In the wake of COVID-19, many have pointed to modern industrial farms with tightly-packed livestock as potential hothouses for further pandemics caused by "zoonotic" diseases: those transmitted from animals to humans. 

However, researchers now argue that free-range alternatives, which require far more land, would increase encroachment on natural habitats and create ever more potential for diseases carried by wild animals to come into contact with humans and jump the species barrier.         

In a paper in Royal Society Open Science, a team of scientists led by Cambridge University found a lack of sufficient evidence to conclude which way of farming is least risky, and say there is evidence that the move away from intensive farming might actually increase the risk of pandemics. They call for more research to be done before changing policies or incentivising a particular type of farming.

“High-yield or ‘intensive’ livestock farming is blamed for pandemics, but those calling for a move away from intensive farming often fail to consider the counterfactual – the pandemic risk of farming less intensively and particularly the consequences for land use,” said lead author Harriet Bartlett, a PhD candidate at Cambridge's Department of Zoology.

“Low-yield farms need far more land to produce the same amount of food compared with high-yield farms. A widespread switch to low-yield farming would result in the destruction and disturbance of vast areas of natural habitats. This increases the risk of viral spillover by disturbing wildlife that may well host the next pandemic virus and increasing contact between wildlife, people and livestock," Bartlett said.

The researchers point out that, globally, we now produce four times more meat than we did in the 1960s. Most of our meat, eggs and dairy now come from intensive farms, but such farms are thought be risky due to their crowded conditions which increase the chance of diseases ‘taking off’ and spreading rapidly.

However, intensive farms need less land than extensive, or ‘free range’, farms to produce the same amount of food – both to grow their feed and to rear their animals.

Growing demand for livestock products has caused dramatic habitat loss, say the researchers, which means we are now farming in places where livestock and people are coming into frequent contact with wildlife. They say that this contact with increasingly disturbed, stressed, and infected wildlife makes the spillover of zoonotic viruses into people or livestock more likely.

"If we were to switch from the current system to one based on extensive farming, we would need substantially more land to meet demand – resulting in the conversion of habitat roughly the size of Brazil and India between 2009 and 2050," said paper co-author Prof Andrew Balmford. "This could increase the contact between people, livestock and stressed wildlife – including wildlife that might well host the next pandemic virus."

"Intensive farms may have a greater risk of takeoff, but extensive farms may have greater risk of spillover," he said. 

The researchers say that, worryingly, we simply do not know which risk is more important for preventing future pandemics, and so it is currently impossible to determine which types of farms carry least risk overall.

Added Bartlett: "COVID-19 has demonstrated the huge potential impact of zoonotic diseases, and this study highlights that more research is urgently needed to identify how we minimise the risk of another pandemic."

Reference:

Bartlett H, Holmes MA, Petrovan SO, Williams DR, Wood JLN, Balmford A. 2022 Understanding the relative risks of zoonosis emergence under contrasting approaches to meeting livestock product demand. R. Soc. Open Sci. 9: 211573. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211573

The new specialist, state-funded sixth form - opening in Mill Road, Cambridge, in September 2023 – is being developed in partnership with the University of Cambridge, where the open days will be hosted. The free events, on Saturday, 9 July and Tuesday, 12 July are aimed at Year 10 students, but are open to all students who are starting to consider their A-level options.

The Eastern Learning Alliance (ELA) - a multi-academy trust with schools across Cambridgeshire and East Anglia – will run the Cambridge Mathematics School, where talented students from across the East of England will study maths and further maths, and then choose from physics, chemistry, biology or computer science A-levels. 

Working with the University’s Faculty of Mathematics, and drawing on its outreach and widening participation expertise - in particular the success of the Millennium Mathematics Project (MMP) and its NRICH programme - the Cambridge Maths School aims to attract more female students into maths subjects, more minority ethnic students, and more students from socially and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. The School is also working with the Cambridge Mathematics project - a collaboration between Cambridge University Press and Assessment, and the Faculties of Education and Mathematics - to create an innovative mathematics curriculum. 

Clare Hargraves, Headteacher of the Cambridge Maths School, said: “The open days are the first opportunity for many school students to find out about our plans for the School and its pioneering learning, and we are delighted to be able to share our excitement with them. We want to stimulate students’ passion for mathematics through an extraordinary curriculum that connects ideas and inspires young people – we hope as many as possible can come along to the open days and discover more.”

