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Mystery orbits in outermost reaches of solar system not caused by ‘Planet Nine’, say researchers

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The alternative explanation to the so-called ‘Planet Nine’ hypothesis, put forward by researchers at the University of Cambridge and the American University of Beirut, proposes a disc made up of small icy bodies with a combined mass as much as ten times that of Earth. When combined with a simplified model of the solar system, the gravitational forces of the hypothesised disc can account for the unusual orbital architecture exhibited by some objects at the outer reaches of the solar system.

While the new theory is not the first to propose that the gravitational forces of a massive disc made of small objects could avoid the need for a ninth planet, it is the first such theory which is able to explain the significant features of the observed orbits while accounting for the mass and gravity of the other eight planets in our solar system. The results are reported in the Astronomical Journal.

Beyond the orbit of Neptune lies the Kuiper Belt, which is made up of small bodies left over from the formation of the solar system. Neptune and the other giant planets gravitationally influence the objects in the Kuiper Belt and beyond, collectively known as trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), which encircle the Sun on nearly-circular paths from almost all directions.

However, astronomers have discovered some mysterious outliers. Since 2003, around 30 TNOs on highly elliptical orbits have been spotted: they stand out from the rest of the TNOs by sharing, on average, the same spatial orientation. This type of clustering cannot be explained by our existing eight-planet solar system architecture and has led to some astronomers hypothesising that the unusual orbits could be influenced by the existence of an as-yet-unknown ninth planet.

The ‘Planet Nine’ hypothesis suggests that to account for the unusual orbits of these TNOs, there would have to be another planet, believed to be about ten times more massive than Earth, lurking in the distant reaches of the solar system and ‘shepherding’ the TNOs in the same direction through the combined effect of its gravity and that of the rest of the solar system.

“The Planet Nine hypothesis is a fascinating one, but if the hypothesised ninth planet exists, it has so far avoided detection,” said co-author Antranik Sefilian, a PhD student in Cambridge’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. “We wanted to see whether there could be another, less dramatic and perhaps more natural, cause for the unusual orbits we see in some TNOs. We thought, rather than allowing for a ninth planet, and then worry about its formation and unusual orbit, why not simply account for the gravity of small objects constituting a disc beyond the orbit of Neptune and see what it does for us?”

Professor Jihad Touma, from the American University of Beirut, and his former student Sefilian modelled the full spatial dynamics of TNOs with the combined action of the giant outer planets and a massive, extended disc beyond Neptune. The duo’s calculations, which grew out of a seminar at the American University of Beirut, revealed that such a model can explain the perplexing spatially clustered orbits of some TNOs. In the process, they were able to identify ranges in the disc’s mass, its ‘roundness’ (or eccentricity), and forced gradual shifts in its orientations (or precession rate), which faithfully reproduced the outlier TNO orbits.

“If you remove planet nine from the model and instead allow for lots of small objects scattered across a wide area, collective attractions between those objects could just as easily account for the eccentric orbits we see in some TNOs,” said Sefilian, who is a Gates Cambridge Scholar and a member of Darwin College.

Earlier attempts to estimate the total mass of objects beyond Neptune have only added up to around one-tenth the mass of the Earth. However, in order for the TNOs to have the observed orbits and for there to be no Planet Nine, the model put forward by Sefilian and Touma requires the combined mass of the Kuiper Belt to be between a few to ten times the mass of the Earth.

“When observing other systems, we often study the disc surrounding the host star to infer the properties of any planets in orbit around it,” said Sefilian. “The problem is when you’re observing the disc from inside the system, it’s almost impossible to see the whole thing at once. While we don’t have direct observational evidence for the disc, neither do we have it for Planet Nine, which is why we’re investigating other possibilities. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that observations of Kuiper belt analogues around other stars, as well as planet formation models, reveal massive remnant populations of debris.

“It’s also possible that both things could be true – there could be a massive disc and a ninth planet. With the discovery of each new TNO, we gather more evidence that might help explain their behaviour.”

Reference:
Antranik A. Sefilian and Jihad R. Touma. ‘Shepherding in a self-gravitating disk of trans-Neptunian objects.’ Astronomical Journal (2019).

The strange orbits of some objects in the farthest reaches of our solar system, hypothesised by some astronomers to be shaped by an unknown ninth planet, can instead be explained by the combined gravitational force of small objects orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune, say researchers. 

We wanted to see whether there could be another, less dramatic and perhaps more natural, cause for the unusual orbits we see in some TNOs
Antranik Sefilian
Kuiper Belt's ice cores

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Brain training app improves users’ concentration, study shows

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A team from the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cambridge has developed and tested ‘Decoder’, a new game that is aimed at helping users improve their attention and concentration. The game is based on the team’s own research and has been evaluated scientifically.

Read more here.

A new ‘brain training’ game designed by researchers at the University of Cambridge improves users’ concentration, according to new research published today. The scientists behind the venture say this could provide a welcome antidote to the daily distractions that we face in a busy world.

Reading

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Stronger political leadership needed to close global gender divide in education – report

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The study, commissioned by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and produced by the REAL Centre at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, reveals that the most disadvantaged girls rarely reach high levels of education, beyond primary, that benefit most from national and aid funding. In Nigeria and Pakistan, girls from poor rural households average just one year at school, while rich urban boys enjoy 11 or 12 years of study.

National governments and donor countries must show greater political commitment if global goals on gender equality in education are to be reached, according to the report, 12 Years of Quality Education for All Girls: A Commonwealth Perspective. The report will be launched at the Education World Forum, the world’s largest gathering of education and skills ministers, in London on Monday 21 January 2019.

Barriers to access

The study highlights an array of barriers that prevent girls accessing education, including gender-based violence within and on the way to school, and absenteeism during menstruation because of a lack of availability of sanitary protection. For marginalised girls, cost is also a key barrier in sending girls to school, with poverty leading some girls to have sex with men who provide them with the essentials of secondary schooling that their family cannot afford. Schools must be made “safe spaces” for girls, particularly in areas affected by conflict, say the authors, while cash support for the poorest families may help ease financial pressures and free up daughters to go to school.

Professor Pauline Rose, Director of the REAL Centre and author of the report, said: “Evidence shows us what works to address barriers that marginalised girls face in their access and learning. Much more needs to be done to implement these interventions at far greater scale. It is vital that current political uncertainties do not jeopardise the prioritisation of investment in girls’ education to enable this to happen.” 
 
The report was commissioned by the Platform for Girls’ Education, co-chaired by the UK Foreign Secretary and Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Education. The platform, a group of 12 influential figures across the Commonwealth, was created after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April 2018 affirmed the importance of 12 years of quality education for all, particularly marginalised girls. Achieving that target by 2030 is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals signed up to in 2015 by leaders across the globe. 

Equality a “distant reality”

The study finds that, over the past 20 years, considerable progress has been made in increasing access to primary schooling in the 53 countries of the Commonwealth. There are now equal proportions of boys and girls primary enrolled in 31 out of 44 Commonwealth countries with data. But despite this progress, “12 years of schooling remains a distant reality for many of the most disadvantaged girls residing in Commonwealth countries,” the report says. Gender parity in enrolment has sometimes been achieved even though primary schooling is still not universal: in 2017, 137 million primary-and-secondary school aged children were out of school in these countries, approximately half of them girls.

In 15 out of 21 Commonwealth countries with available data, poor rural girls spend no more than five years in school, and so have little chance of making the transition to secondary school. In six countries, they spend only one or two years in education. Children and adolescents affected by conflict are most likely to be out of school, and refugee girls are particularly at risk: they are half as likely as their male counterparts to be in secondary school.

Poor learning in school

Even those children in school are frequently not learning the basics, researchers found. The recently launched Human Capital Index shows that girls’ education fares far worse when years in school is adjusted for whether or not children are learning. In 14 out of the 26 countries with data, girls who are in school are learning only for the equivalent of six years or less. The picture is likely to be even starker for girls in rural areas and those facing other forms of disadvantage.

Disadvantage starts early, the study says, with many girls denied early years investment that is proven to boost educational achievement later. In eight of 14 Commonwealth countries with data, no more than 40 percent of poor rural girls have access to pre-primary education, and in three out of these eight countries, fewer than 10 percent are enrolled.

Governments should do more to target funding on lower levels of education and marginalised groups, the report argues. In 33 out of 45 Commonwealth countries with data, governments are spending far more on post-primary levels of education than on primary schooling, even though the probability of the most disadvantaged girls reaching these levels of education is extremely low. Of the 35 Commonwealth countries with data on pre-primary spending, 25 governments are spending less than five percent of their education budgets on pre-primary education.

