news 2021

Our body clock allows bodily processes to occur at certain times of the day, like eating, sleeping and body temperature. But did you know that monitoring a person's body clock (or circadian rhythm) could help diagnose and treat asthma? New research supported by Asthma UK, a charity which provides health advice and a helpline to people with asthma as well as funding research into the condition, has revealed that asthma is "highly rhythmic", meaning it is impacted by a person's body clock.

A new way to detect early signs of harmful blue-green algae, which bloom in lakes, rivers and reservoirs around the world, has been developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham together with researchers at the Culture Collection of Algae & Protozoa (CCAP), based at the Scottish Association of Marine Science.

A new method of 'sliding' delicate high-performance electronics onto flexible surfaces could enable future developments in electronics, scientists say. Engineers from the University of Glasgow claim they have found a way to solve one of the key problems of contact printing - a method of planting electronics onto bendable plastic surfaces to create flexible electronic circuits and devices.

Results announced by the LHCb experiment at CERN have revealed further hints for phenomena that cannot be explained by our current theory of fundamental physics. The fact that we've seen the same effect as our colleagues did in March certainly boosts the chances that we might genuinely be on the brink of discovering something new Harry Cliff In March 2020, the same experiment released evidence of particles breaking one of the core principles of the Standard Model - our best theory of particles and forces - suggesting the possible existence of new fundamental particles and forces.

An innovative way of identifying contaminated drinking water could reduce the spread of deadly diarrhoeal diseases by enabling communities to take action more quickly to limit exposure, a new study co-led by UCL academics has found. The paper, published in Water Research , shows how a technique exploiting the fluorescent properties of microbiological materials in water can instantly detect faecal contamination and is a more reliable indicator of the risk of impurities than previous testing methods.

Using cutting-edge genomic sequencing techniques, researchers at the University of Oxford have identified almost all the genomic variation that gives people resistance to 13 of the most common tuberculosis (TB) drug treatments. The Comprehensive Resistance Prediction for Tuberculosis International Consortium (CRyPTIC) research project has collected the largest ever global dataset of clinical M. tuberculosis samples from across the world consisting of 15,211 samples from 27 countries on five continents.

A new IPR policy brief suggests that the way the Universal Credit uplift was experienced highlights hidden complexity at the heart of the benefit calculation. Last updated on Tuesday 19 October 2021 A new report released today [Tuesday 19 October] shows that the cut in benefit caused by the withdrawal of the £20 uplift in Universal Credit will have a significant impact, especially for claimants without other sources of income.

Researchers from the Milner Centre for Evolution have identified evolutionary hotspots in DNA where mutations are more likely. Last updated on Tuesday 19 October 2021 Tangles in unwound DNA can create mutational hotspots in the genomes of bacteria, according to a new study by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath.

Companies must do more to understand and act on cognitive diversity in their boardrooms, according to a new report Last updated on Tuesday 19 October 2021 Companies must do more to understand cognitive diversity and foster a culture of 'constructive disagreement' within their boardrooms to make better decisions, according to a new report published today.

New methods of detecting ultra-low frequency gravitational waves can be combined with other, less sensitive measurements to deliver fresh insights into the early development of our universe, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham. Gravitational waves - ripples in the fabric of Einstein's spacetime - that cross the universe at the speed of light have all sorts of wavelengths, or frequencies.

The Universities of Birmingham and Surrey have developed a new technique to improve understanding of how acid damages teeth. The scientists' research focused on analysing the impact of acid on dentine, a hard tissue which forms the main bulk of human teeth and supports the enamel which covers the surface helping to make teeth strong and resilient.

A study led by the University of Birmingham has revealed for the first time that the contraceptive pill can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by over a quarter in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The research findings also show that women with PCOS have twice the risk of developing type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes (dysglycemia) - highlighting the urgent need to find treatments to reduce this risk.

Scottish veterans face the highest risk of suicide in middle age, many years after leaving service. The study, led by the University of Glasgow in partnership with the Forces in Mind Trust and published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, looked at the risk of suicide in veterans compared with people who had never served, and found that overall, their risk was no higher than non-veterans.

The severe outbreak of COVID-19 in Delhi, India, in 2021 showed not only that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV2 is extremely transmissible but that it can infect individuals previously infected by a different variant of the coronavirus, say a team of international scientists writing in Science .

The severe outbreak of COVID-19 in Delhi, India, in 2021 showed not only that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV2 is extremely transmissible but that it can infect individuals previously infected by a different variant of the coronavirus, say a team of international scientists writing in Science .

An asteroid strike 66 million years ago wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs and devastated the Earth's forests, but tree-dwelling ancestors of primates may have survived it, according to a new study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution . The recovery of terrestrial vertebrate life following the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact was one of the most important events in the history of life on Earth Daniel Field Overall, the study supports the h

Dr Garth Funston and colleagues including professor Emma Crosbie from The University of Manchester have won the 2020 Research Paper of the Year for Clinical Research, awarded by the Royal College of General Practitioners, for their paper on detecting cancers in primary care. The research shows that CA125, a simple blood test available in primary care, is useful for ovarian cancer detection in symptomatic women attending their GP and could help identify other types of cancer.

Lateral flow tests are more accurate than previously reported and cannot be compared directly to how PCR tests work, finds a new paper led by UCL researchers. The peer-reviewed paper, published today in Clinical Epidemiology, uses a new formula to show that lateral flow tests (LFTs) are likely more than 80% effective at detecting any level of Covid-19 infection and likely more than 90% effective at detecting those who are most infectious when using the test.

Children from less affluent backgrounds are likely to have found COVID-19 lockdowns more challenging to their mental health because they experienced a lower connection with nature than their wealthier peers, a new study suggests.

A simple form of talking therapy, delivered by trained support workers over the telephone, reduced loneliness in older people left isolated during the pandemic, the initial results of a new study has revealed. People were contacted weekly and were encouraged to maintain their social contacts and to stick to a daily schedule, which included both routine and enjoyable activities.