Book tickets for the Cambridge Maths School open days, taking place 9 and 12 July at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge.

*Ahead of the open days in July, the Cambridge Maths School’s first outreach enrichment events are taking place in June, for Year 9 and 10 students. Activities will be provided by the University’s NRICH and Isaac Physics outreach programmes, among others. The in-person ‘Eureka Days’, at Cambridge’s Centre for Mathematical Sciences, are designed to inspire curious mathematicians. The sessions will feature a paper crane physics challenge, ‘Dragon Quiz’, a session designed around the importance of collaboration, and a talk exploring ‘the hidden maths behind the digital world, from World War II to Wi-Fi’ by mathematician and public speaker Dr James Grime, presenter of the YouTube channel Numberphile. 

The strain, called CC398, has become the dominant type of MRSA in European livestock in the past fifty years. It is also a growing cause of human MRSA infections.

The study found that CC398 has maintained its antibiotic resistance over decades in pigs and other livestock. And it is capable of rapidly adapting to human hosts while maintaining this antibiotic resistance.

The results highlight the potential threat that this strain of MRSA poses to public health. It has been associated with increasing numbers of human infections, in people who have and have not had direct contact with livestock.

“Historically high levels of antibiotic use may have led to the evolution of this highly antibiotic resistant strain of MRSA on pig farms,” said Dr Gemma Murray, a lead author of the study, previously in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and now at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

She added: “We found that the antibiotic resistance in this livestock-associated MRSA is extremely stable – it has persisted over several decades, and also as the bacteria has spread across different livestock species.”

Antibiotic use in European livestock is much lower than it has been in the past. But the researchers say that ongoing reductions in antibiotic use on pig farms - due to recent policy changes - are likely to have a limited impact on the presence of this strain of MRSA in pigs because it is so stable.

While livestock-associated CC398 is found across a broad range of livestock species, it is most commonly associated with pigs. Its rise has been particularly evident in Danish pig farms where the proportion of MRSA-positive herds has increased from less than 5% in 2008 to 90% in 2018. MRSA doesn’t cause disease in pigs.

“Understanding the emergence and success of CC398 in European livestock - and its capacity to infect humans - is vitally important in managing the risk it poses to public health,” said Dr Lucy Weinert in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine, senior author of the paper.

The success of CC398 in livestock and its ability to infect humans is linked to three mobile genetic elements in the MRSA genome. These are chunks of genetic material that give the MRSA certain characteristics, including its resistance to antibiotics and its ability to evade the human immune system.

The researchers reconstructed the evolutionary history of two particular mobile genetic elements called Tn916 and SCCmec that confer antibiotic resistance in MRSA, and found they have persisted in a stable way in CC398 in pigs over decades. They also persist when CC398 jumps to humans – carrying with them high levels of resistance to antibiotics commonly used in farming.

In contrast, a third mobile genetic element called φSa3 – which enables the CC398 strain of MRSA to evade the human immune system – was found to have frequently disappeared and reappeared over time, in both human-associated and livestock-associated CC398. This suggests that CC398 can rapidly adapt to human hosts.

“Cases of livestock-associated MRSA in humans are still only a small fraction of all MRSA cases in human populations, but the fact that they’re increasing is a worrying sign,” said Weinert.

Intensification of farming, combined with high levels of antibiotic use in livestock, has led to particular concerns about livestock as reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant human infections.

Zinc oxide has been used for many years on pig farms to prevent diarrhoea in piglets. Due to concerns about its environmental impact and its potential promotion of antibiotic resistance in livestock, the European Union will ban its use from this month. But the authors say this ban may not help reduce the prevalence of CC398 because the genes conferring antibiotic resistance are not always linked to the genes that confer resistance to zinc treatment.

MRSA was first identified in human patients in 1960. Due to its resistance to antibiotics it is much harder to treat than other bacterial infections. The World Health Organisation now considers MRSA one of the world’s greatest threats to human health.

The findings are published today in the journal eLife.

The research was funded by Wellcome, the Medical Research Council and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Fund.

