority budgets across Britain since 2010 has found that the average reduction in service spending by councils was almost 24% in England compared to just 12% in Wales and 11.5% in Scotland.

The public is supportive of emissions reduction strategies that are likely to bring significant changes to the way we own and use everyday items such as clothing, cars and furniture, finds a new study led by Cardiff University.

A healthy home environment could help offset children's genetic susceptibilities to obesity, according to new research led by UCL. The study, published this week in JAMA Pediatrics , found that the impact of genetic factors on weight is roughly halved if a child is bought up in a less 'obesogenic' home environment where healthy eating and exercise is more prevalent.

A small clinical trial has shown that a new drug has promise for targeting tumours in patients with an aggressive type of blood cancer. Multiple myeloma is a relatively rare type of cancer that develops in the bone marrow - the spongey tissue inside the bone where new blood cells are produced - often spreading to multiple sites within the body.

A location often earmarked as a potential habitat for extra-terrestrial life could prove to be a tricky place for spacecraft to land, new research has revealed. A team led by scientists from Cardiff University has predicted that fields of sharp ice growing to almost 15 metres tall could be scattered across the equatorial regions of Jupiter's moon, Europa.

New research from King's College London suggests the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan may have led to an increase in the rate of probable Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among members of the UK Armed Forces. The results, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry today, estimate the overall rate of probable PTSD among current and ex-serving military personnel to be 6% in 2014/16, compared to 4% in 2004/6.

International scientists are one step closer to answering the most fundamental question of our existence, 'why are we here'', as part of a global collaboration involving UCL researchers. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is led by scientists at CERN, Switzerland and Fermilab, USA, and is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of neutrinos, the most abundant and most mysterious matter particles in the universe.

5 October 2018 Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Hannover studying a naturally-produced compound that inspired the biggest selling family of commercial agricultural fungicides have, for the first time, discovered how this important class of compound is synthesised in nature. The findings could potentially be used in the future to enable a 'pick and mix' approach with combinations of enzymes to make designer biosynthetic pathways for new compounds that could help to control crop diseases.

5 October 2018 The age-old adage "I'll sleep on it" has proven to be scientifically sound advice, according to a new study which measured changes in people's brain activity and responses before and after a nap. The findings, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, support the advice which suggests that a period of sleep may help weighing up pros and cons or gain insight before making a challenging decision.

The growing workload crisis in NHS primary care could be helped by a fleet of community health workers, a study shows. Published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine , the modelling study was led by researchers at Imperial College London.

Some of the last data from the Cassini mission reveals more structure in Saturn's magnetic field, but still no answer as to how it formed. NASA's Cassini mission - with Imperial kit on board - took a series of daring dives between the planet and its inmost ring in September 2017 before burning up in the planet's atmosphere.

Clinical and research teams at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, using infection prevention and control best practice, whole genome sequencing and electronic patient data, have halted an outbreak of a potentially deadly fungal pathogen after detecting that multi-use patient equipment was responsible.

Tissues grown in the lab from stem cells may fail to live up their therapeutic promise because the cells choose their own fate. For the last 20 years, scientists have worked to engineer tissues for use in a range of conditions, such as osteoarthritis or heart failure. They do this by placing stem cells - those that can become any kind of cell - in biodegradable 3D structures, or 'scaffolds', in the laboratory.

A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge has developed an artificial mouse embryo-like structure capable of forming the three major axes of the body. The technique could reduce the use of mammalian embryos in research. We were surprised to see how far gastruloids develop, their complex organisation and the presence of early-stage tissues and organ Alfonso Martinez Arias The definitive architecture of the mammalian body is established shortly after the embryo implants into the uterus.

Scientists are on the look-out for damaged and unreadable ancient scrolls as brand new techniques have revealed the hidden text inside a severely burnt 16th century sample. The new development, the latest in a long line of advancements in the field in recent years, has shown how 'virtual unravelling' can be achieved using a more autonomous approach and with scrolls that contain multiple pages.

A new report shows that the six trillion cigarettes produced yearly impact the environment through climate change, water and land use, and toxicity. The devastating impact of the tobacco industry on human health is well known. However, a new report systematically outlines for the first time the substantial impact of the tobacco industry on the environment.

New research presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and published in The Lancet shows that treatment with albiglutide (a type of drug called a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist) results in fewer cardiovascular events in people with type 2 diabetes and existing cardiovascular disease than treatment with placebo.

Using machine learning and optimisation to find refugees' new homes can significantly improve their chances of finding work within three months, according to new research. The international collaboration, conducted by researchers at the Universities of Oxford and Lund, Sweden as well as the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, involved developing Annie MOORE, an AI-powered software.

Improving the knowledge of a genetic condition which causes cholesterol levels to soar could lead to fewer people dying from heart disease. The findings come from the largest report to date on the global status of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), a hidden killer which can affect otherwise healthy individuals irrespective of their lifestyle.