News 2019

Digital computers use numbers based on flawed representations of real numbers, which may lead to inaccuracies when simulating the motion of molecules, weather systems and fluids, find UCL and Tufts University scientists. The study, published today in Advanced Theory and Simulations , shows that digital computers cannot reliably reproduce the behaviour of 'chaotic systems' which are widespread.

Many animals have to move around in their environment to find resources to live and reproduce. Scientists have studied particular examples of this for many years but there are not many unifying frameworks to understand the general organising principles of animal movement. This is especially true for animal collectives like ant colonies, whose individual routes as they search for food can look rather like a 'random walk'.

Perfumes that use the most popular scents do not always obtain the highest number of ratings, according to an analysis of online perfume reviews. A study of 10,000 perfumes and their online ratings reveals which odours are likely to bring success, with some surprising combinations providing a boost to ratings.

A new way of analysing sperm that tracks the movement of the sperm tail could enable substantial improvements to male fertility testing. The technique measures the speed and action of the sperm flagellum, or tail, which provides vital information for understanding whether sperm in an ejaculate have the potential to reach and fertilise the egg.

Cancer cells may rely on opportunism, as well as chemical signalling, to spread through the body, according to new findings by mathematicians at the University of Birmingham. Cancer spreads by sending cells out from the primary tumour to travel through the vascular or lymphatic system to colonise other organs in a process called metastasis.

Support for Conservative Party rises with UK house prices, new research reveals The big increase in housing wealth inequality in the UK over the period from 1995 to 2007 increased homeowners' probability of supporting the Conservative party. However, it did not make homeowners more averse to the state's ownership of public services.

A mathematician from the University of Bristol has found a solution to part of a 64-year old mathematical problem - expressing the number 33 as the sum of three cubes. Since the 1950s, mathematicians have wondered if all whole numbers could be expressed as the sum of three cubes; whether the equation k = x³+ y³+ z³ always has a solution.

A new analysis of the 2011 census has revealed that social differences among city populations significantly influence how neighbourhoods take shape. Researchers hope that their insights could help councils to make better planning decisions. Dr Thilo Gross and Dr Edmund Barter in the Department of Engineering Mathematics at the University of Bristol, used a new algorithm to gain insight into city neighbourhood characteristics, starting with Bristol.