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Researchers have demonstrated how carbon dioxide can be captured from industrial processes - or even directly from the air - and transformed into clean, sustainable fuels using just the energy from the sun. We are not just interested in decarbonisation, but de-fossilisation - we need to completely eliminate fossil fuels in order to create a truly circular economy Erwin Reisner The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, developed a solar-powered reactor that converts captured CO2 and plastic waste into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products.

Tropical butterflies with bigger, longer and narrower wings are better able to stay cool when temperatures get too hot. We showed that changes in size and wing shape are important for coping with temperature change. Benita Laird-Hopkins In fact, tropical species- ability to keep cool at higher air temperatures mean they are more able to -thermoregulate- and keep a balanced body temperature compared to their evolutionary cousins in milder climates.

Smart drugs do motivate people, but the added effort can lead to -erratic thinking-, adversely affecting above-average performers, according to researchers. Our results suggest that these drugs don't actually make you -smarter- Peter Bossaerts New research from the University of Cambridge and the University of Melbourne, published in Science Advances , shows neurotypical workers and students taking cognitive enhancers, or -smart- drugs, may actually be inhibiting their performance and productivity.

The Hardouyn Hours, a jewelled fifteenth-century prayer book in Trinity College Library belonged to Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII, new research has found. The most exciting Cromwell discovery in a generation - if not more. Tracy Borman Hever Castle curator, Alison Palmer, recognised the bejewelled, silver gilt binding of Trinity's Book of Hours from the famous portrait of Thomas Cromwell painted by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1532-3, which hangs in the Frick Collection in New York.

A study of the DNA of more than 55,000 people worldwide has shed light on how we maintain healthy blood sugar levels after we have eaten, with implications for our understanding of how the process goes wrong in type 2 diabetes. What's exciting about this is that it shows how we can go from large scale genetic studies to understanding fundamental mechanisms of how our bodies work Alice Williamson The findings, published today in Nature Genetics , could help inform future treatments of type 2 diabetes, which affects around 4 million people in the UK and over 460 million people worldwide.

Among the most fundamental questions in astronomy is: How did the first stars and galaxies form? The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, is already providing new insights into this question.

Researchers have trained a robotic -chef- to watch and learn from cooking videos, and recreate the dish itself. We wanted to see whether we could train a robot chef to learn in the same incremental way that humans can - by identifying the ingredients and how they go together in the dish Greg Sochacki The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, programmed their robotic chef with a -cookbook- of eight simple salad recipes.

Study of 2,500-year-old latrines from the biblical Kingdom of Judah shows the ancient faeces within contain Giardia - a parasite that can cause dysentery. Toilets with cesspits from this time are relatively rare and were usually made only for the elite Piers Mitchell A new analysis of ancient faeces taken from two Jerusalem latrines dating back to the biblical Kingdom of Judah has uncovered traces of a single-celled microorganism Giardia duodenalis - a common cause of debilitating diarrhoea in humans.

Researchers have developed a solar-powered technology that converts carbon dioxide and water into liquid fuels that can be added directly to a car-s engine as drop-in fuel. Shining sunlight on the artificial leaves and getting liquid fuel from carbon dioxide and water is an amazing bit of chemistry Motiar Rahaman The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, harnessed the power of photosynthesis to convert CO2, water and sunlight into multicarbon fuels - ethanol and propanol - in a single step.

The protection offered by COVID-19 vaccination declines more rapidly in people with severe obesity than in those with normal weight, scientists at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh have found. The study suggests that people with obesity are likely to need more frequent booster doses to maintain their immunity.

Using X-rays to see inside the human body has revolutionised non-invasive medical diagnostics. However, the dose of X-rays required for imaging is far higher than background levels, due to the poor performance of the detector materials currently available. This can cause harm to patients, and in some cases even cancer.

Researchers tested samples of raw pheasant dog food and discovered that the majority contained high levels of lead that could put dogs- health at risk if they eat it frequently. Lead is a toxic metal that negatively affects body systems of people and animals, with the nervous system being particularly sensitive.

Cambridge scientists have shown how the brain's ability to clear out toxic proteins is impaired in Huntington's disease and other forms of dementia - and how, in a study in mice, a repurposed HIV drug was able to restore this function, helping prevent this dangerous build-up and slowing progression of the disease.

New research involving Cambridge University has found evidence - locked into an ancient stalagmite from a cave in the Himalayas - of a series of severe and lengthy droughts which may have upturned the Bronze Age Indus Civilization.

Even mild concussion can cause long-lasting effects to the brain, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge. Using data from a Europe-wide study, the team has shown that for almost a half of all people who receive a knock to the head, there are changes in how regions of the brain communicate with each other, potentially causing long term symptoms such as fatigue and cognitive impairment.

Problems with the brain's ability to -prune- itself of unnecessary connections may underlie a wide range of mental health disorders that begin during adolescence, according to research published today.

Most minority ethnic groups are less successful than their White British counterparts when applying to specialty training programmes in the NHS, Cambridge researchers have shown. Their analysis, published today in BMJ Open , also found that while female applicants are more successful overall, particular specialities tend to appeal to different genders.

Study shows better adoption and implementation of company supply chain policies for Brazilian beef and leather could significantly reduce carbon emissions If we do eat imported beef, we should buy it from retailers that are trying to improve cattle production systems in Brazil and elsewhere. Rachael Garrett Cattle-rearing is the biggest cause of tropical deforestation in the Amazon - and the world.

A new image reveals the most detailed map of dark matter distributed across a quarter of the entire sky, reaching deep into the cosmos.

Ice sheets can retreat up to 600 metres a day during periods of climate warming, 20 times faster than the highest rate of retreat previously measured. An international team of researchers used high-resolution imagery of the seafloor to reveal just how quickly a former ice sheet that extended from Norway retreated at the end of the last Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago.