science wire

Sarah Thomas to lead Harvard Library
Dr Sarah Thomas, Bodley's Librarian, has been appointed Vice President for the Harvard Library, taking up the post this summer.

Global warming continues; most extreme projections 'less likely'
A new study led by Oxford University concludes that the latest observations of the climate system's response to rising greenhouse gas levels are consistent with conventional estimates of the long-term ‘climate sensitivity', despite a “warming pause” over the past decade.

Measure your 'nitrogen footprint'
Researchers have calculated that beef generates about twice as much nitrogen as pork, and almost three times as much as chicken or fish.

Effects of climate change on UK wildlife
Flooding is a risk for most UK mammals and climate change is also affecting several British reptile and amphibian species, according to research by leading Oxford University scientists. Their research is contained in a series of Report Cards launched today that sets out to explain the key trends in how the British countryside is responding to climate change.

Oxford announces Shell support for energy research
Oxford University has announced that Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. (Shell) has contributed a £5.9m boost to research into natural energy resources at the University's Dep

Proposed exam reforms 'unlikely to drive up standards'
A report by Oxford University's Centre for Educational Assessment says there is little evidence to support government claims that standards of examinations have fallen in England, and argues that the government's proposed reforms in today's Queen's Speech are unlikely to drive up standards.

Did being a shareholder transform Shakespeare’s writing?
Shakespeare's experience as a shareholder in a theatre company transformed the way he wrote characters, an English literature expert has claimed.

Academy of Medical Sciences honours seven Oxford researchers
Seven medical researchers at Oxford University have been elected as Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Professors Barbara Casadei, Michael English, Russell Foster, Keith Hawton, Paul Klenerman, Xin Lu and Lionel Tarassenko are among the 44 new Fellows announced today by the Academy. The honour recognises outstanding contributions to the advancement of medical science, innovative application of scientific knowledge, or conspicuous service to healthcare.

Quantum cellmates with noisy networks
Being locked in a cell with three companions can be a good thing if you are a component of a quantum computer.

Major expansion to Pembroke launched

Earth Day premiere for climate science film
On Earth Day (22 April), a film about how scientists are trying to understand the world's changing climate will get its premiere in a special screening at Oxford University's Said Business School, 5pm.

Local schoolgirl wins poetry prize

New Principal of Wycliffe Hall appointed

Better support needed for dads as well as mums after difficult births
Severe and life-threatening complications in pregnancy can have a big impact on fathers as well as mothers.

Fall of diversity in UK's financial services is 'damaging'
A fall in the diversity of the financial services sector is potentially both damaging the resilience of the financial system and reducing effective competition for consumers, according to an Oxford University study for the Building Societies Association.

Margaret Thatcher 1925-2013

Being there: turning research into action in Gabon
Michelle Lee first set foot in Gabon in 2001: 'I went with just a backpack expecting to stay three weeks, but ended up being the project manager there for six years,' she tells me.

Dengue infections 'triple current estimates'
The global burden of dengue infection is more than triple current estimates from the World Health Organization, according to a multinational study published in the journal Nature . Dengue, also known as 'breakbone fever', is a viral infection that is transmitted between humans by mosquitoes.

Flies with personality
Fruit flies may have more individuality and personality than we might imagine. And it might all be down to a bit of genetic shuffling in nerve cells that makes every fly brain unique, suggest Oxford University scientists. Their new study has found that small genetic elements called 'transposons' are active in neurons in the fly brain.

3D printer can build synthetic tissues
A custom-built programmable 3D printer can create materials with several of the properties of living tissues, Oxford University scientists have demonstrated. The new type of material consists of thousands of connected water droplets, encapsulated within lipid films, which can perform some of the functions of the cells inside our bodies.

Dark Blues storm to Boat Race victory

New foot-and-mouth vaccine is safer and cheaper to produce
A new vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease that is safer to produce and easier to store has been developed by scientists from the University of Oxford and The Pirbright Institute. They have used a new method to produce a vaccine that doesn't rely on inactivating the live, infectious virus which causes the disease – and is therefore much safer to produce.

