news 2021

AI-enabled sensors for parts machining set to improve quality and help manufacturers cut costs. A new generation of high-precision, low-cost sensors for future smart cutting tools are in development at the University of Bath. The SENSYCUT project aims to create low-cost, nano-scale resolution sensors and cutting tools for machining operations of high value aerospace products, to increase precision, lower costs and prevent manufacturing errors.

Researchers have visualised, for the first time, why perovskites - materials which could replace silicon in next-generation solar cells - are seemingly so tolerant of defects in their structure. The findings , led by researchers from the , are published .

'Plague sceptics' are wrong to underestimate the devastating impact that bubonic plague had in the 6th- 8th centuries CE, argues a new study based on ancient texts and recent genetic discoveries. The same study suggests that bubonic plague may have reached England before its first recorded case in the Mediterranean via a currently unknown route, possibly involving the Baltic and Scandinavia.

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have succeeded in creating an experimental model of an elusive kind of fundamental particle called a skyrmion in a beam of light. The breakthrough provides physicists with a real system demonstrating the behaviour of skyrmions, first proposed 60 years ago by a University of Birmingham mathematical physicist, Professor Tony Skyrme.

'Plague sceptics' are wrong to underestimate the devastating impact that bubonic plague had in the 6th- 8th centuries CE, argues a new study based on ancient texts and recent genetic discoveries. The same study suggests that bubonic plague may have reached England before its first recorded case in the Mediterranean via a currently unknown route, possibly involving the Baltic and Scandinavia.

An unborn baby could become infected with Covid-19 if their gut is exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, finds a new study led by UCL researchers with Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the NIHR Great Ormond Street Biomedical Research Centre. Although the study did not look specifically at mothers with Covid-19 and whether their infection was transmitted to an unborn baby, it found that certain fetal organs, such as the intestine, are more susceptible to infection than others.

People with multiple health conditions - known as multimorbidity - are at risk of unplanned admissions to hospital. Now, new research has found the rates of hospitalisation in these people are even higher if one of their conditions is chronic kidney disease. The new research, led by the University of Glasgow and published in BMC Medicine, examined the rates of hospitalisation in people with multimorbidity, including those who also have chronic kidney disease as one of those conditions.

A test to measure both the T-cell and antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in a single blood sample has been developed by scientists at Cardiff University. The unique approach can also be used to measure the immune response brought about by vaccination and previous infection. It was developed in collaboration with Wales-based biotechnology company ImmunoServ Ltd and is outlined in a study published in the journal Immunology.

Scientists at Bath have developed a more sustainable way of making pharmaceuticals that will cut waste and energy usage significantly. Chemistry researchers at the University of Bath have developed a new method using blue light to create pharmaceuticals in a more sustainable way, significantly reducing the amount of energy needed and the chemical waste created in the manufacture process.

Those who tested positive for COVID-19 (confirmed by a PCR test) had an increased risk of mental illness, fatigue and sleep problems, finds a new study which analysed the electronic primary care health care records* of 226,521 people from across the UK between February 2020 and December 2020. The research**, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open (JAMA Network Open) today, was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (NIHR GM PSTRC).

Most people around the world agree that the made-up word 'bouba' sounds round in shape, and the made-up word 'kiki' sounds pointy - a discovery that may help to explain how spoken languages develop, according to a new study. Language scientists have discovered that this effect exists independently of the language that a person speaks or the writing system that they use, and it could be a clue to the origins of spoken words.

Antibiotic consumption rates grew by 46 percent after 2000, according to findings which also suggest lack of treatment access in some areas. Global antibiotic consumption rates increased by 46 percent in the last two decades, according to the first study to provide longitudinal estimates for human antibiotic consumption covering 204 countries from 2000 to 2018, published in Lancet Planetary Health on Thursday by the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) Project.

When a team of doctors, scientists and engineers at Addenbrooke's Hospital and the placed an air filtration machine in COVID-19 wards, they found that it removed almost all traces of airborne SARS-CoV-2. Reducing airborne transmission of the coronavirus is extremely important for the safety of both patients and staff Vilas Navapurkar While the discovery could have implications for improving the safety of repurposed 'surge wards', the researchers say it also opens up the possibility of being able to set standards for cleaner air to reduce the risk of airborne transmission of infections.

New research into the powerful magnetic fields which form inside the sun and cause violent eruptions could help predict solar flares. Mathematicians and astrophysicists from the UK and Italy have comprehensively modelled the emergence of twisted magnetic fields into the solar atmosphere, and verified their models through observations - a breakthrough in scientific understanding of the process by which solar flares occur.

A novel clot-busting drug formulated and tested by University of Manchester scientists is able to effectively restore blood flow in the brains of mice, opening the door for a safer and more effective stroke treatment. The compound - an enzyme called caADAMTS13 -could dissolve clots in patients that are resistant to current treatment, according to the study published in the journal Blood today (15/11/21).

People who survive cancer early in their life have higher risks of ill health as they grow older, and these risks vary according to the cancer type and how the cancer was treated, a new study by UCL researchers has found. The researchers are now calling for these long-term health effects to be considered when young people and their families discuss treatment options with their healthcare team initially.

De-platforming Covid conspiracy theorists from Facebook has limited impact in reducing their influence, research finds Removing high-profile Covid conspiracy theorists from Facebook has had only limited impact upon the spread of misleading information, research from Cardiff University has found. Fan pages, affiliated groups and other secondary accounts set up by devoted believers continue to share problematic content about the causes and consequences of Covid-19 long after primary accounts have been taken down, the findings reveal.

An international team involving UCL researchers has developed a computer model of the powerful jets released by the M87 black hole, matching the observations of astronomers and providing new support for the theory of general relativity. The black hole launches a jet of plasma at very close to the speed of light, a so-called relativistic jet, over a distance of more than 6,000 light years (that is, the jet extends beyond the giant galaxy in which the black hole resides).

New GW4 research led by Bath's Dr Max Western is published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Last updated on Friday 12 November 2021 Technology-based health and exercise programmes and apps, designed to offer a convenient and accessible way to boost physical activity, are dramatically less beneficial for users with low socio-economic status, a study has shown.

Human-caused bird extinctions are driving losses of functional diversity on islands worldwide, and the gaps they leave behind are not being filled by introduced (alien) species, finds a new study led by UCL and University of Gothenburg researchers. The study, published in Science Advances , shows how human impacts such as habitat destruction and climate change are impoverishing ecosystems, even on islands where alien birds actually outnumber the species that have gone extinct.