Reference

Matuszewska, M, Murray, GGR. et al: ‘Stable antibiotic resistance and rapid human adaptation in livestock-associated MRSA.’ ELife, June 2022. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.74819

A new study has found that a species of gut bacteria, known to have beneficial effects for health in mice and humans, changes the mother’s body during pregnancy and affects the structure of the placenta and nutrient transport - which impacts the growing baby.

The bacteria, Bifidobacterium breve, is widely used as a probiotic so this study could point to ways of combating pregnancy complications and ensuring a healthy start in life across the population.

The research involved scientists from the University of Cambridge, the Quadram Institute, and the University of East Anglia and is published today in the journal Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences.

Microbes in our gut, collectively called the gut microbiome, are known to play a key role in maintaining health by combating infections, and influencing our immune system and metabolism. They achieve these beneficial effects by breaking down food in our diet and releasing active metabolites that influence cells and body processes.

Little is known about how these interactions influence fetal development and the baby’s health pre-birth. To address this, Professor Lindsay Hall from the Quadram Institute and University of East Anglia, and Dr Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri and Dr Jorge Lopez-Tello from the University of Cambridge analysed how supplementation with Bifidobacterium bacteria affected pregnancy in mice.

Hall has been studying Bifidobacterium and the microbiome in very early life, previously showing how providing specific probiotics can help premature babies. These bacteria rise in numbers in the microbiome during pregnancy in humans and mice, and alterations in its levels have been linked to pregnancy complications.

Sferruzzi-Perri said: “Pregnancy disorders affect around one in ten pregnant women. This is worrying, as pregnancy complications can lead to health problems for the mother and her baby even after the pregnancy.”

“This study, carried out in mice, identifies the maternal microbiome as a new player in the communication between mother, placenta and fetus. Finding out how this form of communication works and how to improve it may help many women who develop pregnancy complications, as well as helping their developing child.”

‘Germ-free’ mice - lacking any microbes – can be bred to allow comparisons with other mice that have a ‘normal’ microbiome. This can provide valuable insights into the role of the microbiome in health - such studies can’t be carried out in humans.

In this study, the researchers also looked at the effect of feeding germ-free mice the probiotic Bifidobacterium breve.

In the germ-free mice, the fetus did not receive adequate sugar and failed to grow and develop properly. Excitingly, providing Bifidobacterium breve to germ-free mice improved fetal outcomes by restoring fetal metabolism, growth and development to the normal levels.

Lacking the maternal microbiome also hampered the growth of the placenta in a way that would affect fetal growth, and more detailed analysis identified a number of key cell growth and metabolic factors that appear to be regulated by the microbiome and Bifidobacterium breve.

“The placenta has been a neglected organ, despite it being vital for the growth and survival of the fetus.  A better understanding of how the placenta grows and functions will ultimately result in healthier pregnancies for mothers and babies,” said Lopez-Tello.

The researchers also found that the microbiome affected key nutrient transporters, including those for sugars within the placenta that would also influence the growth of the fetus.

“Our findings reveal that the maternal microbiome promotes development of the placenta and growth of the fetus,” said Hall.

“We think that this is linked to the altered profile of metabolites and nutrients, which affects nutrient transport from mother to baby across the placenta. Excitingly it appears that adding in a probiotic Bifidobacterium during pregnancy may help to boost how the placenta functions, which has positive effects on the baby’s growth in the womb.”

These findings are strong indicators of a link between the microbiome of the mother and the development of the baby, but in this first study of its kind there are limitations.

This study focused on one single bacterial species, and whilst this showed that Bifidobacterium breve had positive effects on germ-free mice during pregnancy, this is not a natural situation. Future studies are needed to confirm these effects in a more natural and complex microbiome.

The study was carried out in mice and cannot automatically be translated into treatments for humans. The knowledge provided in this proof-of-concept animal study is critical for guiding future studies in humans - to uncover whether the human maternal microbiome has similar effects. If that is the case, it could provide a relatively simple and low-cost way to help improve pregnancy outcomes with positive benefit for the life-long health of the mother and her child.  

The research was funded by Wellcome and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Reference

Lopez-Tello, J. et al:  ‘Maternal gut microbiota Bifidobacterium promotes placental morphogenesis, nutrient transport and fetal growth in mice.’ Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, June 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s00018-022-04379-y

Adapted from a press release by the Quadram Institute.