Early years not prioritised

The same failure to prioritise the early years is seen in education aid spending. Funding for primary education fell from around two thirds in 2002 to under a half (47%) by 2016, and a mere 0.4 percent of education aid to Commonwealth countries was spent on pre-primary education. By contrast, 10 percent is spent on scholarships to allow students from aid-recipient Commonwealth countries to study in donor countries, even though only the most privileged benefit from such schemes.

In addition, only around five percent of total education aid appears to be spent with the main objective of achieving gender equality. The UK alone bucks the trend, with all but 2% of education aid targeting gender equality directly or significantly affecting it.

To tackle discrimination and work towards gender equality in education, governments of Commonwealth countries must show visible high-level political commitment backed by resources, the study concludes. Funding towards early childhood education and early learning should be prioritised.

Support for girls at puberty

There must also be steps to address the particular challenges marginalised girls face at puberty, such as provision of sanitary pads in schools, and moves to keep girls safe and secure in school, including providing female staff, secure buildings and door-to-door transport between school and home. More broadly, gender-sensitive teaching practices and materials are needed to ensure discriminatory stereotypes are not enforced, says the study.

The report sets out three priorities for further action, including “high-level, visible political leadership” towards gender equality in education, backed up by sufficient resources to reach the most marginalised girls. Investment in early years education is also vital, together with making girls’ education a priority in wider national development planning.

For more information, contact: Professor Pauline Rose or Faculty of Education Communications Manager Lucy Ward on lw28@cam.ac.uk

The poorest girls in many Commonwealth countries spend no more than five years in school, with the global target of 12 years of quality universal education remaining “a distant reality” for many, according to a new report charting global inequality in girls’ education.

It is vital that current political uncertainties do not jeopardise the prioritisation of investment in girls’ education
Pauline Rose
Students in Tanzania.

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Cambridge hosts World Economic Forum meeting looking at role of nature in delivering development goals

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During a panel discussion and round-table, business leaders, academics and conservation practitioners will share their insights on developing nature-based solutions that reverse the loss of biodiversity at scale.

Sir David has previously said that he does not recall hearing the word ‘conservation’ during his undergraduate days. But in the 70 years since, much has changed. We have increased our understanding of and appreciation for how the natural world underpins life on Earth, the fragility of our planet’s natural systems, and the need to protect these systems.

In this context, the private sector’s dependence on a healthy natural world is an area of particular focus and growing prominence. The World Economic Forum (WEF) included a number of environmental risks, including biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, in the top ten risks identified in the its Global Risks Report 2018.

Within Sir David’s adult life, the UN’s approach to the problems facing our planet has also undergone a significant change. The ongoing commitment to global well-being is now closely linked with the need for development to advance within planetary boundaries. In 2015 the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, which strive to address the challenges we face using an integrated and holistic approach. Investing in nature has the potential to make a significant contribution to all 17 Goals, and the private sector is key to this investment.

The panel discussion will be chaired by Professor Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, and a prominent thinker on human rights and environmental law.

“Restoring and sustaining the natural world is a powerful feat of creativity and imagination, and a powerful commitment to building a more abundant and equitable society,” says Professor Toope. “It is also a challenge we must meet, because without it there is no meaningful future for society as we know it.

“I strongly believe that organisations such as the University of Cambridge have a duty to engage with these challenges, no matter how great. Through collaborations across disciplines and between sectors, including NGOs and business, we can better understand and identify solutions and demonstrate the leadership necessary to address these major issues.” 

The panel will draw on expert insight from the Cambridge Conservation Initiative partners, including IUCN, UNEP-WCMC and Fauna & Flora International. The role of the private sector in delivering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals will feature prominently, with a particular focus on nature’s contribution to sustainability, as well as to health, equality, justice and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Business is already investing significantly in managing and conserving nature, but there are still considerable opportunities to do more. As panellist Corli Pretorius, Deputy Director of the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, explains: “Nature’s sustainability should be explicit in our procurement decisions and consumer choices. It should form an integral part of the decision-making of a financial system for sustainable development.”

André Hoffmann, panellist and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Roche Holding Ltd adds: “The business community has the chance to take a leadership role in including the natural world in business thinking. For years the benefits delivered by nature have been undervalued by the private sector. We now require a wholesale shift to a new way of operating, towards innovative nature-based approaches that strive to improve the state of the natural world to ensure a sustainable future for society and our planet.”

This event recognises a pivotal moment in the fate of our natural world, both in terms of its parlous state and its increasing prominence in the limelight. Sir David Attenborough, who has witnessed both the birth of conservation, and an increasing focus on the environment across sectors, will conclude the panel discussion with his thoughts on nature’s role in the future of humanity.

Sir David Attenborough will join the Cambridge Conservation Initiative as it hosts an event at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos today exploring the role of nature in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals.

Restoring and sustaining the natural world is a powerful feat of creativity and imagination
Stephen Toope
Kingfisher

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Heart disease risk begins in the womb, study in sheep suggests

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Heart disease is the greatest killer in the world today, and it is widely accepted that our genes interact with traditional lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking, obesity and/or a sedentary life to promote an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

In addition to the effects of adult lifestyle, there is already evidence that the gene-environment interaction before birth may be just as, if not more, important in ‘programming’ future heart health and heart disease. For example, human studies in siblings show that children born to a mother who was obese during pregnancy are at greater risk of heart disease than siblings born to the same mother after bariatric surgery to reduce maternal obesity. Such studies have provided strong evidence in humans that the environment experienced during critical periods of development can directly influence long-term cardiovascular health and heart disease risk.

The new research, funded by the British Heart Foundation and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, shows that adult offspring from pregnancies complicated by chronic hypoxia – lower-than-normal oxygen levels – have increased indicators of cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure and stiffer blood vessels. Chronic hypoxia in the developing baby within the womb is one of the most common outcomes of complicated pregnancy in humans. It occurs as a result of problems within the placenta, as can occur in preeclampsia, gestational diabetes or maternal smoking.

The study, led by Professor Dino Giussani from the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience and published today in the journal PLOS Biology, used pregnant sheep to show that maternal treatment with the antioxidant vitamin C during a complicated pregnancy could protect the adult offspring from developing hypertension and heart disease. The work therefore not only provides evidence that a prenatal influence on later heart disease in the offspring is indeed possible but also shows the potential to protect against it by “bringing preventative medicine back into the womb,” as Dr Kirsty Brain, first author of the study, puts it.

It turns out that vitamin C is a comparatively weak antioxidant, and while the Cambridge study provides a proof-of-principle, future work will focus on identifying alternative antioxidant therapies that could prove more effective in human clinical practice.

“Our discoveries emphasise that when considering strategies to reduce the overall burden of heart disease, much greater attention to prevention rather than treatment is required,” adds Professor Giussani. “Treatment should start as early as possible during development, rather than waiting until adulthood when the disease process has become irreversible.”

Professor Giussani stresses that it is too soon to consider vitamin C as a potential supplement for mothers. Any mothers concerned about their baby’s development in the womb should speak to their doctor before changing their diet or using supplements.

The work draws attention to a new way of thinking about heart disease with a much longer-term perspective, focusing on prevention rather than treatment.

Reference
Brain KL, Allison BJ, Niu Y, Cross CM, Itani N, Kane AD, et al. Intervention against hypertension in the next generation programmed by developmental hypoxia. PLoS Biol 17(1): e2006552. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2006552

Offspring whose mothers had a complicated pregnancy may be at greater risk of heart disease in later life, according to a new study in sheep. The research, led by a team at the University of Cambridge, suggests that our cards may be marked even before we are born.

Our discoveries emphasise that when considering strategies to reduce the overall burden of heart disease, much greater attention to prevention rather than treatment is required
Dino Giussani
Expecting

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Work begins on new home for Cavendish Laboratory

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The development, at the West Cambridge site off Madingley Road, will provide a purpose-built centre for the University’s world-leading physics research, bringing together all of the Cavendish Laboratory’s research groups under one roof.

The flagship building of the new Cavendish Laboratory will be named the Ray Dolby Centre, in recognition of an £85 million gift from the estate of sound pioneer Ray Dolby – the largest philanthropic donation ever made to UK science.

In addition to the Dolby gift, the new Cavendish Laboratory is being made possible by £75 million of funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The project, which is expected to be completed in 2022, will help strengthen the University’s position as a leading site for physics research and will provide a top-class facility for the nation, with much of the research equipment made available to other institutions.

