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Researchers have been able to make some key determinations about the first galaxies to exist, in one of the first astrophysical studies of the period in the early Universe when the first stars and galaxies formed, known as the cosmic dawn.

Scientists replicated a 1964 River Thames survey and found that mussel numbers have declined by almost 95%, with one species - the depressed river mussel - completely gone. This dramatic decline in native mussel populations is very worrying, and we are not sure what's driving it David Aldridge The detailed study measured the change in size and number of all species of mussel in a stretch of the River Thames near Reading between 1964 and 2020.

Social media engagement with climate policy events is vital to reducing building emissions and ensuring environmental justice, research led by Cambridge suggests To build for tomorrow fairly, global climate action has to incorporate and empower diverse public voices Ramit Debnath Negativity on Twitter about decarbonising the built environment has increased by around a third since 2014, according to a new analysis of more than 250,000 tweets featuring #emissions and #building between 2009 and 2021.

Cambridge scientists have used synthetic biology to create artificial enzymes programmed to target the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2 and destroy the virus, an approach that could be used to develop a new generation of antiviral drugs. XNAzymes are molecular scissors which recognise a particular sequence in the RNA, then chop it up Alex Taylor Enzymes are naturally occurring biological catalysts, which enable the chemical transformations required for our bodies to function - from translating the genetic code into proteins, right through to digesting food.

Water - which makes up the majority of every cell in the body - plays a key role in how proteins, including those associated with Parkinson's disease, fold, misfold, or clump together, according to a new study. The failure to look at the whole cellular environment has been limiting the field, which may be why we haven-t yet got an effective treatment for Parkinson's disease Gabriele Kaminski Schierle When attempting to discover potential treatments for protein misfolding diseases, researchers have primarily focused on the structure of the proteins themselves.

How rich or poor young people think they are compared to their friendship group is linked to wellbeing and even bullying during the shift between childhood and teenage years. Belonging is particularly important for well-being and psychosocial functioning during adolescence Blanca Piera Pi-Sunyer Young people who believe they come from poorer backgrounds than their friends are more likely to have lower self-esteem and be victims of bullying than those who feel financially equal to the rest of their peer group, according to a new study from psychologists at the University of Cambridge.

A team of astronomers have found that planet formation in our young Solar System started much earlier than previously thought, with the building blocks of planets growing at the same time as their parent star. Some white dwarfs are amazing laboratories, because their thin atmospheres are almost like celestial graveyards Amy Bonsor A study of some of the oldest stars in the Universe suggests that the building blocks of planets like Jupiter and Saturn begin to form while a young star is growing.

Workplace cafeteria study finds no evidence that physical activity calorie-equivalent labelling changes food purchasing An experiment carried out across ten workplace cafeterias found no significant change in the overall number of calories purchased when food and drink labels showed the amount of physical activity required to burn off their calories.

People who have a past history of hospitalisation because of substance use disorders have much worse outcomes following the onset of a wide range of physical health conditions, according to researchers in the UK and Czechia.

Astrophysicists say that cosmic inflation - a point in the Universe's infancy when space-time expanded exponentially, and what physicists really refer to when they talk about the -Big Bang can in principle be ruled out in an assumption-free way. Is it possible in principle to test cosmic inflation in a model-independent way? Sunny Vagnozzi The astrophysicists, from the University of Cambridge, the University of Trento, and Harvard University, say that there is a clear, unambiguous signal in the cosmos which could eliminate inflation as a possibility.

Even a small dietary change by a minority of UK Catholics had significant environmental benefits, say researchers, who argue that a papal decree reinstating meatless Fridays across the global church would save millions of tonnes of carbon a year. If the Pope was to reinstate the obligation for meatless Fridays to all Catholics globally, it could be a major source of low-cost emissions reductions Shaun Larcom In 2011, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales called on congregations to return to foregoing meat on Fridays.

A study has found that Eurasian jays can pass a version of the -marshmallow test and those with the greatest self-control also score the highest on intelligence tests. It's just mind-boggling that some jays can wait so long for their favourite food." Alex Schnell This is the first evidence of a link between self-control and intelligence in birds.

More companies must make and implement zero-deforestation supply chain commitments in order to significantly reduce deforestation and protect diverse ecosystems, say researchers. Zero-deforestation pledges are a great first step, but they need to be implemented to have an effect on forests. Rachael Garrett Corporate pledges not to buy soybeans produced on land deforested after 2006 have reduced tree clearance in the Brazilian Amazon by just 1.6% between 2006 and 2015.

Autistic people are more vulnerable to depression and anxiety during pregnancy, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. The results are published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and have important implications for supporting autistic people during pregnancy. This study suggests that autistic people are more vulnerable to mental health difficulties during pregnancy.

Researchers have discovered a potential new method for making the high-performance magnets used in wind turbines and electric cars without the need for rare earth elements, which are almost exclusively sourced in China.

New autism diagnoses tend to be clustered within specific NHS service regions, suggesting that where an individual lives may influence whether they receive an autism diagnosis and access to special education needs support.

Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to replace optical and mechanical components, researchers have designed a tiny spectrometer that breaks all current resolution records. We see light and colours around us every day. However, to analyse the information it carries, we must analyse light using spectrometers, in the lab.

Researchers have found that the irregular movement of lithium ions in next-generation battery materials could be reducing their capacity and hindering their performance. The team, led by the University of Cambridge, tracked the movement of lithium ions inside a promising new battery material in real time.

Cambridge scientists have shown that it may be possible to spot signs of brain impairment in patients as early as nine years before they receive a diagnosis for one of a number of dementia-related diseases.

Some of the assessment tools which measure children's thinking skills in the US may have provided inaccurate information about poor, urban students because they are modelled on wealthier - mostly white - populations. There is a big question around how we measure executive functions: are we actually using the right tools?