news 2018

Our African ancestors were diverse in form and culture, and scattered across the entire continent, finds a team led by UCL, the University of Oxford and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. These findings challenge the idea that humans, or Homo sapiens , stemmed from a single, large ancestral population in one region of Africa which randomly exchanged genes and technologies like stone tools.

New research led by scientists at the University of Bristol has uncovered that long-term use of some pesticides to treat cattle for parasites is having a significantly detrimental effect on the dung beetle population. Researchers studied 24 cattle farms across south west England and found that farms that used certain pesticides had fewer species of dung beetle.

Daily travel by bike leads to the lowest BMI, according to a study of seven European cities, suggesting cities should promote active commutes. More bike-friendly cities would also help reduce pollution and tackle air pollution, say the study's authors. The analysis of data from seven European cities - part of the European Commission funded Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) project - suggests that daily cyclists weigh less than their non-active counterparts.

Volte-face: Research advises selling electric vehicles to untapped market of women More focused marketing of electric cars to women could be more effective in creating the required revolution away from more polluting vehicles than universal government intervention, a new study has said. Highly educated women are an untapped but potentially lucrative market for electric vehicle sales because they have greater environmental and fuel efficiency awareness than men, says a new study by researchers at the University of Sussex and Aarhus University in Denmark.

Protecting the giant panda and its habitat yields up to 27 times the cost of its conservation, new research shows. Professor Mike Bruford of Cardiff University was part of a team of researchers who worked to assess the financial benefits to humans brought about by the giant panda nature reserves in China.

'Clean Cold' chains are essential to the progression of India's farming industry, according to a new report. Scientists from the University of Birmingham argue that the introduction of clean cold to India's food supply chain will develop infrastructure that will not only allow farmers' income to double, but do so sustainably.

Using data from nearly 74,000 images, volunteer armchair scientists have helped Oxford University researchers to capture and better understand, the breeding habits of penguin breeding colonies across the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands and South Georgia. The study features in Scientific Data , and was undertaken as part of Oxford's 'Penguin Watch' programme, which runs as part of the Zooniverse - the world's largest and most popular volunteer science platform.

The evolution of the orangutan has been more heavily influenced by humans than was previously thought, new research reveals. Professor Mike Bruford, of Cardiff University, was part of the team of scientists shedding light on the development of the critically endangered species. Their findings offer new possibilities for orangutan conservation.

Bumblebees placed in urban areas produce more offspring than colonies in agricultural areas, concludes a surprising new study. The research, led by academics from Royal Holloway University of London and including an Imperial College London researcher, is published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B .

Pockets of urban forest can contain as much carbon as tropical rainforests, according to new research led by UCL. Protecting and planting urban forests is central to building liveable and sustainable cities in a future where global populations are set to become increasingly urbanised. This research sheds new light on the value of urban trees for their potential to store carbon and mitigate climate change.

As much of the UK and Europe swelters under heatwave conditions, new research led by scientists from the University of Bristol has produced compelling evidence that loss of life through increased heat stress during heatwaves can be limited if we stabilise climate at the lower of the Paris Agreement climate goals.

Transport, buildings and industry need to start using lower carbon sources of energy now if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Transporting goods, heating buildings and manufacturing products all rely on fossil fuels. Without serious change now in these sectors, we will be 'locked in' to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for decades, say the authors of a new report.

Men's testosterone levels are largely determined by their environment during childhood, according to new research. The Durham University-led study suggests that men who grow up in more challenging conditions where there are lots of infectious diseases, for example, are likely to have lower testosterone levels in later life than those who spend their childhood in healthier environments.

Some of the earliest complex organisms on Earth - possibly some of the earliest animals to exist - got big not to compete for food, but to spread their offspring as far as possible. Reproduction appears to have been the main reason that life on Earth got big when it did. Emily Mitchell The research, led by the University of Cambridge, found that the most successful organisms living in the oceans more than half a billion years ago were the ones that were able to 'throw' their offspring the farthest, thereby colonising their surroundings.

Cambridge researchers are part of a cutting-edge project unveiled by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan last week to better understand Londoners' exposure to air pollution and improve air quality in the capital. Addressing air pollution in cities is a vital but complex challenge. Rod Jones As part of the initiative, a network of air quality sensors will be deployed across the capital, measuring pollution levels in tens of thousands of locations.

A new framework to understand how uneven the effects of a 1.5°C world are for different countries around the world has been published today in Geophysical Research Letters, led by researchers from the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) at the Oxford University Department of Geography. It has been long understood that climate change will affect some regions more severely than others.

Bones of an entirely new but already extinct genus of gibbons have been discovered in China, revealing the magnitude of human-caused extinction of primates, according to a study by UCL and ZSL (Zoological Society of London). The discovery was made by scientists while studying the contents of a burial chamber in Shaanxi Province, central China and The ancient tomb dates from around 2,300 years ago and possibly belonged to Lady Xia - grandmother to China's first emperor, Qin Shihuang, the leader who ordered the building of the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Warriors.

Climate change will have a rapidly increasing effect on the structure of global ecological communities over the next few decades, with amphibians and reptiles being significantly more affected than birds and mammals, a new report by UCL finds. The pace of change is set to outstrip loss to vertebrate communities caused by land use for agriculture and settlements, which is estimated to have already caused losses of over ten per cent.

Researchers have used puddle ecosystems to start to unravel the roles different bacteria play in complex communities. Bacteria coat every surface on Earth, living in soil and water, and even inside other creatures including ourselves. They often play critical roles, such as helping us digest food or providing 'ecosystem services' like decomposing dead plant matter and returning the nutrients to the soil.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet was able to re-grow after shrinking but the process is not fast enough to combat the impact of today's climate change, according to research involving Durham University. The research 000 years ago the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrank to a size even smaller than today but managed to re-grow to its current size thanks to uplifting of the seafloor as the weight of the ice became less.