People making food-buying choices are often faced with adverts or other descriptions such as ‘low calorie’ (healthy) or ‘tasty’ (less healthy) to influence their decisions, so how effective are health-conscious nudges in moving consumer behaviour toward healthier lifestyles?

A study published in the journal Appetite finds that healthy cues standing alone have, surprisingly, little impact in prompting more healthy buying decisions, while ’hedonic‘ or pleasure-linked cues reduce healthy choices by 3%.

When healthy and non-healthy prompts are presented at the same time, however, the healthy prompts had a protective effect in fully neutralising the non-healthy nudges, perhaps by triggering an ’alarm bell’ to activate control processes.

The study was based on 1,200 Dutch participants and the sample was selected to be representative of age, gender, and income for the Netherlands.

The study fills some important gaps in understanding how these cues affect food-buying choices. Previous studies had largely been based on small samples and narrow populations (such as university students), and were based on healthy messages standing alone rather than alongside non-healthy cues.

“The practical impacts of our findings are two-fold: the results cast doubt on the effectiveness of health-goal cues to boost healthy food choices, but they suggest that healthy primes could prevent less healthy food choices by countering hedonic cues through the interaction of the competing messages,” said co-author Lucia Reisch, El-Erian Professor of Behavioural Economics & Policy and Director of the El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics & Policy at Cambridge Judge Business School.

The results were largely unaffected by factors including gender, hunger, dietary restraint and body mass index. The study’s methodology mimicked an online supermarket, and presented the competing healthy and hedonic cues through advertising banners for cooking recipes – which contained texts including such phrases as ‘healthy’ or ‘low in calories’ (with images of low-caloric meals such as a quinoa salad), and ‘just delightful’ or ‘heavenly enjoyment’ (with photos of tempting foods high in fat or sugar such as an apple tart). To test healthy or non-healthy messages standing alone, the impact on choice was compared with advertising banners unrelated to food such as tissues.

Participants made 18 choices through the mock supermarket, each time selecting one product out of six alternatives (three healthy and three not) through a mouse click.

Based on previous knowledge of health-goal priming effects, the researchers had hypothesised that health goal cues would result in more healthy food choices.

“Our results do not support this hypothesis,” the study says. “Given the high statistical power of the current study, our observed null effect cast some doubt on the generalisability of the frequent positive findings of health goal priming to the population level.” The research did find that the placement of the advertising banners mattered, with more healthy choices resulting when the healthy prime was in the top position rather than a lower position.

“From a public health perspective, the fact that we used very similar stimuli to change behaviour through a health and a hedonic prime but only managed to reduce healthy choices compared to neutral control is relevant,” concludes the study, which uses the term ‘prime’ to describe cues or nudges.

“If it is, all else equal, easier to activate hedonic goals through environmental cues, public health campaigns will be at a technical disadvantage compared to efforts through food advertisement and marketing campaigns. Further research should replicate our findings to test whether the observed differences between health and hedonic goals were linked to our specific experimental design or are universal.”

Reference:
Jan M.Bauer et al. 'Battle of the primes – The effect and interplay of health and hedonic primes on food choice.' Appetite (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.105956

Originally published on the Cambridge Judge Business School website.

HoloScenarios, a new training application based on life-like holographic patient scenarios, is being developed by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), in partnership with the University of Cambridge and Los Angeles-based tech company GigXR. The first module focuses on common respiratory conditions and emergencies.

"Mixed reality is increasingly recognised as a useful method of simulator training,” said Dr Arun Gupta, consultant anaesthetist at CUH and director of postgraduate education at Cambridge University Health Partnership, who is leading the project. “As institutions scale procurement, the demand for platforms that offer utility and ease of mixed reality learning management is rapidly expanding."

Learners in the same room, wearing Microsoft HoloLens mixed-reality headsets, are able to see each other in real life, while also interacting with a multi-layered, medically accurate holographic patient. This creates a unique environment to learn and practice vital, real-time decision making and treatment choices.

Through the same type of headset, medical instructors are also able to change patient responses, introduce complications and record observations and discussions – whether in person in a teaching group or remotely to multiple locations worldwide, via the internet.

Learners can also watch, contribute to and assess the holographic patient scenarios from Android, iOS smartphone or tablet. This means true-to-life, safe-to-fail immersive learning can be accessed, delivered and shared across the world, with the technology now available for license to learning institutions everywhere.