“This project is the physical embodiment of our aspirations for the University,” said the Vice-Chancellor in his remarks. “Crucially, it will be built to encourage inter-disciplinarily; to break down the traditional boundaries between disciplines. In short, this project will allow Cavendish to continue being – as it has been since 1874 — the home of discovery.”

The building has also been designed to encourage collaboration and will host public events to support the extensive programme of work with schools and the general public.

French construction specialist Bouygues, who are building the new Cavendish Laboratory, hosted the event. Chair of Bouygues UK, Fabienne Viala and RIBA Vice-president Caroline Buckingham, joined the Vice-Chancellor and guests from the University, contractor team and the local community for the ceremony.

“Bouygues UK and our sister company Bouygues Energies & Services have been involved from the start on this exciting scheme, working alongside the University of Cambridge’s existing project team to develop proposals for a new world-class laboratory,” said Viala. “It is exciting to break ground on this project that will see us bringing innovation, a collaborative approach and our technical expertise to create a new home for major academic research.”

The new development will combine with the Department of Physics’ new strategic plan and research goals. The building and new strategic plan represent a renaissance of the way the department carry out physics research and achieve their research goals.

“This is a great step in the development of physics research and learning at the University of Cambridge,” said Professor Andy Parker, Head of the Department of Physics. “We look forward to moving into our new facilities and opening our doors to the wider research community and the public to increase understanding and foster discovery.”

The Vice-Chancellor added: “What we are doing here today will give future generations of scientists, from Cambridge and elsewhere in the UK, the opportunity to keep making those leaps in knowledge for which this University – and this country – are rightly celebrated.”

Work on the University of Cambridge’s £300m Cavendish Laboratory redevelopment has been marked with a ground-breaking ceremony attended by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Toope.

This project will allow Cavendish to continue being – as it has been since 1874 — the home of discovery
Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Toope

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Cambridge spin-out company wins £18 mln to fight Alzheimer's

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Dr Samuel Cohen, Entrepreneur in Residence at St John's and CEO of Wren Therapeutics

A biopharmaceutical company set-up by Cambridge academics from St John's College to develop drugs to treat illnesses such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson’s and more than 50 other related diseases has won £18 million in a Series A financing round.

Wren Therapeutics raised the funding from an international syndicate led by The Baupost Group with participation from LifeForce Capital and a number of high net worth individual investors.

Several of the company’s scientific founders are members of St John’s, including Professor Sir Christopher Dobson, Master of St John's, Professor Tuomas Knowles, a St John's Fellow, and Dr Samuel Cohen, the St John’s Entrepreneur in Residence.

Wren Therapeutics focuses on drug discovery and development for protein misfolding diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and was founded in 2016. 

Protein molecules form the machinery which carry out all of the executive functions in living systems. However, proteins sometimes malfunction and become misfolded, leading to a complex chain of molecular events that can cause long-lasting damage to the health of people affected and may ultimately lead to death.

This group of medical disorders are known as protein misfolding diseases. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are widely recognised protein misfolding diseases, but others include type-2 diabetes, motor neurone disease and more than 50 other related illnesses.

Dr. Cohen explained: “Protein misfolding diseases are one of the most critical global healthcare challenges of the 21st century but are highly complex and challenging to address. Current strategies - in particular those driven by traditional drug discovery and biological approaches - have proven, at least to date, to be ineffective.

“Wren’s new and unique approach is instead built on concepts from the physical sciences and focuses on the chemical kinetics of the protein misfolding process, creating a predictive and quantitatively driven platform that has the potential to radically advance drug discovery in this class of diseases.”

Wren Therapeutics is a spin-off company from the University of Cambridge and Lund University in Sweden. The company is based at the University of Cambridge, in the recently opened Chemistry of Health Centre, and plans on opening a satellite office in Boston, Massachusetts.

Professor Sir Christopher Dobson said: "Wren is built on many years of highly collaborative, uniquely integrated, interdisciplinary research that has uncovered the key molecular mechanisms associated with protein misfolding diseases.

"I am hugely enthusiastic about our ability to make tangible progress against these diseases and change the course of life for millions of people around the world suffering from these debilitating and increasingly common medical disorders.”

The company will announce its board of directors shortly.

Wren Therapeutics secures £18 million in funding to tackle protein misfolding diseases.

"I am hugely enthusiastic about our ability to make tangible progress against these diseases"
Professor Sir Christopher Dobson
Dr Samuel Cohen, Entrepreneur in Residence at St John's and CEO of Wren Therapeutics

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The search for Endurance

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Professor Julian Dowdeswell, Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute, is chief scientist on the ambitious expedition, which will use drones, satellites and autonomous underwater vehicles to study ice conditions in the Weddell Sea in unprecedented detail.

The Weddell Sea is also the site of one of the most famous stories from the ‘Heroic Age’ of polar exploration.

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-17 set out to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. However, in November 1915, Shackleton and his 28-man crew were confronted with one of the worst disasters in Antarctic history when Endurance was trapped, crushed and sunk by pack ice. The outside world was unaware of their predicament or location, food was scarce and the chance of survival was remote.

In this film, Professor Dowdeswell tells the incredible story of Endurance, and how he and the other members of the Weddell Sea expedition hope to locate the wreckage of one of the most iconic vessels in polar exploration. 

In early January, a team of Cambridge scientists set out on an expedition to study and map the Larsen C ice shelf in western Antarctica, and – ice conditions permitting – search for the wreckage of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance. 

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Slim people have a genetic advantage when it comes to maintaining their weight

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More than six in ten adults in the UK are overweight, and one in four adults is obese. By age five, almost one in four children is either overweight or obese. Excess weight increases the risk of related health problems including type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

While it is well known that changes in our environment, such as easy access to high calorie foods and sedentary lifestyles, have driven the rise in obesity in recent years, there is considerable individual variation in weight within a population that shares the same environment. Some people seem able to eat what they like and remain thin. This has led some people to characterise overweight people as lazy or lacking willpower.

With support from Wellcome and the European Research Council, a team led by Professor Sadaf Farooqi at the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, established the Study Into Lean and Thin Subjects – STILTS– to examine why and how some people find it easier to stay thin than others. Studies of twins have shown that variation in body weight is largely influenced by our genes. To date studies have overwhelmingly focused on people who are overweight. Hundreds of genes have been found that increase the chance of a person being overweight and in some people faulty genes can cause severe obesity from a young age.

Professor Sadaf Farooqi’s team were able to recruit 2,000 people who were thin (defined as a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18 kg/m2) but healthy, with no medical conditions or eating disorders. They worked with general practices across the UK, taking saliva samples to enable DNA analysis and asking participants to answer questions about their general health and lifestyles. It is thought to be the only cohort of its kind in the world and the researchers say that the UK’s National Institute for Health Research – the National Health Service’s research infrastructure – strongly enabled and supported their research.

In a study published today in the journal PLOS Genetics, Professor Farooqi’s team collaborated with Dr Inês Barroso’s team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute to compare the DNA of some 14,000 people –1,622 thin volunteers from the STILTS cohort, 1,985 severely obese people and a further 10,433 normal weight controls.

Our DNA comprises of a sequence of molecules known as base pairs, represented by the letters A, C, G and T. Strings of these base pairs form genetic regions (which include or make up our genes). Our genes provide the code for how our body functions and changes in the spelling – for example, a C in place of an A – can have subtle or sometimes dramatic changes on features such as hair colour and eye colour but also on a person’s weight.

The team found several common genetic variants already identified as playing a role in obesity. In addition, they found new genetic regions involved in severe obesity and some involved in healthy thinness.

To see what impact these genes had on an individual’s weight, the researchers added up the contribution of the different genetic variants to calculate a genetic risk score.

“As anticipated, we found that obese people had a higher genetic risk score than normal weight people, which contributes to their risk of being overweight. The genetic dice are loaded against them,” explains Dr Barroso.

Importantly, the team also showed that thin people, had a much lower genetic risk score – they had fewer genetic variants that we know increase a person’s chances of being overweight.

“This research shows for the first time that healthy thin people are generally thin because they have a lower burden of genes that increase a person’s chances of being overweight and not because they are morally superior, as some people like to suggest,” says Professor Farooqi. “It’s easy to rush to judgement and criticise people for their weight, but the science shows that things are far more complex. We have far less control over our weight than we might wish to think.”