Death in young children in Africa linked to mother’s poor health
Young children in poorer countries who lose their mother are at increased risk from when she becomes seriously ill, not just in the period following her death. An international study including Oxford University researchers found increased risk of mortality among children aged under five in the months before their mother's death, as well as in the months after her death.

Males may be smart to risk 'cheating' females
Males who stick around to care for offspring that may not belong to them are not 'hapless dupes' but are playing the odds in a game of evolutionary poker, according to Oxford University research. Previous studies have assumed that 'cuckolded' males, whose mates have offspring fathered by another male, should adjust their behaviour to care less for babies they believe are not theirs.

Chief Medical Officer opens new research facility in Oxford
Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health, has opened a new research facility in Oxford which will speed the development of effective treatments for dementia, mental health and neurological conditions. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford cognitive health Clinical Research Facility (CRF) will enable clinical studies of the size and quality required to translate important scientific advances into benefits for patients.

Index identifies poorer countries where poverty is 'shrinking'
An Oxford University study shows poverty is shrinking in many parts of the world. The index devised by researchers at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) measures reductions in multidimensional poverty – overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards – rather than income.

World first: device keeps human liver alive outside body
In a world first, a donated human liver has been 'kept alive' outside a human being and then successfully transplanted into a patient in need of a new liver.

Maritime trading thrived in Egypt, even before Alexandria
New research into Thonis-Heracleion, a sunken port-city that served as the gateway to Egypt in the first millennium BC, is being examined at an international conference at the University of Oxford. The port city, situated 6.5 kilometres off today's coastline, was one of the biggest commercial hubs in the Mediterranean before the founding of Alexandria.

Heart risk after breast cancer radiotherapy smaller than thought
Radiotherapy for breast cancer does involve an increase in risk of heart disease, but for most women it is very small and greatly outweighed by the benefits of treatment. The research, by scientists at the University of Oxford and in Scandinavia, involved over 2,000 women treated with radiotherapy in Denmark and Sweden.

New forum uses Oxford research to connect Britain with South-East Asia
A forum that disseminates Oxford University research to policymakers and business leaders via the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has held its inaugural meeting.

Jon Culshaw gives Oxford's rogue planet a voice
Impressionist Jon Culshaw is helping Oxford University scientists to take viewers on a tour of the ancient solar system and discover strange new worlds.

Museum marks Brain Awareness Week

University Church reopens after landmark restoration
Oxford University's historic University Church of St Mary the Virgin has reopened, after undergoing its biggest restoration since the late 19th century.

Gero Miesenböck wins 2013 Brain Prize for optogenetics
Gero Miesenböck has been awarded The Brain Prize 2013 for his pioneering role in developing 'optogenetics', a revolutionary technique which uses light to control sets of nerve cells in order to reveal much about the brain.

Accelerating drug development
All human clinical trials of new treatments begin with phase I, where drugs are tested in isolation to confirm their safety.

Amputee pain linked to brain retaining picture of missing limb
Changes in the brain following amputation have been linked to pain arising from the missing limb, called ‘phantom pain', in an Oxford University brain imaging study.

New Master of Pembroke College appointed

Flying moths inspire robotics
The hawk moth's wings are a blur of mottled grey motion as it hovers tethered to a steel rod in large white plastic orb. Outside the orb in the darkened room where I stand, a projector casts moving patterns of dimmed light onto the sphere's surface, illuminating the moth's field of vision with oscillating stripes.

Dark Blues to wear pink for the evening

Oxfam donates archive to the Bodleian Libraries
The international development charity Oxfam has announced it has donated the organization's entire archive, spanning the last seventy years, to the University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries.

Sports teams gear up for key Varsity weekend
Sports captains across Oxford will be making their final preparations for a busy weekend of Varsity competition in Cambridge.

Caves point to thawing of Siberia
Evidence from Siberian caves suggests that a global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius could see permanently frozen ground thaw over a large area of Siberia, threatening release of carbon from soils, and damage to natural and human environments. A thaw in Siberia's permafrost (ground frozen throughout the year) could release over 1,000 giga-tonnes of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, potentially enhancing global warming.