Alongside the development and release of HoloScenarios, an analysis of the new technology as a teaching and learning resource is being led by Professor Riikka Hofmann at Cambridge’s Faculty of Education.

“Our research is aimed at uncovering how such simulations can best support learning and accelerate the adoption of effective mixed reality training while informing ongoing development,” said Hofmann.

“We hope that it will help guide institutions in implementing mixed reality into their curricula, in the same way institutions evaluate conventional resources, such as textbooks, manikins, models or computer software, and, ultimately, improve patient outcomes.”

Junior doctor Aniket Bharadwaj is one of the first to try out the new technology. "Throughout medical school we would have situations where actors would come in an act as patients. With the pandemic a lot of that changed to tablet based interactions because of the risk to people of the virus,” he said.

“Having a hologram patient you can see, hear and interact with is really exciting and will really make a difference to student learning."

The first module features a hologram patient with asthma, followed by anaphylaxis, pulmonary embolism and pneumonia. Further modules in cardiology and neurology are in development.

Delivered by the Gig Immersive Learning Platform, HoloScenarios aims to centralise and streamline access and management of mixed reality learning, and encapsulate the medical experience of world-leading doctors at CUH and across the University of Cambridge.

The new technology could also provide more flexible, cost-effective training without heavy resource demands of traditional simulation, which can make immersive training financially prohibitive. This includes costs for maintaining simulation centres, their equipment and the faculty and staff hours to operate the labs and hire and train patient actors.

This story is reproduced from the Cambridge University Hospitals website

This list coincides with the publication of the Home Office’s report on the statistics of scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain in 2021.

These ten organisations carried out 1,496,006 procedures, 49% or nearly half of the 3,056,243 procedures carried out on animals for scientific research in Great Britain in 2021. Of these 1,496,006 procedures, more than 99% were carried out on mice, fish and rats and 83% were classified as causing a similar level of pain, or less, as an injection.

The ten organisations are listed below alongside the total number of procedures they carried out in 2021. Each organisation’s name links to its animal research webpage, which includes more detailed statistics. This is the seventh consecutive year that organisations have come together to publicise their collective statistics and examples of their research.

A further breakdown of Cambridge’s numbers, including the number of procedures by species and detail of the levels of severity, can be found on our animal research pages.

Understanding Animal Research(UAR) has also produced a list of 63 organisations in the UK that have publicly shared their 2021 animal research statistics. This includes organisations that carry out and/or fund animal research.

All organisations are committed to the ‘3Rs’ of replacement, reduction and refinement. This means avoiding or replacing the use of animals where possible; minimising the number of animals used per experiment and optimising the experience of the animals to improve animal welfare. However, as institutions expand and conduct more research, the total number of animals used can rise even if fewer animals are used per study. 

All organisations listed are signatories to the Concordat on Openness on Animal Research in the UK, a commitment to be more open about the use of animals in scientific, medical and veterinary research in the UK. More than 125 organisations have signed the Concordat including UK universities, medical research charities, research funders, learned societies and commercial research organisations.

Wendy Jarrett, Chief Executive of Understanding Animal Research, which developed the Concordat on Openness, said:

“Animal research remains a small but vital part of the quest for new medicines, vaccines and treatments for humans and animals. We know that the majority of the British public accepts that animals are needed for this research, but it is important that organisations that use animals in research maintain the public’s trust in them.  By providing this level of information about the numbers of animals used, and the experience of those animals, as well as details of the medical breakthroughs that derive from this research, these Concordat signatories are helping the public to make up their own minds about how they feel about the use of animals in scientific research in Great Britain.”

Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Cambridge:

“Animal research continues to be an important part of biomedical science, but as research institutions it is vital that we do not take public support for granted, and instead explain clearly why and how we work with animals and the steps we take to ensure good animal welfare.

“Since first signing the Concordat in 2014, Cambridge University has strived to be as open about our animal research as possible, sharing a wealth of information and case studies, and continuing to engage the public. We believe it’s important to show leadership in this area and we hope our efforts make a difference and show others within the sector what can be achieved.”

Adapted from a press release by Understanding Animal Research.

