news 2024

From new surgical techniques and treatments to studies on neurodegenerative disease, here are five of the top brain science stories from this year. Liraglutide slowing Alzheimer's Liraglutide, popularly known as Ozempic, has been trending as the latest weight loss drug in Hollywood, but researchers at Imperial have discovered a new possible use for it.

An international study involving researchers at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science has found significant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on many causes of death across 24 countries. Researchers from the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science , Australian National University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, analysed cause-of-death data for 24 countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers develop a way to test the ability of red blood cells to deliver oxygen by measuring their shape Scientists have developed a way of assessing the ability of red blood cells to deliver oxygen by measuring their shape. This test could improve specialist transplant and transfusion practice as well as blood banking.

The missing ingredient for cooking up stars has been spotted for the first time by an international team led by astronomers at Imperial College. Much like a pressure cooker has a weight on top of its lid to keep the pressure in and get your festive dessert dense, moist and ready to eat, merging galaxies may need magnetic fields to create the ideal conditions for star formation.

Scientists at The University of Manchester have achieved a significant breakthrough in using cyanobacteria-commonly known as "blue-green algae"-to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable bio-based materials. Their work, published in Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, could accelerate the development of sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel-derived products like plastics, helping pave the way for a carbon-neutral circular bioeconomy.

Young people have given important insights into what mental health support they prefer and what does not work for them or meet their needs, as part of a major new study of thousands of adolescents. The study, led by teams at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge, found that adolescents access a variety of different types of support including informal (such as friends and family), semi-formal (like school-based support), and formal services (such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems tend to take on human biases and amplify them, causing people who use that AI to become more biased themselves, finds a new study by UCL researchers. Human and AI biases can consequently create a feedback loop, with small initial biases increasing the risk of human error, according to the findings published in Nature Human Behaviour .

Mothers living within 20 kilometres of waste incinerators may have a small increase in the total levels of two chemical pollutants in their body. In an analysis led by researchers at Imperial College London, scientists have shown an association between women's exposure to emissions from municipal waste incinerators (MWIs) and small increased levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins found in their milk.

Study identifies emotional benefits of both giving and receiving personalised gifts. There is joy in giving but research from the University of Bath shows that personalisation can transform a gift from a mere object into a more meaningful experience that raises recipients' self-esteem and makes them feel more cherished.

A team of scientists has discovered that an ancient medicinal clay known as Lemnian Earth (LE) could inspire new understanding of how to support present-day gut health. The team also think that that LE was probably the prototype for the modern medicinal pill as far back as the 1st millennium, before the Common Era (BCE), since it was shaped into a small pellet, stamped with a seal and taken with liquids such as wine.

Scientists have identified strains of one of the world's most dangerous fungal pathogens, already resistant to our most effective antifungal drugs, which are also 5-times more likely to acquire resistance to desperately needed new treatments in development. The study - led by two University of Manchester researchers and published in Nature Communications - significantly advances our understanding of how Aspergillus fumigatus rapidly develops drug resistance.

Cancer is one of the four most likely conditions for clinicians to consider in older men who go to their GP with new-onset fatigue, a study led by UCL researchers has found. For the study, published in the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) , researchers analysed the health records of more than a quarter of a million people in England whose doctor noted that they were tired.

Scientists from our Geography department have made a major breakthrough in understanding one of the most powerful forces shaping the ocean floor: turbidity currents. These dense, fast-moving underwater flows of sediment and water carve out deep-sea canyons and transport vast amounts of sediment, organic carbon, and nutrients across the ocean floor to the deep-sea.

A new review by researchers from Oxford Population Health and the University of Iceland, published in Nature Aging , reveals how your DNA shapes reproductive health, fertility, and even life expectancy. Led by researchers from the University of Oxford's Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and the University of Iceland, the review explores how genetic variations can explain differences in reproductive health and longevity.

From hard-working newspaper reporter to world-saving superhero, Clark Kent makes the transition to Superman in just a few seconds. Now, scientists have discovered that human cells are home to their own hidden superheroes, secretly helping us to fight off a range of viruses. The latest study, led by the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research in collaboration with the Rosalind Franklin Institute, has uncovered intriguing new insights into how our cells respond to viral infection.

Genetic variants that determine the shape of your teeth - including a gene inherited from Neanderthals - have been identified by a team co-led by UCL researchers. In a new paper published in Current Biology , scientists found substantial tooth differences between ethnicities, potentially due in part to a gene inherited from Neanderthals that was only found in study participants of European origin.

The short-term boost our brains get after we do exercise persists throughout the following day, suggests a new study led by UCL researchers. Previous research in a laboratory setting has shown that people's cognitive performance improves in the hours after exercise, but how long this benefit lasts is unknown.

A groundbreaking navigation device can help people with visual impairment perform a location task as well as sighted people, new research shows. Researchers from Imperial College London, working with the company MakeSense Technology and the charity Bravo Victor, have developed a shape-changing device called Shape that helps people with visual impairment navigate through haptic perception - the way people understand information about objects through touch.

University of Birmingham researchers have found that biomass burning contributes significantly to fine particulate matter levels in the region. Woodburning has a major impact on air quality in Birmingham and the West Midlands - accounting for a substantial proportion of all fine pollution particles and representing a significant risk to public health, a new study reveals.

A new study has found no evidence that common modifiable health and lifestyle risk factors are responsible for the elevated dementia risk observed among former professional footballers. Led by consultant neuropathologist Professor Willie Stewart, Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, these latest findings from the FIELD study shed more light on the potential reasons why former professional footballers experience higher risk of dementia compared with the general population.