New therapy uses electricity to cancel out Parkinson tremors
A new therapy could help suppress tremors in people with Parkinson's disease, an Oxford University study suggests. The technique – called transcranial alternating current stimulation or TACS – cancels out the brain signal causing the tremors by applying a small, safe electric current across electrodes on the outside of a patient's head.

Oxford announces honorary degrees for 2013

Robot electric car shows off iPad 'auto drive'
Robotic technology from Oxford University that enables a car to 'drive itself' for stretches of a route has been shown driving a Nissan Leaf electric car.

Vince Cable visits Oxford University
The Rt Hon Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, visited Oxford University on 13 February to hear more about how world-class Oxford research gets translated into commercial applications with benefits for the economy, health and the environment.

How Shakespeare's writing was influenced by his lead actor
The influence of one of Shakespeare's principal actors on many of the bard's plays has been revealed by an Oxford University academic.

Hospitals under pressure from rise in admissions of kids with infections
The number of children admitted to hospital as emergencies has steadily increased every year since 2003, with the largest rises seen among the under 5s, an Oxford University study has found.

Global Ocean Commission launched
The Global Ocean Commission, an independent body of international leaders based at Somerville College with the aim of reversing the degradation of the ocean, is launched today.

Understanding the risks of high-carbon assets
The University of Oxford will today launch a new research programme to help businesses and policy-makers future proof against investments in assets that might become devalued or written off, otherwise known as 'stranded'. Assets become stranded for a number of different reasons: they can be supplanted by greener alternatives or technological innovations, or in sectors experiencing change due to new regulations or resource constraints.

Source of Shakespeare's inaccurate Richard III portrayal explored
While Shakespeare's mastery of language and stagecraft is universally recognised, the historical accuracy of many of his plays is open to question and the recent discovery of Richard III's remains has reminded us of this.

Models move from brain to rain
One of climate scientists' key ambitions is to predict future climate change more accurately. They create incredibly detailed computer models, but even these cannot calculate all the infinite detail of the real climate. The inevitable approximations they have to make mean that when it comes to rainfall - one of the most important, yet tricky, aspects of climate - different models seem to say very different things.

The Prince of Wales opens Saïd Business School's new wing

Oxford Tolkien Spring School launched

The material that's like an octopus
The atomic structure of a zinc-based material has a surprising amount in common with the tentacles of an octopus, Oxford University researchers have found. When pressure is applied all around them most materials shrink. But materials exhibiting a rare property known as negative linear compressibility (NLC) are different.

How the Chinese government uses online gaming for propaganda
The extent of the Chinese government's partnership with online gaming companies to promote its nationalist agenda has been revealed by an Oxford University historian.

Supporting leadership development in primary schools

Early HIV treatment may slow disease progression
A 48-week course of antiretroviral medication taken in the early stages of HIV infection slows the damage to the immune system and delays the need for long term treatment, according to research published today in the New England Journal of Medicine . However, the delay was only marginally longer than the time already spent on treatment.

Does my BMI look big in this?
At some point – whether it's at the doctors, at the gym, or online – all of us have probably encountered the Body Mass Index.

New wing at Botnar marks decade of success
Research groups are moving into the new £11m wing of the Botnar Research Centre at Oxford University. The extension essentially doubles the size of the centre located on the site of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington. Last year the centre celebrated its 10th anniversary. It's a celebration that is certainly justified, as that decade has seen an extraordinary growth and flowering of research in the centre, which focuses on musculoskeletal diseases such as arthritis and osteoporosis.

Chasing data shadows: Twitter map of football fans
Researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute are analysing geotagged tweets to see what they tell us about the material, offline world. As a fun side project, they have created a Twitter map to find out where football fans of different clubs actually live. The data used include all geocoded tweets mentioning any of the Premier League football teams and their associated hashtags (e.g., #MUFC) that were sent between 18 August and 19 December 2012.