Three out of four people (74%) in the STILTS cohort had a family history of being thin and healthy and the team found some genetic changes that were significantly more common in thin people, which they say may allow them to pinpoint new genes and biological mechanisms that help people stay thin.

“We already know that people can be thin for different reasons” says Professor Farooqi. “Some people are just not that interested in food whereas others can eat what they like, but never put on weight. If we can find the genes that prevent them from putting on weight, we may be able to target those genes to find new weight loss strategies and help people who do not have this advantage.”

The research was funded by the European Research Council and Wellcome.

Reference
Riveros-McKay, F, Mistry, V et al. Genetic architecture of human thinness compared to severe obesity. PLOS Genetics; 24 Jan 2019; DOI:

In the largest study of its kind to date, Cambridge researchers have looked at why some people manage to stay thin while others gain weight easily. They have found that the genetic dice are loaded in favour of thin people and against those at the obese end of the spectrum.

It’s easy to rush to judgement and criticise people for their weight, but the science shows that things are far more complex
Sadaf Farooqi
People walking

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'Noisy' gene atlas to help explain how plants survive environmental change

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Spot the difference: Genetically identical thale cress plants grown under the exact same environmental conditions show significant visible differences. ©Sandra Cortijo
Plant scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) have built a gene expression atlas that maps the ‘noisy genes’ of genetically identical plants. The research, published today in Molecular Systems Biology, found that around 9% of the genes in otherwise identical plants are highly variable in the way that they behave. Interestingly, many of these highly variable (noisiest) genes help a plant respond to its environment, including genes involved in reacting to light, temperature, pathogens and nutrients.
 
This variation in gene behaviour could be useful in nature for populations of genetically similar plants to hedge against environmental stress such as drought, high salinity or extreme temperatures. This means that there will always a few plants in the population that are prepared to survive different stresses due to their variable gene behaviours (hedging their bets). But this variability can also be a problem, such as in agriculture where environments are more controlled and farmers want uniform crops that germinate and flower at the same time and respond equally to applications of fertilisers and water.
 
This is the first time that global levels of noise in gene expression has been measured in plants. The online open-access atlas (AraNoisy) will provide a resource for plant scientists around the world to study how gene expression variability influences plant survival and diversity within clonal populations. This important stepping-stone will help us to better understand how plants survive in fluctuating environments, and could eventually lead to further research in both plant conservation efforts and future crop development.
 

 
What is gene expression?
 
Looking at the full genetic code (called the genome) of an individual plant or animal is not enough to fully understand the individual’s characteristics. The way genes behave (gene expression) can differ markedly between individuals with the same genome. A gene is expressed when the genetic code of the gene is used to direct a set of reactions that synthesise a protein or other functional molecule within a cell. Copying a segment of DNA to RNA is the first step in this sequence and is called transcription. In this study, ‘noise’ in gene expression refers to the measured level of variation in RNA between individual plants. Measuring the variability in gene expression reveals which genes are noisier than others.
 
Dr Sandra Cortijo, from the Locke Group at SLCU, is researching how gene expression is regulated and what causes some genes to be expressed in unpredictable ways. To examine this, Cortijo took on the mammoth task of measuring global levels of noise in gene expression in a single plant species. Using genetically identical plants, she measured the expression of all their individual genes over a 24-hour period.
 
'For our model plant, we used seedlings of a small wild brassica relative, called thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), which is most commonly seen growing as a weed in the cracks of pavements,' Cortijo said. 'We performed RNA-sequencing on individual seedlings every two hours over a 24-hour period and analysed the variability for 15,646 individual genes in the plant’s genome. 
 
'We identified that 9% (1,358 individual genes) of the genes were highly variable for at least one time point during the 24-hour period. We found that these highly variable genes fell into two sets influenced by the diurnal cycle – genes with more variable activity at night or genes that have more variable activity during the day.'
 
As part of the study, Cortijo also identified factors that might increase gene expression variability. Highly variable genes tend to be shorter, to be targeted by a higher number of other genes (transcription factors) and to be characterised by a ‘closed’ chromatin environment (which is an environment that allows gene expression to be altered by attaching additional molecules during the gene reading process (transcription) without actually changing a cell’s DNA).
 
'These results shed new light on the impact of transcriptional variability in gene expression regulation in plants and can be used as a foundation for further studies into how noisy genes are connected with how plants respond to their environment,' Cortijo said. 'Plants are a wonderful system to work with when looking at how genes are regulated in response to environmental changes as they cannot move and thus have to continually sense and respond to environmental changes.
 
The evolution of variable gene expression could increase the robustness of a plant population against varying environments without changing their genes. Understanding how plants produce and regulate this noise in gene expression will be important for the future development of more uniform performing crops and to understand how populations of wild plants can survive more frequent weather extremes due to climate change.'
 
SLCU Research Group Leader, Dr James Locke, said the data was a significant new resource for further research: 'This is an important resource for scientists studying how genetically identical plants survive fluctuating environments and provides a basis for future work looking at how genetic and epigenetic factors regulate variability for individual genes.'
 
This research was supported by a fellowship from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. The Locke Group is also further supported by the European Research Council.
 
Reference

Cortijo, S, Aydin, Z, et al. Widespread inter-individual gene expression variability in Arabidopsis thaliana. Molecular Systems Biology. 24 Jan 2019. DOI: 10.15252/msb.20188591

As parents of identical twins will tell you, they are never actually identical, even though they have the same genes. This is also true in the plant world. Now, new research by the University of Cambridge is helping to explain why ‘twin’ plants, with identical genes, grown in identical environments continue to display unique characteristics all of their own.

This is an important resource for studying how genetically identical plants survive fluctuating environments
James Locke
Spot the difference: Genetically identical thale cress plants grown under the exact same environmental conditions show significant visible differences. Could this be due to variable gene expression?
Further information
AraNoisy noisy gene atlas
 
AraNoisy is a web-based tool for accessing inter-individual transcriptional variability in Arabidopsis thaliana, throughout a 24-hour diurnal cycle. Gene expression variability for individual genes of interest can be viewed here.

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Cambridge Science Festival returns for milestone 25th year

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Cambridge Science Festival banner

Celebrating its 25th year, the Festival runs for two weeks from 11-24 March and explores the theme of ‘discoveries’. An impressive line-up of acclaimed scientists includes microscopist Professor Dame Pratibha Gai, Astronomer Royal Professor Lord Martin Rees, 2018 Nobel prize winner Sir Gregory Winter, geneticist Dr Giles Yeo, statistician Professor David Spiegelhalter, engineer Dr Hugh Hunt, marine biologist and author Helen Scales, THIS Institute Director Professor Mary Dixon-Woods, futurist Mark Stevenson, and science presenter Steve Mould.

The full programme is teeming with events ranging from debates, talks, exhibitions, workshops and interactive activities to films, comedy and performances, held in lecture theatres, museums, cafes and galleries around Cambridge. There are events for all ages and most are free.
With so many events on offer, audiences will be spoilt for choice. Some of the biggest events in week one include:

  • Is technology making us miserable? (11 March). Virtually every interaction we have is mediated through technology. Despite being ‘always-on’, are we any better off? Are we better connected? Or is technology making us miserable? 
  • Putting radioactivity in perspective (12 March). Following a renewal of electricity generated by nuclear power, Professors Ian Farnan and Gerry Thomas, Imperial College London, discuss radioactivity in the natural world and the outcomes of decades of study on the health effects of radiation. Could these research outcomes reset attitudes towards radiation and the risks?
  • The universe of black holes (13 March). Christopher Reynolds, Plumian Professor of Astronomy, describes how future research into black holes may yet again change our view of reality.
  • The long-term perspective of climate change (14 March). Professors Ulf Büntgen, Mike Hulme, Christine Lane, Hans W Linderholm, Clive Oppenheimer, Baskar Vira, and Paul J Krusic discuss how we investigate past climate and the challenges we face in applying this to the policy-making process.
  • Catalytic activation of renewable resources to make polymers and fuels (15 March). Professor Charlotte Williams, University of Oxford, discusses the development of catalysts able to transform carbon dioxide into methanol, a process which may deliver more sustainable liquid transport fuels in the future.
  • Does the mother ever reject the fetus? (15 March). Professor Ashley Moffett discusses fetal rejection and explores new discoveries that show that there are multiple mechanisms to ensure there is a peaceful environment in the uterus, where the placenta is allowed to grow and develop to support the fetus.

