Quantum technologies to treat it; quantum physics to create it? An ambitious agreement: Tokyo, December 13th, 2016 The agreement is signed, five organisations join forces. Equipped with accelerating lasers and deflecting, superconducting magnets, they will develop a Quantum Scalpel. Their ambition is zero cancer deaths, says Toshio Hirano, chief of the National Institutes for Quantum…
Members of the Oxford Department of Zoology have tracked peregrine falcons in the field as they attacked dummy prey – and discovered that they use the same control strategies to catch them as modern projectile weapons. This suggests a new way to tackle the problem of rogue drones. Principle investigator Professor Graham Taylor said “Falcons…
Alzheimer’s disease is a major global health problem, with the number of people with the disease in the UK expected to double by 2050. Efforts to develop an effective treatment have not yet been successful as we don’t properly understand what causes it. What do we already know about Alzheimer’s? One of the key features…
It is understood that climate change will lead to increased humidity, but why should we care? The reason is that heat stress, which is set to become a prominent and pressing issue as global temperatures rise, is compounded by humidity. Materials provided by The Earth Institute at Columbia University explain that it is more difficult…
A recent study, published on Nature Neuroscience, lays groundwork for potential development of first neurobiologically-based therapy for patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This research from the O’Donnell Brain Institute in the U.S. explored a specific area within the right cerebellum, called CrusI. Whilst cerebellar abnormalities in ASD patients were known for some time, the…
Tuberculosis is currently the most deadly infectious disease worldwide, killing an estimated 1.7 million people in 2016. The only licensed vaccine currently available is BCG, which is only 70% effective. While most vaccines work by inducing antibodies, mycobacterium tuberculosis (or Mtb for short) hides inside cells, preventing antibodies from reaching it. T cells, which help…
A year ago, I found an advert sent out by the University’s volunteering hub to work on an innovative new app called “Self-Heal”. Having won funding from the Oxford IT innovation challenge, a group of students had recently developed the app, with input from clinicians, as a toolkit for students to manage self-injury. It covers…
I love bacon so much. And burgers, and chicken nuggets. So as you can imagine, becoming a vegetarian wasn’t something that I’d previously considered. But I’ve now been veggie for 3 weeks and counting, because it felt like something I should do. Globally, the livestock industry churns out more greenhouse gases than transport1, and as…
People live messy lives: they make complex choices about what to eat, who to start a family with, and generally how to live their lives. Mice on the other hand are much simpler. They can live in a lab where their diet, mating and behaviour can be carefully monitored and controlled. This makes it far…
Oxytocin’s role in human bonding is well-known – so well-known that the first hormone ever to be sequenced is now the go-to science jewellery gift for geeks everywhere. Its role in childbirth and mother-child bonding was first elucidated at the dawn of the 20th century, and since then its profile in popular culture has grown…
