news 2022

Research suggests diving birds may have evolved into an evolutionary dead-end. Diving birds like penguins, puffins and cormorants may be more prone to extinction than non-diving birds, according to a new study by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath. The authors suggest this is because they are highly specialised and therefore less able to adapt to changing environments than other birds.

Phosphorus use in the UK needs to be better managed and used in a much more sustainable way to reduce river pollution and increase resilience over rising fertiliser prices, say researchers. Despite phosphorus being a key nutrient in the agricultural sector for which there is no alternative, the food and feedstock industries rely on imports from a small number of countries including China, Russia and Morocco.

Silvia Massini, Mabel Sanchez-Barrioluengo, Xiaoxiao Yu have published a report exploring the key findings from ADiTS survey, in collaboration with the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce. High costs and a lack of access to people with the relevant skills are significant barriers to businesses adopting digital technologies across Greater Manchester, according to a major new AMBS report.

Researchers will work with Virgin Atlantic to launch the world's first transatlantic flight powered solely by sustainable aviation fuel. The passenger flight from London to New York will be fuelled by 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), combined with carbon removal through biochar credits - a material that traps and stores carbon taken from the atmosphere - making the flight net zero.

Serving in the military for longer periods of time, and serving on operational tours were associated with reduced suicide risk; while younger veterans and those who left after a short career were more at risk A new study from The University of Manchester has found that veterans are at no greater risk of suicide than the general population.

Climate change, rather than competition, played a key role in the ascendancy of dinosaurs through the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods. According to new research, changes in global climate associated with the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction - which wiped out many large terrestrial vertebrates such as the giant armadillo-like aetosaurs - actually benefitted the earliest dinosaurs.

Harmful fungal toxins are on the rise in Europe's wheat and affect almost half of crops, according to a new study led by the University of Bath. Wheat - the most widely cultivated crop in the world - is under growing attack from harmful toxins. Across Europe, almost half of wheat crops are impacted by the fungal infection that gives rise to these toxins, according to a study led by fungal biologist Dr Neil Brown from the University of Bath, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Exeter.

Dr Alexander Piel and Dr Fiona Stewart (both UCL Anthropology) discuss their new study in The Conversation which reveals the ability for humans to walk upright on two legs may have evolved in trees, and not on the ground as previously thought. There's no trait that distinguishes humans from all other mammals more clearly than the way we walk.

COVID-19 vaccinations that combine two or more distinct variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus could offer protection against both current and future -variants of concern-, say scientists at the University of Cambridge and Medical University of Innsbruck.

Researchers find tropical forests that have been logged still retain good ecological health, and should be protected from conversion to plantations. Logged forests that have had some trees removed are often labelled as 'degraded', meaning they are lower priority for protection and can be cleared to make way for agriculture such as oil palm plantations.

Human bipedalism - walking upright on two legs - may have evolved in trees, and not on the ground as previously thought, according to a new study involving UCL researchers. In the study, published today in the journal Science Advances, researchers from UCL, the University of Kent, and Duke University, USA, explored the behaviours of wild chimpanzees - our closest living relative - living in the Issa Valley of western Tanzania , within the region of the East African Rift Valley.

Professor Mark Hamer (UCL Surgery and Interventional Science) and his colleagues at the University of Sydney report in The Conversation their research finding people who averaged a few quick bursts of physical activity a day were significantly less likely to die prematurely. Most of us know that regular exercise is important for our health and longevity.

New findings confirm that JWST has surpassed the Hubble telescope in its ability to observe the early Universe So many questions about galaxies have been waiting for the transformative opportunity of Webb, and we are thrilled to be able to play a part in revealing this story Sandro Tacchella An international team of astronomers, including scientists at the Universities of Cambridge, Hertfordshire and Oxford, has reported the discovery of the earliest galaxies ever confirmed in our Universe.

Researchers have used gold extracted from electronic waste as catalysts for reactions that could be applied to making medicines. Re-using gold from electronic waste prevents it from being lost to landfill, and using this reclaimed gold for drug manufacture reduces the need to mine new materials. Current catalysts are often made of rare metals, which are extracted using expensive, energy-intensive and damaging mining processes.

Healthcare workers in England experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at twice the rate of the general public, according to a new study co-led by UCL researchers. The research, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, was conducted as part of a wider study to establish a more accurate prevalence of mental disorders within the NHS workforce.

Parks in West Yorkshire should be better designed and managed so that women and girls feel safe throughout the day and after dark, according to a new study. A team of researchers at the University of Leeds interviewed more than a hundred women and girls from across the county and found that most of them believed their local parks were unsafe.

JWST image of the Southern Ring planetary nebula, using a filter that shows molecular hydrogen. The nebula has a bright distorted ring consisting of 10,000 globules, surrounded by a faint halo with radial stripes and arcs JWST image of the Southern Ring planetary nebula, using a filter that shows molecular hydrogen.

Reforestation projects could be made more effective with the findings of new research into the constraints on nitrogen fixation among plants. Some trees, such as those from the Fabaceae or legume family, form a symbiotic relationship with bacteria, enabling them to them take in nitrogen from the air.

People who reported contracting COVID-19 early in the pandemic were twice as likely to experience depressive symptoms 13 months later than those who did not, new research has found. Those who reported having COVID in early 2020 were also 1.67 times more likely to experience clinically meaningful levels of anxiety after 13 months, than those who avoided COVID-19 in the same time period.

Largest analysis of perinatal outcomes finds disparities in outcomes based on race and ethnicity in high and upper-middle income countries Babies born to Black mothers in richer countries are more likely to be stillborn or die in the first four weeks of life than those born to white women, new research has found.