Top picks for the second week include:

  • Cambridge gravity lecture: Sir Gregory Winter (18 March). Sir Gregory is a molecular biologist and 2018 Nobel Laureate best known for his work on developing technologies to make therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. His research has led to antibody therapies for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
  • Discoveries leading to new treatments for dementia (18 March). Professor of Clinical Neurosciences and Associate Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute, Giovanna Mallucci discusses how new research leading to insights into dementia and degenerative brain diseases may lead to new treatments.
  • Improving quality and safety in healthcare (19 March). THIS Institute Director Professor Mary Dixon-Woods looks at the challenges to improving quality and safety in healthcare and considers why it’s so hard to answer the question: Does quality improvement actually improve quality? With Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor in Chief of The BMJ.
  • Immunology: the future of medicine? (19 March) Professor Clare Bryant and a panel of Cambridge immunologists discuss how understanding disease triggers may enable entirely new approaches to treating and potentially preventing disease.
  • Polar ocean: the dead end of plastic debris (19 March). An estimated 80% of all the litter in our oceans is plastic, and a significant concentration of plastics debris is found in both polar oceans. The impact of this debris on the sensitive polar ecosystem could be profound. Pelagic marine ecologist Dr Clara Manno, British Antarctic Survey, explores the current research and existing situation in the polar regions.
  • Reluctant futurist (19 March). Old models for healthcare, education, food production, energy supply and government are creaking under the weight of modern challenges. Futurist Mark Stevenson looks at the next 30 years and asks, how can we re-invent ourselves for the future?
  • Adolescent mental health: resilience after childhood adversity (20 March). Adolescence is characterised by huge physiological changes as well as a rapid rise in mental health disorders. Around 45% of adolescent mental health problems are caused by childhood difficulties but fortunately not all who experience difficulties develop mental health disorders. Dr Anne-Laura van Harmelen discusses mechanisms that may help adolescents with a history of childhood difficulty to become more resilient.
  • Making algorithms trustworthy (21 March). Increasingly, algorithms are being used to make judgements about sensitive parts of our lives. How do we check how their conclusions were arrived at, and if they are valid and fair? Professor David Spiegelhalter looks at efforts to make algorithms transparent and trustworthy, using systems that make predictions for people with cancer as an example.
  • On the future: prospects for humanity (22 March). Professor Lord Martin Rees argues that humanity’s prospects on Earth and in space depend on our taking a different approach to planning for tomorrow.

This year’s Cambridge Science Festival also celebrates significant milestones in science, including the 200th anniversary of Cambridge Philosophical Society, Cambridge’s oldest scientific society, and 150 years since the publication of the modern Periodic Table.

Speaking ahead of the Festival, Dr Lucinda Spokes, Festival Manager, said: “We are tremendously proud of this year’s programme due to the variety of events and the calibre of our speakers from a range of institutions and industries. 

“Alongside the meatier topics we have an array of events for all ages and interests across both weekends. We have everything from the science of perfumery and how your mood affects your taste, to a science version of 'Would I Lie to You?'

“One of my personal top picks are the open days at the various institutes and departments based at the West Cambridge site on Saturday 23 March. As always, the site is hosting some truly fascinating events, everything from the future of construction and how to make Alexa smarter, to how nanotechnology is opening up new routes in healthcare, and state-of-the-art approaches to low-cost solar energy and high-efficiency lighting solutions.

“A Festival of this magnitude would not be possible without the help from many people; we thank all our scientists, supporters, partners and sponsors, without whom the Festival would not happen. Most of all, we thank the audiences – there are more than 60,000 visits to the Festival events every year. We very much look forward to welcoming everyone from all ages to join us in March to explore the fabulous world of science.”

You can download the full programme here

Bookings open on Monday 11 February at 11am.

This year’s Festival sponsors and partners are Cambridge University Press, AstraZeneca, MedImmune, Illumina, TTP Group, Science AAAS, Anglia Ruskin University, Astex Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge Science Centre, Cambridge Junction, IET, Hills Road 6th Form College, British Science Week, Cambridge University Health Partners, Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology, and Walters Kundert Charitable Trust. Media Partners: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Independent.

The 2019 Cambridge Science Festival is set to host more than 350 events as it explores a range of issues that affect today’s world, from challenges around climate change policy, improving safety and quality in healthcare, and adolescent mental health, to looking at what the next 25 years holds for us and whether quantum computers can change the world.

We have everything from the science of perfumery and how your mood affects your taste, to a science version of 'Would I Lie to You?'
Dr Lucinda Spokes

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‘Magnetic graphene’ switches between insulator and conductor

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The international team of researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, say that their results, reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, will aid in understanding the dynamic relationship between the electronic and structural properties of the material, sometimes referred to as ‘magnetic graphene’, and may represent a new way to produce two-dimensional materials.

Magnetic graphene, or iron trithiohypophosphate (FePS3), is from a family of materials known as van der Waals materials, and was first synthesised in the 1960s. In the past decade however, researchers have started looking at FePS3 with fresh eyes. Similar to graphene – a two-dimensional form of carbon – FePS3 can be ‘exfoliated’ into ultra-thin layers. Unlike graphene however, FePS3 is magnetic.

The expression for electrons’ intrinsic source of magnetism is known as ‘spin’. Spin makes electrons behave a bit like tiny bar magnets and point a certain way. Magnetism from the arrangement of electron spins is used in most memory devices, and is important for developing new technologies such as spintronics, which could transform the way in which computers process information.

Despite graphene’s extraordinary strength and conductivity, the fact that it is not magnetic limits its application in areas such as magnetic storage and spintronics, and so researchers have been searching for magnetic materials which could be incorporated with graphene-based devices.

For their study, the Cambridge researchers squashed layers of FePS3 together under high pressure (about 10 Gigapascals), they found that it switched between an insulator and conductor, a phenomenon known as a Mott transition. The conductivity could also be tuned by changing the pressure.

These materials are characterised by weak mechanical forces between the planes of their crystal structure. Under pressure, the planes are pressed together, gradually and controllable pushing the system from three to two dimensions, and from insulator to metal.

The researchers also found that even in two dimensions, the material retained its magnetism. “Magnetism in two dimensions is almost against the laws of physics due to the destabilising effect of fluctuations, but in this material, it seems to be true,” said Dr Sebastian Haines from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences and Department of Physics, and the paper’s first author.

The materials are inexpensive, non-toxic and easy to synthesise, and with further research, could be incorporated into graphene-based devices.

“We are continuing to study these materials in order to build a solid theoretical understanding of their properties,” said Haines. “This understanding will eventually underpin the engineering of devices, but we need good experimental clues in order to give the theory a good starting point. Our work points to an exciting direction for producing two-dimensional materials with tuneable and conjoined electrical, magnetic and electronic properties.”

The research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Reference:
C.R.S. Haines et al. ‘Pressure-Induced Electronic and Structural Phase Evolution in the van der Waals Compound FePS3.’ Physical Review Letters (2018). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.266801

Researchers have found that certain ultra-thin magnetic materials can switch from insulator to conductor under high pressure, a phenomenon that could be used in the development of next-generation electronics and memory storage devices.

Magnetism in two dimensions is almost against the laws of physics, but in this material, it seems to be true
Seb Haines

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Packed programme of events to mark LGBT+ History Month 2019

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Rainbow flags will fly - and be projected - across the University and Colleges, and a series of events will be held to mark LGBT+ History Month, which begins today (1 February).

The annual celebration aims to promote equality and diversity by increasing the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, their history, lives and their experiences - and some of those experiences will be featured in exhibitions, talks, and drop-in sessions organised by staff and students at the University.

Professor Andrew Webber, the University's LGBT+ Equality Champion, said: “LGBT+ History Month at Cambridge promises to be an intriguing mix of thoughtful debate and fun, in a variety of settings. From discussions on civil rights to queer crafts, the events taking place offer a unique opportunity to celebrate diversity and advance education on matters affecting the LGBT+ community.”

Some of the events are highlighted below: 

 

Friday, 1 February, 5pm - An Introduction to Queer History - Andrew Lumsden 

The Nihon Room, Pembroke College
Delivered by original Gay Liberation Front (GLF) activist and co-founder of Gay News Andrew Lumsden, this talk begins just prior to the Labouchere Amendment of 1885 and works forward to the modern day. The talk will stop off at significant moments in Queer History in this time period, with emphasis on the Labouchere Amendment and on the activities of the GLF in the early 1970s. The talk will end by looking at the modern context, and will allow ample room for questions to be answered by the speaker.
The event is part of the CamQueerHistory series, organised by a group of staff, graduates and undergraduates from departments and Colleges across the University. For more information visit www.camqueerhistory.co.uk.