Party with the stars: part deux
Are you watching BBC Stargazing Live - You should be, especially as it features OxSciBlog regular Chris Lintott giving you the chance to (virtually) explore Mars in the citizen science project Planet Four.

New Year Honours 2013
Five Oxford University academics have been recognised in the New Year Honours, announced on 29 December.

Runners benefit from new spin-out
Run3D Ltd, a new Oxford University spin-out company, provides a pioneering service to help runners avoid a common form of injury.

UK teenagers without the internet are 'educationally disadvantaged'
A major in-depth study examining how teenagers in the UK are using the internet and other mobile devices says the benefits of using such technologies far outweigh any perceived risks. The findings are based on a large-scale study of more than 1,000 randomly selected households in the UK, coupled with regular face-to-face s with more than 200 teenagers and their families between 2008 and 2011.

An essential new tool for conservation planning
An international research team has updated a Victorian map that has been the blueprint for our understanding of the diversity of life-forms across the world. The original map was created in 1876 by Alfred Russel Wallace, who co-discovered the theory of natural selection with Charles Darwin. Using advances in modern technology and data on more than 20,000 species, scientists have compiled the next generation map, which is published online in Science Express today.

Safari, so good
Have you been on virtual safari yet? If you haven't then you should visit Snapshot Serengeti , a new citizen science project asking online volunteers to identify animals in millions of photos taken by camera traps across Serengeti National Park.

New Warden of Rhodes House appointed

New technology reveals origins of images in printed ballads
An Oxford University team has developed a software tool which can identify the origin of illustrations on 17th and 18th-century printed 'broadside ballads'. The researchers say that being able to match printed images made from the same wooden blocks, or their copies, will provide insights into the history of printing in England between 1600 and 1800.

Ed Byrne in Oxford volcano adventure
Comedian Ed Byrne has teamed up with Oxford University scientists to help explain the science of volcanoes.

More intensive therapy doesn't speed up recovery from whiplash
More intensive treatment doesn't improve recovery from whiplash injuries and is not cost-effective, a new study has found. 'Our findings suggest that that more enhanced forms of treatment (active management consultations) that include positive messages about recovery, exercise, and early return to normal activities as well as pain management, do not speed recovery,' says lead researcher Sallie Lamb of the Universities of Oxford and Warwick.

Speed bumps could help doctors diagnose appendicitis
A route to hospital involving speed bumps may help doctors confirm a diagnosis in patients with suspected appendicitis, an Oxford University study has found. The researchers found that patients whose pain got worse going over speed bumps were more likely to have acute appendicitis. Helen Ashdown of the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford said: 'It may sound odd, but asking patients whether their pain worsened going over speed bumps on their way in to hospital could help doctors in a diagnosis.

Elephants make record-breaking trek to survive
Elephants living near Timbuktu make an annual journey encompassing an area of 32,000 square kilometres in order to find the food and water they need to survive.

Are some charities 100 times better than others?
A society born from an Oxford University academic's decision to give more than half of all his future earnings to charity has attracted $100m in pledges, it announced as it celebrated its third birthday this week. Giving What We Can, which evaluates which charities most cost-effectively tackle global poverty and invites members to pledge at least 10 per cent of their lifetime earnings to these charities, was set up by Toby Ord of the Philosophy Faculty at Oxford University in December 2009.

Tax avoidance: Clearing up the confusion
The level of tax paid by some of the multinational companies operating in the UK and the schemes used to reduce the tax bills of wealthy individuals are the subject of much public debate.

Indira Gandhi centre

Stunning comeback gives Oxford Varsity victory

Admissions interview period: Oxford welcomes 11,000 applicants

£10m gift for graduate scholarships at University College

Cave clue to 13,000 winters
Over 13,000 years ago a stalagmite began to grow in a cave in Oregon. Each winter rainwater from the land above made its way through the cave's ceiling and dripped onto the floor.

Entrepreneurs ’Out of Africa’
Successful African entrepreneurs are in Oxford for a launch conference of the 'Humanitarian Innovation Project' (HIP), which will examine ways of helping refugees set up and grow their own businesses.

Project to tackle teaching of Christianity in the classroom