news 2009

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 22.04
Perfumed plants allure beneficial bacteria to their roots
Perfumed plants allure beneficial bacteria to their roots Scientists have discovered maize crops emit chemical signals to attract growth promoting microbes to their roots which boosts performance and could combat world food shortages.

Chemistry - Physics/Astronomy - 12.03
Molecule may aid nuclear waste clean-up
Scientists have produced a previously unseen uranium molecule, in a move that could improve clean-up of nuclear waste. The distinctive butterfly-shaped compound is similar to radioactive molecules that scientists had proposed to be key components of nuclear waste.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 8.03
Measure antimatter
Physicists have carried out detailed spectroscopic measurements of antimatter. The team, part of the ALPHA collaboration at CERN, in Geneva, had previously managed to trap antihydrogen atoms - the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen - routinely for long periods of time.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 15.02
Unveiling new Galactic surprises
The European Space Agency's Planck mission with the support of University astronomers has unveiled more surprises about our Galaxy, bringing scientists closer to being able to understand the structure of the Universe.

Chemistry - Physics/Astronomy - 14.02
Shear stiffness and friction mechanics of single-layer graphene measured for the first time
Researchers from the University of Bristol have measured and identified for the first time the stress and strain shear modulus and internal friction of graphene sheets. The research, in collaboration with the US Office of Naval Research , is published in Nano Letters .

Chemistry - Life Sciences - 9.02
Redder ladybirds are more deadly
Research by the University of Liverpool has found that the redder ladybirds more poisonous. The study by the Universities of Liverpool and Exeter reveals that variation in colour is directly linked to diet in early life, with better-fed ladybirds being more visible and more deadly.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Chemistry - 2.02
A silver bullet to beat cancer?
The internet is awash with stories of how silver can be used to treat cancer. Now, lab tests have shown that it is as effective as the leading chemotherapy drug - and may have fewer side-effects. Results from the study at the University of Leeds, published in Dalton Transactions , show that particular silver compounds are as toxic to cancer cells as the platinum-based drug Cisplatin, which is widely used to treat a range of cancers.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Chemistry - 16.01
Scientists shed new light on link between ’killer cells’ and diabetes
Killer T-cells in the human body which help protect us from disease can inadvertently destroy cells that produce insulin, new research by scientists at King's College London has uncovered. The study provides the first evidence of this mechanism in action and could offer new understanding of the cause of Type 1 diabetes.

Chemistry - Environmental Sciences - 13.01
Particle which could ’cool the planet’
Scientists have shown that a new molecule in the earth's atmosphere has the potential to play a significant role in off-setting global warming by cooling the planet. In a breakthrough paper published in Science, researchers from the University of Manchester , the University of Bristol and Sandia National Laboratories report the potentially revolutionary effects of Criegee biradicals.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 4.01
'Lost world' discovered around Antarctic vents
Communities of species previously unknown to science have been discovered on the seafloor near Antarctica, clustered in the hot, dark environment surrounding hydrothermal vents. The discoveries, made by teams led by the University of Oxford, University of Southampton, the National Oceanography Centre, and British Antarctic Survey, include new species of yeti crab, starfish, barnacles, and sea anemones, and even an octopus probably new to science.

Environmental Sciences - Chemistry - 23.12.2011
Go to work on a Christmas card: UK’s wrapping paper and festive cards could provide energy to send a bus to the moon more than 20 times
If all the UK's discarded wrapping paper and Christmas cards were collected and fermented, they could make enough biofuel to run a double-decker bus to the moon and back more than 20 times, according to the researchers behind a new scientific study.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 30.11.2011
Controlled disorder -- scientists find way to form random molecular patterns
Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a way to control how tiny flat molecules fit together in a seemingly random pattern. The researchers have been studying molecules which resemble tiny rhombus/diamond shaped tiles, with a side length of around 2 nanometres — 2 billionths of a metre.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 16.11.2011
Schizophrenia linked to memory process
Genetic mutations that cause schizophrenia could be linked to systems in the brain responsible for learning and memory. University researchers from Edinburgh have identified changes to genes - genetic mutations - in patients with schizophrenia who had not inherited the condition.

Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - Chemistry - 20.10.2011
Workings of molecular motor revealed
The structure and function of a ‘molecular motor' critical to the functioning of human organs and, when malfunctioning, implicated in cancer, kidney failure, and osteoporosis, has been revealed in unprecedented detail.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Chemistry - 10.10.2011
Everest expedition suggests nitric oxide benefits for patients in intensive care
The latest results from an expedition to Mount Everest that looked at the body's response to low oxygen levels suggest that drugs or procedures that promote the body's production of a chemical compound called nitric oxide (NO) could improve the recovery of critically ill patients in intensive care.