 

Saturday, 2 February, 2pm to 4pm - Queer Wellbeing Drop In

The Nihon Room, Pembroke College
Cambridge poet Michael Brown hosts a friendly and social drop-in afternoon of art and poetry activities to promote wellbeing.Try mindfulness colouring in, queer crafts or help write our collective poem. Drop in and stay as little or as long as you want.
Accessible venue with everyone welcome to join us. www.poetbrownie.com @CamQueerHistory

 

Monday, 4 February - Saturday, 2 March - University Library exhibition

Cambridge University Library
​The University Library will mark LGBT+ History Month by flying the rainbow flag on weekdays throughout February and with an exhibition of historic and modern collection items that touch upon different facets of the LGBT+ community over the centuries. The material on display covers a millennium of human thought, from 11th-century Israel to 21st-century Cambridge, and takes in Japanese, French, American, Hispanic and British stories. It is open during normal Library opening hours - all are welcome.

 

 

Saturday, 9 February, 11am to 4.30pm - Rainbow Pilgrims Exhibition

South Lecture Room, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.
Explore the rites and passages of LGBTQI migrants in Britain through this incredible interactive exhibition. Rainbow Pilgrims is a landmark project that discovers the hidden history of LGBTQI migrants in the UK past and present. The project covers the period from the first Jewish Kindertransports to Britain today. One-day exhibition organised in conjunction with Encompass Network, Cambridge City Council and the UCM.


Saturday, 16 February, 10am to 5.30pm - TRASH! Waste and Excess in Queer Cultures

Faculty of English Building, 9 West Road, Cambridge
​The Faculty of English hosts 'TRASH! Waste and Excess in Queer Cultures', an interdisciplinary symposium exploring waste and excess in LGBTQ+ life and culture. Featuring contributions by leading scholars of literature, film, art history, and performance, it celebrates queer cultures' remarkable, inventive employment of waste and garbage as artistic materials and trash as a queer aesthetic. The symposium is organised by Dr Diarmuid Hester (Leverhulme Early Career Fellow) and supported by The Leverhulme Trust, Encompass Network, and the University of Cambridge's Faculty of English, LGBTQ+@Cam, and the Public Engagement Starter Fund.
Booking is essential. Get your free ticket 

For updates follow @CamQueerTrash

 

Tuesday, 19 February 2019, 4.30pm to 6pm - Celebrating Difference: A Whole School Approach to LGBT+ Inclusion - Shaun Dellenty

Donald McIntyre Building, Faculty of Education, Hills Road
Shaun Dellenty, a nationally celebrated LGBT inclusion-in-education advocate and educator, has written a ground-breaking book, Celebrating Difference - A Whole School Approach to LGBT+ Inclusion aimed at empowering school leaders, school governors and teachers to facilitate lasting organisational change within their schools. Shaun has adopted a multi-layered approach, bringing awareness of LGBT identities across a variety of media, including social media, blogging, news and television.

 

Thursday, 21 February, 5.30pm to 6:30pm - Annual LGBT HM Lecture: Trans People: Flashback and Backlash

The McGrath Centre, St Catharine's College
Christine Burns MBE campaigned for a quarter of a century for the civil rights of transgender people and has been involved with the community for more than 40 years.
She is the editor of the recently published book Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows - a comprehensive account of the landmark events which shaped the transgender community over the last five decades.
Book your place at the Annual LGBT HM Lecture

 

Monday, 25 February, 4.30pm to 6pm - Researching LGBTQ+ Issues: Building Community

Donald McIntyre Building, Faculty of Education, Hills Road
A panel of researchers and associated colleagues discuss the complexities of researching LGBTQ + issues, and the vital role of community building.

  • Charlotte Allen (2nd year PhD) – Exploring LGBTQ + students’ resilience in response to commonplace challenges at school: preliminary findings and researcher experiences
  • Frank Frangeskou (2nd year MEd) – LGB School Leadership: Breaking the Silence
  • Becky Moses (ACE MPhil) – Queer Temporalities, Histories, and Utopias: The Potentialities and Possibilities of a Queer Poetic Practice
  • Lucian Stephenson (administrative) – Yet Another Trans 101: Experiences and Frustrations as a Transgender Transgender Educator
  • This talk is part of the Arts and Creativities Research Group series. Find out more about the panel talk

 

Tuesday, 26 February, 2pm to 6pm - Queer(y)ing the Past: An Afternoon of Alternative Archaeology - with wine! Free seminar

Henry Wellcome Building, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge
A series of short talks will explore the topic of sexuality and gender in the past. Talks will also address the issues of undertaking field research as LGBTQ+ archaeologists. No registration required.
Keynote: Prof Richard Parkinson, University of Oxford, 'Moments of Identification: LGBTQ+ History and Heritage'.

 

For information about other LGBT+ History Month events, visitlgbt.cusu.cam.ac.uk/contact-us/

 

 

Art, poetry and alternative archeology are among the highlights of LGBT+ History Month at the University and Colleges

 

From discussions on civil rights to queer crafts, the events taking place offer a unique opportunity to celebrate diversity...
Professor Andrew Webber
Emmanuel College projects the rainbow flag

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New Programme to support academic and industrial links with Greece

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Supported by a donation from Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, a Greek businesswoman, parliamentarian and President of the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Gianna Angelopoulos Programme for Science, Technology and Innovation will be an internationally unique ecosystem of training, research and entrepreneurial activity.

The Programme will support PhD students and four academic positions based at the University’s Cavendish Laboratory in the fields of energy materials and devices and computational multiphysics.

Computational modelling of complex problems is the most efficient method of assessing scientific potential across a range of sectors and will drive some of the key materials and device science of the coming decades, from ultra-efficient batteries and nanotechnology to superconductivity and biologically-inspired systems.

In addition, an embedded Impact for Greece Programme will actively seek opportunities to establish strong links with Greek academic institutions and industry, facilitating a two-way exchange of people and ideas. Joint initiatives and network-building will be at the forefront of this activity.

Mrs Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said: “My hope is for this to be a Programme of real international reach and impact, building on the solid foundation of the University of Cambridge: a programme which will generate opportunities for fundamental research to be channelled to practical uses and business development. My experiences in Greece and elsewhere have shown me the vital importance of cultivating academic and business collaborations in order to contribute to the well-being of society.”

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen Toope, said: “The University greatly admires Mrs Angelopoulos’ strong commitment to the development of young scientists at the forefront of their fields and her vision to develop their work for world-changing impact. Her vision of strengthening collaboration between industry and academia for mutual benefit is in perfect alignment with the University’s mission.”

In the first instance, the Programme will commission projects in two of the strategic areas of research at the Cavendish Laboratory, namely Computational Multiphysics for advanced energy, aerospace, automotive and manufacturing applications, and Energy Materials and Devices for energy generation, storage, transmission and usage.

Dr Nikolaos Nikiforakis, an academic with key expertise in the relevant fields and considerable experience in running similar programmes, has been appointed as the Programme Director. The Programme will be hosted by the Cavendish Laboratory at the Maxwell Centre on the West Cambridge Campus, with links to the broader research, teaching and business ecosystem of the Cambridge region.

A new training and research programme at the University of Cambridge will fund PhD students and early-career researchers as they work to develop technologies for the world’s future energy and computational needs. 

Maxwell Centre

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Cambridge receives new funding to support PhD students in science and engineering

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The funding, from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and industrial and institutional partners, will support the establishment of five new CDTs at Cambridge. The University will be a partner institution in an additional four new CDTs. The results of the latest CDT funding round were announced today by EPSRC at an event in London.

In total, EPSRC is supporting 75 new CDTs across the UK, representing a total investment of £446 million. The Centres’ 1,400 project partners have contributed £386 million in cash and in-kind support, and include companies such as Tata Steel and Procter and Gamble and charities such as Cancer Research UK. The funding represents one of the UK’s most significant investments in research skills.

Science and Innovation Minister Chris Skidmore said: “As we explore new research to boost our economy with an increase of over £7 billion invested in R&D over five years to 2021/22 – the highest increase for over 40 years – we will need skilled people to turn ideas into inventions that can have a positive impact on our daily lives.

“The Centres for Doctoral Training at universities across the country will offer the next generation of PhD students the ability to get ahead of the curve. In addition, this has resulted in nearly £400 million being leveraged from industry partners. This is our modern Industrial Strategy in action, ensuring all corners of the UK thrive with the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow.

“As Science Minister, I’m delighted we’re making this massive investment in postgraduate students as part of our increased investment in R&D.”