Professor Suchitra Sebastian from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory has been awarded the Schmidt Science Polymaths award. Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, announced ten new recipients of the award, which provides $500,000 a year, paid through their institution, for up to five years to help support part of a research group.

The Polymath programme makes long-term bets on recently-tenured professors with remarkable track records, promising futures, and a desire to explore risky new research ideas across disciplines. The awardees are the second group to receive the Polymath award, joining just two other exceptionally talented interdisciplinary researchers named in 2021. The awards build upon Schmidt Futures’ commitment to identifying and supporting extraordinary talent, and growing networks empowered to solve hard problems in science and society.

Professor Sebastian’s research seeks to discover exotic quantum phases of matter in complex materials. Her group’s experiments involve tuning the co-operative behaviour of electrons within these materials by subjecting them to extreme conditions including low temperature, high applied pressure, and intense magnetic field.

Under these conditions, her group can take materials that are quite close to behaving like a superconductor – perfect, lossless conductors of electricity – and ‘nudge’ them, transforming their behaviour.

“I like to call it quantum alchemy – like turning soot into gold,” Sebastian said. “You can start with a material that doesn’t even conduct electricity, squeeze it under pressure, and discover that it transforms into a superconductor. Going forward, we may also discover new quantum phases of matter that we haven’t even imagined.”

Other awards she has received for her research include the World Economic Forum Young Scientist award, the L'Oreal-UNESCO Fellowship, the Lee Osheroff Richardson North American Science prize, the International Young Scientist Medal in Magnetism, the Moseley Medal, the Philip Leverhulme Prize, the Brian Pippard Prize. She is an ERC starting and consolidator grant awardee. Most recently, she was awarded the New Horizons in Physics Prize (2022) by the Breakthrough Foundation.

In addition to her physics research, Sebastian is also involved in theatre and the arts. She is Director of the Cavendish Arts-Science Project, which she founded in 2016. The programme has been conceived to question and explore material and immaterial universes through a dialogue between the arts and sciences.

“The very idea of the Polymath Award is revolutionary,” said Sebastian. “It's so rare that an award selects people for being polymaths. Imagining new worlds and questioning traditional ways of knowing - whether by doing experimental theatre, or by bringing together art and science, is part of who I am.

“And this is why in our group, we love to research at the edge - to make risky boundary crossings and go on wild adventures into the quantum unknown. We do it because it's incredibly fun, you never know what each day will bring. To be recognised for this by Schmidt Futures is so unexpected and exciting, the possibilities this award opens up are endless. I look forward to embarking on new quantum explorations, it’s going to be a wild ride!”

The awards build upon Schmidt Futures’ commitment to identifying and supporting extraordinary talent, and growing networks empowered to solve hard problems in science and society. Each Polymath will receive support at the moment in their careers when researchers have the most freedom to explore new ideas, use emerging technologies to test risky theories, and pursue novel scientific research that traverses fields and disciplines; which is otherwise unlikely to receive funding or support.

“The interdisciplinary work that could herald the next great scientific breakthroughs are chronically under-funded,” said Eric Braverman, CEO of Schmidt Futures. “We are betting on the talent of the Schmidt Science Polymaths to explore new ideas across disciplines and accelerate discoveries to address the challenges facing our planet and society.”

Hopeful Polymaths from over 25 universities submitted applications outlining research ideas in STEM fields that represent a substantive shift from their current research portfolio and are unlikely to receive funding elsewhere for consideration to the Schmidt Science Polymaths program. Existing Polymaths’ ideas range from the artificial creation of complex soft matter like human tissue, to the development of synthetic biology platforms for engineering multicellular systems, to the discovery of exotic forms of quantum matter. The impact of this type of interdisciplinary research could result in innovations previously thought impossible like a 3D printer for human organs, climate change-resistant crops, or the unknown applications of quantum matter.

“Single-minded -specialisation coupled with rigid research and funding structures often hinder the ambition to unleash fresh perspectives in scientific inquiry,” said Stuart Feldman, Chief Scientist of Schmidt Futures. “From climate change to public health, the Schmidt Science Polymaths utilise the depth of their knowledge across a breadth of fields to find new ways to solve some of our hardest problems for public benefit.”

