science wire

All set and ready to glow
A breakthrough technique for manufacturing LEDs on silicon is to be exploited in the UK, putting mass-produced, energy-efficient lighting within reach. —Colin Humphreys A new technique that paves the way for manufacturing affordable LED light bulbs is to be exploited in the UK, in a deal that researchers say could have a dramatic impact on carbon emissions.

Science writer ’wastes’ time in university library
Science writer 'wastes' time in university library In a book that comes out tomorrow (Saturday 4 February) on National Libraries Day, a local author tells of his frequent research visits to the University of Sussex Library.

"How to Grow a Planet" on the BBC
Geologist Iain Stewart will demonstrate how plants are the “silent power” that has shaped the Earth, in a new three-part series for BBC2 starting this week. How to Grow a Planet will offer a totally new perspective on the world's history, and will document the crucial role that plants have played in its evolution.

Under the Microscope #4 – Liquid crystals
Tim Wilkinson is combining liquid crystals with nanotechnology to try and create 3D displays which would look like real life.

Supermaterial goes superpermeable
Wonder material graphene has revealed another of its extraordinary properties - University of Manchester researchers have found that it is superpermeable with respect to water. Graphene is one of the wonders of the science world, with the potential to create foldaway mobile phones, wallpaper-thin lighting panels and the next generation of aircraft.

Degree matter mimics stars
Extreme conditions of temperature and pressure found in stars have been recreated on Earth using the world's brightest X-ray source.

Weaving electronics into the fabric of our physical world
The integration of electronics with materials opens up a world of possibilities, the surface of which is just being scratched. Professor Arokia Nathan has joined the University to take up a new Chair in Engineering, where he will be exploring the application of research that allows us to glimpse a world rivalling our wildest dreams of the future.

Scientists produce world’s first magnetic soap
A University of Bristol team has dissolved iron in liquid surfactant to create a soap that can be controlled by magnets. The discovery could be used to create cleaning products that can be removed after application and used in the recovery of oil spills at sea Scientists from the University of Bristol have developed a soap, composed of iron rich salts dissolved in water, that responds to a magnetic field when placed in solution.

T-rays technology could help develop Star Trek-style hand-held medical scanners
A*STAR and Imperial College London news release For immediate release Friday 10 January 2012 Scientists have developed a new way to create electromagnetic Terahertz (THz) waves or T-rays - the technology behind full-body security scanners. The researchers behind the study, published recently Photonics, say their new stronger and more efficient continuous wave T-rays could be used to make better medical scanning gadgets and may one day lead to innovations similar to the 'tricorder' scanner used in Star Trek.

Quantum codes make cloud computing safe
Quantum supercomputers could safely store and manipulate sensitive data, with help from University research.

Violin and subatomic particle duet set to be performed at leading UK particle physics lab
One of the world’s leading physics laboratories is set to stage a unique musical duet between a violinist and radioactive subatomic particles later this month.

Party with the stars
If you're enjoying BBC Two's Stargazing Live then you'll want to join in the astronomical fun at Stargazing Oxford this Saturday, 21 January.

Stargazing LIVE returns to Jodrell Bank
The hugely-popular Stargazing LIVE returns to The University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory next week.

Stephen Hawking 70th Birthday Symposium
A capacity 550-strong audience gave a standing ovation at the end of a moving, amusing and wide-ranging autobiographical speech by Stephen Hawking on the occasion of his 70th birthday on Sunday.

Scientists map frontiers of dark matter
University astronomers have helped to map dark matter on the largest scale ever observed. Their findings reveal the Universe as an intricate web of dark matter and galaxies spanning more than one billion light years.

Graphene reveals its magnetic personality
Can organic matter behave like a fridge magnet? Scientists from The University of Manchester have now shown that it can. In a report published , they used graphene, the world's thinnest and strongest material, and made it magnetic. Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a chicken wire structure.

Seeing Quantum Mechanics with the naked eye
New research lays groundwork for new generation of ultrasensitive gyroscopes to measure gravity, magnetic field, and create quantum circuits Just to see and prod quantum mechanics working in front of your eyes is amazing." —Dr Gab Christmann A Cambridge team have built a semiconductor chip that converts electrons into a quantum state that emits light but is large enough to see by eye.