CDT students are funded for four years and the programme includes technical and transferrable skills training as well as a research element. The centres bring together diverse areas of expertise to provide engineers and scientists with the skills, knowledge and confidence to tackle today’s evolving issues and future challenges.

The importance of developing STEM skills is a key part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, ensuring that all areas of the UK embrace innovation and build the skills the economy needs to thrive.

The five Cambridge-led CDTs are:

  • CDT in Future Propulsion and Power, led by Dr Graham Pullan (Department of Engineering)
  • CDT in Integrated Functional Nano (i4Nano), led by Professor Jeremy Baumberg (Department of Physics)
  • CDT in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment: Resilience in a Changing World (FIBE2), led by Professor Abir Al-Tabbaa (Department of Engineering)
  • CDT in Sensor Technologies for a Healthy and Sustainable Future, led by Professor Clemens Kaminski (Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology)
  • CDT in Automated Chemical Synthesis Enabled by Digital Molecular Technologies, led by Professor Matthew Gaunt (Department of Chemistry)

The first cohort of students in the new CDTs will begin their studies in October.

Professor Lynn Gladden, EPSRC’s Executive Chair, said: The UK’s research base makes the discoveries that lead to innovations and these can improve lives and generate income for the UK. Centres for Doctoral Training have already proven to be successful in attracting the world’s brightest minds and industry support to address the scientific and engineering challenges we face. This new cadre will continue to build on previous investment.”

The University of Cambridge has received new government and industrial funding to support at least 350 PhD students over the next eight years, via the creation of new Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs). 

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Scheme launched to improve health of French Bulldogs, Pugs and Bulldogs

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Developed by the University of Cambridge and funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, the new Respiratory Function Grading Scheme assesses dogs for the presence and severity of a breathing problem known as BOAS (Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome). The scheme is currently available for the Pug, French Bulldog and Bulldog, and has the potential to improve the health and welfare of these breeds for generations to come.  

Dogs with a flat, wide shaped head are said to be brachycephalic (‘brachy’ meaning short, and ‘cephalic’, meaning head). The soft tissue in the nose and throat of some brachycephalic dogs may be excessive for the airways, partially obstructing the airway and making it difficult for them to breathe normally and causing heavy panting or noisy breathing. This condition is known as BOAS and is a progressive disorder that can impair a dog’s ability to exercise, play, eat and sleep.

The assessment, which can now be carried out by a number of specially trained assessors located across the UK involves listening to the dog’s airway both before and after an exercise tolerance test. Assessors then use a pre-defined protocol to grade the dog from zero to three. Dogs graded as zero are free of respiratory signs of BOAS, while dogs graded as three will show severe respiratory signs of BOAS, indicating that further veterinary examination is advised. The scheme issues guidance that dogs graded three should not be bred from.

These grades will be recorded on the Kennel Club’s database and published in the Breed Records Supplement, on the dog’s registration certificate, and on the Kennel Club Health Test Results Finder and Health webpages. The BOAS Scheme will be supported by guidelines for breeders, which enable them to understand the grade for their dogs in terms of risk when considering potential matings.

Speaking at the inaugural launch event, Bill Lambert, Senior Health and Welfare Manager at the Kennel Club said: “The high demand for these breeds, combined with the already recognised health problems has made brachycephalic health and welfare one of the most pressing canine issues in the UK, and one of the Kennel Club’s top priorities. We’re proud to have been able to fund and develop this important scheme with the University of Cambridge and continue to support further research into BOAS, together with the other steps we are taking to improve the health of future generations of these breeds.”

“Launching the BOAS Scheme is a huge step in the right direction to improve the health of these brachycephalic dogs and protect the future of these much-loved breeds. It will enable vets to identify dogs at risk of BOAS, provide breeders and owners with the best available information and advice to make informed decisions and inform ongoing research into the condition.

Dr Jane Ladlow, Royal College and European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery at the University of Cambridge, said: “The way that BOAS is inherited is very complex and so not always entirely predictable. We are researching the genetics of this condition but it is likely to take a few years before we have a viable genetics test. We have realised over the last few years how useful the functional grading scheme is in determining disease severity and it reflects the initial genetic data we have.

“The scheme is a vital tool to help advise all owners if their dog is affected by BOAS and gives guidance to breeders to lower the risk of producing affected puppies. It also, crucially, facilitates important data collection and enables researchers to monitor the frequency of the condition and progress in the breed affected, which will inform ongoing research, for the overall improvement of relevant breeds.

Dr Ladlow and colleagues will be working with the Kennel Club and other organisations dedicated to improving brachycephalic dog health across the board through promoting the scheme and engaging vets, breeders and puppy-buyers to raise awareness and understanding of BOAS.

Adapted from a press release from the Kennel Club.

A new screening scheme aims to provide breeders of French Bulldogs, Pugs and Bulldogs with more information about the health of their dogs, helping them reduce the risk of breeding puppies with potentially serious breathing problems.

The scheme is a vital tool to help advise all owners if their dog is affected by [breathing difficulties] and gives guidance to breeders to lower the risk of producing affected puppies
Jane Ladlow

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Cambridge University secures unprecedented £100 million gift to support students

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Claudia and David Harding

The donation from the David and Claudia Harding Foundation is the biggest single gift made to a university in the UK by a British philanthropist.

It will propel an ambitious £500 million fundraising drive, announced last autumn, aimed directly at increasing financial and wider support for students at Cambridge.

The gift has two main components:

  • The Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme, supported by £79 million, will provide fully funded scholarships for the most talented PhD students.
  • The remaining £21 million is earmarked for supporting undergraduate students. In collaboration between the University and the Colleges, The Harding Collegiate Cambridge Challenge Fund, worth £20 million, aims to encourage further donations from alumni for financial support to undergraduates. A further £1 million is set aside to stimulate innovative approaches to attracting undergraduate students from under-represented groups.

Prof Stephen J Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “This extraordinarily generous gift from David and Claudia Harding will be invaluable in sustaining Cambridge’s place among the world’s leading universities and will help to transform our offer to students. We want to attract, support and fund the most talented students we can find from all parts of the UK and the world.

“We are determined that Cambridge should nurture the finest academic talent, whatever the background or means of our students, to help us fulfil our mission ’to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence’.”

David Harding said: “Claudia and I are very happy to make this gift to Cambridge to help to attract future generations of the world’s outstanding students to research and study there. Cambridge and other British centres of learning have down the ages contributed greatly to improvements in the human condition and can continue in future to address humanity’s great challenges.”

The Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme, starting in October 2019, will ultimately fully fund, in perpetuity, over 100 PhD students in residence at any one time. Scholarships will be available to the most talented students for research in any discipline and the successful candidates will be offered places at applicable Cambridge Colleges. Cambridge has many more outstanding PhD applicants than it can currently fund and this gift will help to ensure that more of them have the opportunity to study at the University.

St Catharine’s College, of which David Harding is an alumnus, will receive £25 million of the gift to support those postgraduate scholars on the Programme at the College.  Undergraduates at St. Catharine’s will also benefit from the wider purposes of the donation.

Prof Sir Mark Welland, Master of St Catharine’s College, said: “The admirable philanthropy of David and Claudia Harding will have a tremendous and permanent impact on St. Catharine’s as well as the University as a whole.  We couldn’t be more honoured to receive this gift.”

The University and Colleges have already set a target to increase the number of postgraduates in residence by 13 per cent from 6,500 in 2016/17 to around 7,400 by the end of 2021.

In October 2018, Prof Toope announced the Student Support Initiative (SSI), with a £500 million fundraising target for the University and the Colleges. The SSI has the following priorities:

  • postgraduate studentships to ensure quality and diversity of postgraduates; 
  • undergraduate financial support and widening participation programmes; and
  • student wellbeing, sport and cultural activities, to ensure students thrive and have the best possible experience at Cambridge.

 

David Harding founded Winton, a global investment management and data science company, in 1997. Winton’s business utilises computing technology to apply mathematical and statistical methods to the field of investing. Claudia Harding is the Managing Trustee of the David and Claudia Harding Foundation and is a Trustee of the Science Museum Foundation.

The couple have donated to numerous scientific and mathematical causes in the UK and internationally, including Cambridge University, the Science Museum, the Crick Institute and the Max Planck Institute in Berlin. The main themes of their philanthropy have been supporting basic scientific research and the communication of scientific ideas.