Supermassive black holes contain millions or even billions of times more mass than the Sun. Astronomers think that nearly every large galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. While the existence of supermassive black holes is not in dispute, scientists are still working to understand how they grow and evolve. One critical piece of information is how fast the black holes are spinning.

“Every black hole can be defined by just two numbers: its spin and its mass,” said Julia Sisk-Reynes of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy (IoA), who led the study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. “While that sounds fairly simple, figuring those values out for most black holes has proved to be incredibly difficult.”

For this result, researchers observed X-rays that bounced off a disk of material swirling around the black hole in a quasar known as H1821+643. Quasars contain rapidly growing supermassive black holes that generate large amounts of radiation in a small region around the black hole. Located in a cluster of galaxies about 3.4 billion light-years from Earth, H1821+643’s black hole is between about three and 30 billion solar masses, making it one of the most massive known. By contrast, the supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy weighs about four million Suns.

The strong gravitational forces near the black hole alter the intensity of X-rays at different energies. The larger the alteration the closer the inner edge of the disk must be to the point of no return of the black hole, known as the event horizon. Because a spinning black hole drags space around with it and allows matter to orbit closer to it than is possible for a non-spinning one, the X-ray data can show how fast the black hole is spinning.

“We found that the black hole in H1821+643 is spinning about half as quickly as most black holes weighing between about a million and ten million suns,” said co-author Professor Christopher Reynolds, also of the IoA. “The million-dollar question is: why?”

The answer may lie in how these supermassive black holes grow and evolve. This relatively slow spin supports the idea that the most massive black holes like H1821+643 undergo most of their growth by merging with other black holes, or by gas being pulled inwards in random directions when their large disks are disrupted. 

Supermassive black holes growing in these ways are likely to often undergo large changes of spin, including being slowed down or wrenched in the opposite direction. The prediction is therefore that the most massive black holes should be observed to have a wider range of spin rates than their less massive relatives.  

On the other hand, scientists expect less massive black holes to accumulate most of their mass from a disk of gas spinning around them. Because such disks are expected to be stable, the incoming matter always approaches from a direction that will make the black holes spin faster until they reach the maximum speed possible, which is the speed of light.

“The moderate spin for this ultramassive object may be a testament to the violent, chaotic history of the universe’s biggest black holes,” said co-author Dr James Matthews, also of the IoA. “It may also give insights into what will happen to our galaxy’s supermassive black hole billions of years in the future, when the Milky Way collides with Andromeda and other galaxies. 

This black hole provides information that complements what astronomers have learned about the supermassive black holes seen in our galaxy and in M87, which were imaged with the Event Horizon Telescope. In those cases, the black hole’s masses are well known, but the spin is not.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

Reference:
Júlia Sisk-Reynés et al. 'Evidence for a moderate spin from X-ray reflection of the high-mass supermassive black hole in the cluster-hosted quasar H1821+643.' Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2022). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac1389

Adapted from a Chandra press release.

For the study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, an international team of researchers analysed data from a galaxy known as MACS1149-JD1 (JD1), obtained from observations by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an assembly of radio telescopes in Chile.

The galaxy is so far away that its light comes to us from a time when the Universe was only 550 million years old – 4% of its present age.

The researchers, led by Tsuyoshi Tokuoka of Waseda University, found subtle variations in the wavelengths of the light indicating that parts of the galaxy were moving away from us while other parts were moving towards us. From these variations, they concluded that the galaxy was disc-shaped and rotating at a speed of 50 kilometres a second. By contrast, the Milky Way, at the Sun’s position, rotates with a speed of 220 kilometres per second today.

From the size of the galaxy and the speed of its rotation, the researchers were able to infer its mass, which in turn enabled them to confirm that it was likely 300 million years old and therefore formed about 250 million years after the Big Bang.  

“This is by far the furthest back in time we have been able to detect a galaxy’s spin,” said co-author Professor Richard Ellis from University College London (UCL). “It allows us to chart the development of rotating galaxies over 96% of cosmic history – rotations that started slowly initially, but became more rapid as the Universe aged.

“These measurements support our earlier findings that this galaxy is well-established and likely formed about 250 million years after the Big Bang. On a cosmic time scale, we see it rotating not long after stars first lit up the Universe.”