Professor Stephen Hawking’s 70th birthday symposium will focus on ‘The State of the Universe’
Professor Stephen Hawking will look back on his life at an event to celebrate his 70th birthday this weekend in Cambridge.

Magnetically-levitated flies offer clues to future of life in space
PA 03/12 Using powerful magnets to levitate fruit flies can provide vital clues to how biological organisms are affected by weightless conditions in space, researchers at The University of Nottingham say. The team of scientists has shown that simulating weightlessness in fruit flies here on earth with the use of magnets causes the flies to walk more quickly — the same effect observed during similar experiments on the International Space Station.

‘Extreme Sleepover #8’ – unlocking the universe from the Atacama desert
In the eighth of a series of reports contributed by Cambridge researchers, we hear about John Richer's night-time research activities at the ALMA observatory in Chile's Atacama desert.

Professor Stephen Hawking’s 70th birthday public symposium

Scientists ’trigger’ high energy physics at CERN in India-UK collaboration
The University of Birmingham is working with partners at Jammu University on particle physics experiments, including those at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research – CERN.

Vibration rocks for entangled diamonds
Diamonds are celebrated for their enduring beauty and hardness but they can also be a physicist's best friend. In Nature Photonics and Science an international team of scientists report that a strange quantum state called ‘ entanglement ' has been achieved in two 3mm-wide diamond crystals, spaced 15cm apart, at room temperature.

Dwarf star triggered supernova
The star that exploded to create the nearest supernova of its type to be discovered since 1986 has been revealed by an international team including Oxford University scientists. New observations reported in two papers in this week's Nature show that a very dense, very small white dwarf star made of carbon and oxygen, orbiting another star, triggered the explosion.

Higgs hunt narrows
Today scientists at the Large Hadron Collider announced tantalising news about the biggest piece missing from the physics jigsaw. The Higgs boson is a hypothetical particle used to explain why many of the fundamental particles in the Standard Model of particle physics have mass. Proving if it exists is tricky because the model doesn't predict its exact mass.

Haul of 50 oscillating stars with orbiting planets found by Kepler Spacecraft
Oscillations have been discovered in 50 stars with their own orbiting candidate planets (exo- or extrasolar planets) by an international team of scientists using data from the NASA Kepler Mission, according to an announcement made by one of the lead scientists, Professor Bill Chaplin from the UK's University of Birmingham, at a NASA conference in California (Friday 9th December, 2011).

Road to world's largest telescope
Today saw the ESO give the go-ahead for work to begin on a series of roads on a mountain in Northern Chile.

Scientists develop pioneering telescope
University scientists are helping design and launch a satellite that will map more of the Universe than ever before. The satellite, known as Euclid, will follow on from the Hubble telescope, launched by in 1990. The Hubble broke new ground in space observation and led to many discoveries in our knowledge and understanding of physics.

Eminent Notts scientist receives blue plaque honour
A blue plaque commemorating the life and work of one of Nottinghamshire's most eminent scientists is to be unveiled at the Beeston home he built.

Materials which expand and contract like muscles could be used as gas sensors
Materials which expand and contract like muscles could be used as gas sensors. Experts at the University of Sheffield have created an `artificial muscle´ reaction in materials that respond to chemical vapours, something that could pave the way for a new type of gas sensor.

University of Warwick public lecture sees Scully open the X-Files on neutrino mystery
The mystery around subatomic particles which appear to defy Einstein's theories will be the subject of a free public lecture at the University of Warwick.

Has our black hole been blowing bubbles?
Our galaxy is a relatively quiet neighbourhood with the supermassive black hole at its heart gently dozing: or is it? The recent discovery of huge gamma-ray emitting ‘bubbles' around the Milky Way is challenging this assumption and posing a new puzzle: just where do these bubbles come from? Philipp Mertsch and Subir Sarkar of Oxford University's Department of Physics recently reported in Physical Review Letters a model that could explain the origins of these strange phenomena.

A beast with four tails
The Milky Way galaxy continues to devour its small neighbouring dwarf galaxies and the evidence is spread out across the sky.

Where God meets physics
Eminent thinker and commentator Revd John Polkinghorne, Fellow of the Royal Society, will be giving a public talk - titled A Destiny Beyond Death - tomorrow lunchtime at St Edmund's College, Cambridge.