David and Claudia Harding have been generous supporters of the University of Cambridge and St Catharine’s College for many years. They have funded a broad range of areas including the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability at the Cavendish Laboratory, the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, and research in a diverse array of fields including exoplanets, financial history and data science.

Cambridge University has announced an unprecedented £100 million gift to help attract the most talented postgraduate and undergraduate students from the UK and around the world

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The power of philanthropy in education | Vice-Chancellor's blog

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Higher degree graduands outside Senate House

In her remarkable memoir, Educated, Dr Tara Westover tells the story of her journey from an abusive upbringing on an Idaho scrapyard to the manicured quadrangles of Cambridge. This journey was possible because of her resilience and will to succeed. It was also possible, she recognises, thanks to the right financial support from various universities, including a Gates Cambridge Scholarship for her PhD.

My own experience, while rather less dramatic, echoes hers in some ways. Unlike Tara’s parents, mine were great believers in formal education, and encouraged me from an early age to aim high. But as an Anglican Minister, my father had limited means and was certainly in no position to cover the cost of my bachelor’s degree, let alone study at a higher level. I was lucky enough to win a scholarship to Harvard, and subsequently secured financial support to study for my law degrees at McGill and Cambridge. Those years shaped a career in international law and have culminated in the enormous honour of becoming Vice-Chancellor of the University.

In the UK, school leavers today have a greater opportunity to go to university than ever before, regardless of their backgrounds. That is how it should be in an advanced economy which puts a premium on intellectual achievement and skills.

But the noisy debate over the affordability of student loans in England and the limited availability of postgraduate funding underlines how the cost of study can still act as a real barrier to education. Whatever the outcome of the Government’s current review into the funding of post-18 education, these are issues that will not go away. This is why it is so important that universities like Cambridge are able to offer financial support to the most talented students from around the world.

I am passionate about breaking down the barriers that might prevent some of those very talented students from coming to Cambridge. It is good for them – and it is good for the University – if we can help cover their tuition fees, living and study expenses. They benefit from a great education. In turn, the University benefits from working with some of the finest minds from around the world.

The extraordinary generosity of David and Claudia Harding means we are now in a position to offer fully funded places to many dozens more PhD students. David, an alumnus of St Catharine’s College, is already one of our greatest supporters and their joint gift of £100 million will allow us, among other things, to recruit a cohort of more than 100 postgraduate students over a period of four years.

It is hard to overstate the importance of this gift – the largest single donation ever made to a British university by a British philanthropist. Among those scholars who will benefit will be people whose work in future years is very likely to change the course of history. Like generations before them, they will push at the barriers of knowledge, bringing us insights and discoveries as yet unimagined. They will be a mighty force for good.

In an increasingly competitive global market for highly talented students, this gift has the capacity to make a real difference for Cambridge. It will allow us far greater flexibility in attracting and recruiting top quality candidates. In doing so, it will help us educate the next generation of leaders, scholars, artists and scientists.

Philanthropy has the power to transform the lives of students by giving them a chance to study regardless of their background, says Professor Stephen J Toope

Graduands outside Senate House

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Does the North Pole still matter?

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Is the North Pole still important, when most of us will never visit it and know almost nothing about it? A new book by University of Cambridge researcher Dr Michael Bravo charts the history of the North Pole and finds a place that is both real and imaginary, with fascinating stories to tell. Read more

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Quantum leap

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When buying an item online, we voluntarily hand over our credit card information. But how do we know that it’s safe? Most sensitive information sent over the internet is secured through encryption, a process that converts information into a code that can only be unlocked by those with the encryption key. Currently, encryption keys are essentially impossible to break with conventional computing equipment – it would simply take too long and too much computing power to do the mathematical calculations that could reveal the key.

But in the coming decades, all that could change. Google, IBM and many other companies are all working to build a quantum computer that would outperform contemporary computers by taking advantage of the ability of subatomic particles to exist in more than one state at a time. A quantum computer could enable us to make calculations and solve problems that are well out of reach of even the most powerful supercomputers, but in the wrong hands, they could also crack encryption keys with relative ease.

So how can individuals, corporations and governments keep information safe in the face of this potential threat?

A group of researchers in Cambridge’s Department of Engineering are working to defend against the security threats posed by quantum computers by developing ‘unhackable’ encryption keys hidden inside particles of light, or photons, and sent over optical fibres.

Quantum keys are generated randomly through quantum mechanics, taking advantage of a property of photons that prevents them being cloned. The real strength of quantum links, however, is that if an attacker attempts to intercept the key, the quantum state of the photons changes and they cannot be used as part of the key, rendering the information carried by the stolen photons worthless.

“This means that we can send single photons over our networks and end up with keys at each end which are fundamentally secure,” says Professor Ian White, Head of the Photonics group in Cambridge’s Department of Engineering.

In June 2018, White and his colleagues Professor Richard Penty and Dr Adrian Wonfor started putting these ideas into practice with the launch of the UK’s first quantum network. The ‘metro’ network provides secure quantum communications between the University’s Electrical Engineering Division in West Cambridge, the city centre and Toshiba Research Europe Ltd (TREL) on the Cambridge Science Park. It was built with corporate partners including ADVA and Toshiba.

The network has since been extended and connected to other sites around the country, including BT’s research and development centre in Ipswich, and is currently being extended to the National Physical Laboratory in London and the University of Bristol, creating the first UK quantum network.

The quantum network is a project of the Quantum Communications Hub, a consortium of eight UK universities led by the University of York, as well as private sector companies and public sector stakeholders. It’s funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Programme.

“This network provides us with a UK facility where we can test ideas that until now have been research-based, and to get users used to the concepts behind quantum communications so they can translate this technology into practice,” says Penty. “There’s a world of difference between transmitting quantum keys over a coil of fibre in the lab and actually putting it in the ground.”

The network has the highest quantum key rate in the world. This secures a data network in Cambridge that runs at roughly five times the capacity of the entire University network, and the link to BT in Ipswich operates at five times that again. The link to BT is comparable with the highest data capacity links in the UK, and has the possibility for scale-up in future.

“For us, it’s really important to get this right as it’s our first chance to start doing very detailed studies and see how these systems really work in the field,” says White. “This is only the start, however.”

In addition to the continued growth and development of the quantum network, the researchers are also investigating other ways that quantum technology could be used to secure information. For example, instead of counting individual photons, it could be possible to measure the amplitude and phase properties of pulses. “This way, you could use a type of hardware that’s not so different from conventional networks, so it would dramatically reduce the cost,” says Wonfor. “In theory, this would represent a huge step towards commercialising quantum technology, because it would effectively rely on technology that people are already used to.”

The researchers are also looking at turning the entire concept on its head, and instead of relying on quantum mechanics for encryption key distribution, it could be used as a type of quantum alarm. In this scenario, the quantum signal would be in the background, buried inside a classical data signal, and would detect when an intruder attempts to break into the fibre.

“At the moment, it’s not easy to detect whether someone is tapping into the actual fibre, but with this kind of system working at the level of single photons, it would be much easier to do,” says Penty.

Another possibility is that of an entirely optical quantum-secured network. The Cambridge researchers have been developing optical switches that work with quantum signals so that everything stays in the optical domain. “Effectively, this would mean that quantum IP routers should be possible, a concept that is now testable thanks to the quantum network,” says Wonfor.

So where else might quantum encryption be used? According to White, it could go into space. At the moment, quantum keys can be distributed up to a maximum distance of approximately 100 km of fibre, which is why the quantum network is built on a series of nodes, with a new quantum key being generated at each node. This setup works well in urban areas with a high number of users but is not ideal for rural areas with few users. It also makes it impractical to send a quantum link across the Atlantic.

“An interesting movement within the field of quantum communications is to start involving satellites so that you could produce a quantum communications link for two remote sites,” says White. These satellites would work in parallel with fibre networks, sending quantum links to one of the trusted nodes within the network, where they could be managed, stored and distributed as needed.

The Cambridge group, along with several other academic and industrial collaborators, have recently secured several parallel funding bids from Innovate UK to develop both lower cost terrestrial and space-based quantum communications.

“The main thrust of all of this work has been to develop technologies that can be commercialised and put into regular use,” says White. “Cybersecurity is such an important issue, and we think that the laws of physics can be used to make our data transmission as secure as possible.”

Cambridge researchers are devising new methods to keep sensitive information out of the hands of hackers. They launched the UK’s first ‘unhackable’ network – made safe by the “laws of physics” – in 2018. 

It’s really important to get this right as it’s our first chance to start doing very detailed studies and see how these systems really work in the field
Ian White

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