Research Horizons

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Bad Air Day? Low-cost pollution detectors to tackle air quality Jun 03, 2015

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A new generation of pollution monitors developed by the University of Cambridge, together with academic and industrial partners, could help gather the evidence essential to tackle poor air quality. Air pollution is the world’s largest single environmental health risk, causing one in every eight deaths according to figures released in 2014 by the World Health Organization. The new sensors are small enough to carry, stable enough to be installed as static detectors long-term around a city, and sensitive enough to detect small changes in air quality on a street-by-street basis. Research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, European Union and Medical Research Council; film funded by the NERC Impact Acceleration Account

D-Day's 'forgotten man' Jul 30, 2014

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Seventy years after Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy, Cambridge University's Churchill Archives Centre has released a short film (free to embed) commemorating the 'forgotten architect' of D-Day. Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay was part of General Eisenhower's inner circle during the months and years of top secret planning that led to Operation Overlord, launched on June 6, 1944. Ramsay was in overall command of Operation Neptune, the unimaginably complex naval and landing operations of D-Day, as more than 4,000 ships and landing craft, nearly 200,000 men and thousands of aircraft took part in the first wave of Normandy landings. However, Ramsay has become one of D-Day's forgotten men; a fatal plane crash in 1945 robbing him of the chance of penning his memoirs or taking his place alongside other venerated Allied leaders such as Eisenhower and Churchill at the end of hostilities. Today, the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge, is home to the personal archive of Admiral Ramsay, as well as those of Churchill and other distinguished military and political figures. The Ramsay archive includes his D-Day diary, invasion maps, photographs and correspondence -- as well as eyewitness accounts from the Dunkirk evacuation, another watershed occasion in British naval history overseen by Ramsay.

Anti-fraud lasers Jul 30, 2014

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An anti-fraud laser detector could be used to identify counterfeit banknotes, pharmaceuticals and luxury goods. The prototype was developed with support from the Cambridge Innovation and Knowledge Centre http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/anti-fraud-lasers-and-inks-for-transparent-electronics

Crania Americana Mar 21, 2014

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On display at the Whipple Library, Cambridge, is a book described as the 'most important book in the history of scientific racism' Current research into this book is revealing how racist ideas travelled between the United States and Europe in the 19th century. Crania Americana, published in Philadelphia in 1839 by Samuel George Morton, is being studied by Cambridge University PhD student James Poskett at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. His research has uncovered, for the first time, just how influential this book was in scientific circles that included the likes of Charles Darwin and James Cowles Prichard. www.hps.cam.ac.uk/library/Fpage.html

Bovril - A meat flavoured monologue Mar 21, 2014

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The makers of the beef extract called Bovril were pioneers in the dark arts of marketing. Cambridge University historian Lesley Steinitz explains how that famous black gloop won a cherished place in the heart of the nation. A century and a half ago, a revolution took place in the food industry. A boom in the urban population fuelled a need for the mass production of affordable, non-perishable foodstuffs sold in cans and jars. Advances in processing and manufacturing collided with a burgeoning interest in science: the result was the emergence of branded convenience foods, cleverly marketed as nourishing and nutritious.

Folic acid deficiency can affect the health of great, great grandchildren Oct 04, 2013

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Folic acid deficiency can cause severe health problems in offspring, including spina bifida, heart defects and placental abnormalities. A study out today reveals that a mutation in a gene necessary for the metabolism of folic acid not only impacts the immediate offspring but can also have detrimental health effects on the next several generations. The new research, which also sheds light on the molecular mechanism of folic acid (also known as folate) during development

Archaic Greek in a modern world Mar 15, 2013

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An endangered Greek dialect which is spoken in north-eastern Turkey has been identified by researchers as a "linguistic goldmine" because of its startling closeness to the ancient language, as Cambridge researcher Dr Ioanna Sitaridou explains.

Anglo-Saxon teen buried in bed with gold cross Mar 15, 2013

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One of the earliest Anglo-Saxon Christian burial sites in Britain has been discovered in a village outside Cambridge. The grave of a teenage girl from the mid 7th century AD has an extraordinary combination of two extremely rare finds: a 'bed burial' and an early Christian artefact in the form of a stunning gold and garnet cross. The girl, aged around 16, was buried on an ornamental bed -- a very limited Anglo-Saxon practice of the mid to later 7th century -- with a pectoral Christian cross on her chest, that had probably been sewn onto her clothing. Fashioned from gold and intricately set with cut garnets, only the fifth of its kind ever to be found, the artefact dates this grave to the very early years of the English Church, probably between 650 and 680 AD.

Forget walking... tiny insect jumps on water Mar 15, 2013

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An insect not much bigger than a grain of rice is able to repeatedly jump on the surface of water using specialised paddles on their hind legs, new research reveals. The pygmy mole cricket, which is really more closely related to a grasshopper than a cricket, is only 5mm (1/4 inch) long and weighs less than 10mg. They live in burrows that they dig into the muddy banks alongside fresh water, to include creeks and ponds, in more tropical habitats. On land they can jump as far as 1 metre and as high as 0.7 metre, but accuracy is sacrificed for speed and they often end up in the nearby water. Professor Malcolm Burrows, from the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology, first encountered pygmy mole crickets (family Tridactylidae) while eating his lunch near a pond in Cape Town, South Africa. Upon hearing sporadic noises coming from the water, he observed something he had never seen before in his 48 years of research -- an insect that was jumping on the surface of the water. After collecting a few of the creatures and bringing them back to the lab, he analysed them jumping using a high speed camera. He and his engineer colleague, Dr Gregory Sutton, discovered that, unlike other animals that use the surface tension of water such as pond skater insects (also known as water striders) or basilisk (Jesus) lizards to traverse water, the pygmy mole cricket relies on its powerful hind legs to thrust a small ball of water down to propel itself off the surface. In order to escape the water, where they are easy prey for fish, the pygmy mole cricket rapidly (the legs are extended in about 1 millisecond at an angular velocity of 130,000 degrees per second) push their powerful hind legs into the water. As they push downward, specialised spring-loaded paddles and spurs fan out to increase the surface area (which is increased by 2.4 times). This enables them to propel a ball of water downwards, launching them upwards into the air. Once the thrust has been applied, the paddles then rapidly snap closed to reduce the drag. On water, the jumps can reach distances of 33mm (5.4 times the length of their body) and 100mm high.

From Punnett to personal genomics: a century of genetics in Cambridge Mar 12, 2013

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The Balfour Chair of Genetics was established at Cambridge in 1912. As part of its centenary celebrations the Department of Genetics has produced a short film following the development of the subject in the University over the past 100 years. In the early 20th century the establishment of genetic research in Britain was driven primarily by William Bateson. As Steward of St John's College and later Professor of Biology in the University, Bateson played a key role in demonstrating the applicability of Mendel's laws to a variety of organisms, particularly animals. As well as laying the foundations for a renewed interest in the study of heredity, it was Bateson who coined the term Genetics. In 1912, largely as a result of Bateson's championing of the subject, the University established the Balfour Professorship of Genetics that in time would lead to the formation of the modern Department of Genetics. The first incumbent of the Chair was Reginald Punnett, known to students of biology throughout the world for his eponymous square. In the hundred years since this event Genetics has passed from being an eccentric mixture of mathematics, gardening and biology to become the core of the biological sciences. Our film tells the story of the role of Cambridge and the Department of Genetics in this journey.

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