Mast from classic racing yacht holds one of the keys to sustainable biofuels
The mast from a classic racing yacht and samples from a Forestry Commission breeding trial have played a key role in the search for sustainable biofuels. Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on earth — and therefore a potentially major source of glucose for the production of biofuels.

Chemistry lovers take the Cambridge challenge
Students in the UK and around the world have put their chemistry skills to the test this year in a new competition supported by the Department of Chemistry.

A big bang in Nottingham’s Particle Theory Group
PA359/11 Image credit: NASA/CXC/SAO The University of Nottingham's School of Physics and Astronomy is celebrating a bumper crop of top new research brains in its Particle Theory Group after receiv

University of Manchester is part of consortium for new super microscope
The University of Manchester has been awarded part of a £4.5m grant because of the quality of its microscopy research.

Amplifier helps diamond spy on atoms
An ‘amplifier' molecule placed on the tip of a diamond could help scientists locate and identify individual atoms, Oxford University and Singapore scientists believe. The idea builds on ongoing work towards creating a diamond nanocrystal that can be used to detect an atom's incredibly weak magnetic field.

How languages are built
A team of Cambridge linguists has embarked on an ambitious project to identify how the languages of the world are built - from Inuit Yupik to sub-Saharan Bantu, from Navajo to Nepalese.

Durham scientists part of new space mission to find dark energy
Durham scientists part of new space mission to find dark energy Scientists at Durham University will be part of a major new space mission to discover the nature of two mysterious substances believed to make up a large part of our Universe. The Euclid project will aim to uncover the secrets of dark energy and dark matter using one of the largest optical digital cameras ever put into Space.

Spin-out improves scientific imaging
A new spin-out firm from Oxford University is developing high performance scientific imaging detectors capable of studying structures and processes at the atomic level.

Lord Rees explores 'limits of science' in Romanes Lecture
Lord Rees explored the limits of our current understanding of science, whether there are intrinsic limits to our scientific understanding, and the factors limiting how science is applied, at Oxford University's Romanes Lecture on Wednesday 2 November 2011.

From citizen to scientist?
All publicity is good publicity, or so the saying goes, and so by all accounts I should have been pleased by the mention of our Galaxy Zoo project in the Times Higher Education a couple of weeks ago. On closer inspection, though, there's something really rather odd about the argument it presents, and not just in giving Galaxy Zoo, which was developed and led here at Oxford University, as an example of an American project (to be fair to THE , they printed a letter correcting this misconception in today's edition).

The stuff of asteroids
Many of them are in Earth's neighbourhood, patrolling the space between Mars and Jupiter, but there's a lot we don't know about asteroids. Now new observations from the VIRTIS instrument aboard the Rosetta spacecraft are revealing what the potato-shaped asteroid Lutetia is made of.

Paintball demo targets mysteries of quantum physics for TV show
Paintball demo targets mysteries of quantum physics for TV show Physicist Winfried Hensinger has been helping the BBC understand the complexities of quantum physics - by taking part in a spot of paintballing. Hensinger, a Reader in Quantum, Atomic and Optical Physics, took up the sporting challenge for a report on his groundbreaking research by BBC programme Inside Out.

Research into energy flow features on the cover of Nature Chemistry
'Energy flow maps' which provide new insight into how chemical reactions work are described in a paper by David Glowacki and colleagues at the University of Bristol in the November.

Space mission scientists share their cosmic vision
by Simon Levey 25 October 2011 Imperial scientists are planning to take physics to new limits with two missions given the rubber stamp by the European Space Agency (ESA) this month, known as Solar Orbiter and Euclid.

Boeing funds strategic collaboration for carbon fibre recycling
In desert ‘aircraft graveyards', where retired planes often go when flight service ends, good parts are removed and sold and many materials are recycled.

Lightning research advances
Cardiff University has launched a new research facility, the Morgan-Botti Lightning Laboratory today (13 October).

Jodrell Bank given Royal seal of approval
13 Oct 2011 Prince Andrew, Duke of York, praised the achievements of astronomers and scientists at Jodrell Bank on a visit to the Observatory last week.

A stamp of approval - ’J’ is for Jodrell
11 Oct 2011 The world-famous Jodrell Bank Observatory has been chosen to represent the letter 'J' in a new set of stamps featuring an A to Z of iconic landmarks from all four countries in the UK.

London Science Festival at UCL
This year UCL's 'Your Universe' Festival of Astronmy is running in partnership with the London Science Festival 2011.

Graphene’s ‘Big Mac’ creates next generation of chips
10 Oct 2011 Scientists at the University of Manchester have come one step closer to creating the next generation of computer chips using wonder material graphene.

X-rays help advance the battle against heart disease
Friday 7 October 2011 Adapted from a press release issued by Diamond Light Source Scientists from Imperial College London and Diamond Light Source have revealed the structure of a cholesterol-lowering-drug target. Published in the journal Nature , this finding could lead to much more effective drugs to tackle high cholesterol levels, a condition that increases the risk of heart disease.

Monkeying around at the start of the Manchester Science Festival
06 Oct 2011 Professor Brian Cox ushers in this year's Manchester Science Festival with his brilliant and irreverent BBC Radio 4 show at The University of Manchester next week.

Solar Orbiter and Euclid space missions given go-head
UCL scientists and engineers are to provide instruments for two major space missions which have been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA).

£50m boost for graphene research
03 Oct 2011 The University of Manchester welcomes the £50m investment announced today by the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne into graphene, the world's thinnest, strongest and most conductive material.

Astronomers crack the Fried Egg Nebula
Astronomers have produced the best ever image of a colossal yellow hypergiant star – one of the rarest types of star in the Universe. Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), teams from The University of Manchester, among others, took the new picture showing for the first time a huge dusty double shell surrounding the central hypergiant.

A touch of gold makes glass more see through
Physicists at King's have discovered a means of making glass more transparent - by coating it in a thin layer of gold.

Scientists lay out plans for efficient solar energy harvesting
Solar power could be harvested more efficiently and transported over long distances using tiny molecular circuits, according to research inspired by new insights into natural photosynthesis.

Scientist to be sealed plant-filled "bell jar" at the Eden Project for BBC photosynthesis experiment
Scientist and television Presenter Professor Iain Stewart is to take part in a unique experiment to demonstrate the importance of plants to human survival. As part of a major new BBC TWO documentary series called How Plants Made the World (working title) he will live inside a sealed, airtight chamber for 48 hours situated in the spectacular surroundings of the at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Scientists develop artificial biominerals
University of Manchester scientists have successfully created synthetic crystals whose structures and properties mimic those of naturally occurring biominerals such as seashells. The findings, published , could be an important step in the development of high-performance materials, which could be manufactured under environmentally-friendly conditions.

Sussex shortlisted for University of the Year in THE Awards 2011

Tiny test tubes and getting to grips with quantum gravity
A mathematician working on a new description of gravity and a scientist producing microscopic materials for the next generation of electronic devices are to receive a prestigious international grant that supports research stars of the future. Mathematician Kirill Krasnov and chemist Andrei Khlobystov, of The University of Nottingham, have each been awarded a Starting Investigator Grant — totalling more than €2.5 million — from the European Research Council.

50,000th subscriber signs up for award winning science website
A team of 10 professional chemists and one unconventional film maker have just signed up the 50,000th subscriber to their award winning science website — the Periodic Table of Videos (PTOV), ww

More sex please, we’re Greek: exposing the myth of Platonic love
Plato lent his name to Platonic love but a new book reveals that the ancient Greek philosopher never advocated love without sex. University of Manchester science historian Jay Kennedy, who hit the headlines last year after revealing he had cracked the code in the great thinker's writings, has now published a decoder's manual that lays bare the secret content of Plato's ancient works.

Getting inside the mind (and up the nose) of our ancient ancestors
Reorganisation of the brain and sense organs could be the key to the evolutionary success of vertebrates, one of the great puzzles in evolutionary biology, according to a paper by an international team of researchers, published today in Nature.

New centre gives boost to near net shape manufacturing
New centre gives boost to near net shape manufacturing A £10 million development centre, which aims to accelerate the deployment of a range of innovative near net shape powder-based manufactu

Astronomy proves no joke for well-known comic
Innocent Twitter banter between a Cardiff University astronomer and well-known Irish TV presenter and comic Dara O Briain has sparked a major on-line search for stars.