“Our findings shed light on how galaxies evolved in the early Universe,” said co-author Dr Nicolas Laporte, from Cambridge’s Kavli Institute for Cosmology. “We see that, 300 million years after massive molecular clouds condensed and fused into stars, a galactic disk has developed and the galaxy has acquired a shape and rotation.”

“Determining whether distant galaxies are rotating is very challenging because they only appear as tiny dots in the sky,” said co-author Professor Akio K. Inoue, from Waseda University, Tokyo “Our new findings came thanks to two months of observations and the high resolution achieved by combining the 54 radio telescopes of the ALMA observatory.”

The further away a galaxy is from Earth, the faster it appears to move away from us. As objects moving away emit light shifted towards longer wavelengths (“redshifted”), this means we can calculate their distance, and in turn their age, from the extent of redshift.

Past studies have found JD1’s redshift to be 9.1, meaning what we see is from when the Universe was 550 million years old. In the latest study, the team picked out variations in the redshift across the galaxy, indicating differences in the speed at which the galaxy was moving away from us, meaning that, relatively speaking, one side was moving away while the other side was moving closer.

From the new observations, the team concluded that JD1 was only 3,000 light years across (by comparison, the Milky Way is 100,000 light years across) and that its total mass was equivalent to 1-2 billion times the mass of the Sun.

This mass is consistent with the galaxy being about 300 million years old, with most of the mass coming from mature stars that formed close to the start of the galaxy’s life.

The finding supports earlier evidence from the same researchers, who came up with the same age estimate for JD1 in a paper published last year, using a different technique based on the brightness of light at various frequencies. They determined the age of six galaxies including JD1, concluding that cosmic dawn – the moment stars first lit up the Universe – occurred 200 to 300 million years after the Big Bang.

The research was supported by MEXT in Japan, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the European Research Council under the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, and the Kavli Foundation.

Reference:
Tsuyoshi Tokuoka et al. ‘Possible Systematic Rotation in the Mature Stellar Population of a z = 9.1 Galaxy.’ The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2022). DOI:

A new study has found that male dogs are four to five times more likely than female dogs to be infected with the oro-nasal form of Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumour.

Researchers think this is because of behaviour differences between the sexes: male dogs spend more time sniffing and licking female dogs’ genitalia than vice versa.

Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumour, or CTVT, is an unusual cancer – it is infectious and can spread between dogs when they come into contact. The living cancer cells physically ‘transplant’ themselves from one animal to the other.

CTVT commonly affects dogs’ genitals and is usually transmitted during mating. But sometimes the cancer can affect other areas like the nose, mouth and skin.

In the study, the researchers reviewed a database of almost 2,000 cases of CTVT from around the globe and found that only 32 CTVT tumours affected the nose or mouth. Of these, 27 cases were in male dogs.

“We found that a very significant proportion of the nose or mouth tumours of canine transmissible cancer were in male dogs,” said Dr Andrea Strakova in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine, first author of the paper. She performed this study with colleagues from the Transmissible Cancer Group, led by Professor Elizabeth Murchison.

Strakova added: “We think this is because male dogs may have a preference for sniffing or licking the female genitalia, compared to vice versa. The female genital tumours may also be more accessible for sniffing and licking, compared to the male genital tumours.”

The findings are published today in the journal Veterinary Record.

CTVT first arose several thousand years ago from the cells of one individual dog; remarkably, the cancer survived beyond the death of this original dog by spreading to new dogs. This transmissible cancer is now found in dog populations worldwide, and is the oldest and most prolific cancer lineage known in nature.

CTVT isn’t common in the UK, although case numbers have risen in the past decade. This is thought to be linked to the import of dogs from abroad. The disease occurs worldwide but is mostly linked to countries with free-roaming dog populations.

“Although canine transmissible cancer can be diagnosed and treated fairly easily, veterinarians in the UK may not be familiar with the signs of the disease because it is very rare here,” said Strakova.

She added: “We think it’s important to consider CTVT as a possible diagnosis for oro-nasal tumours in dogs. Treatment is very effective, using single agent Vincristine chemotherapy, and the vast majority of dogs recover.”

The most common symptoms of the oro-nasal form of the cancer are sneezing, snoring, difficulty breathing, nasal deformation or bloody and other discharge from the nose or mouth.

Genital cases of CTVT occur in roughly equal numbers of male and female dogs.

Transmissible cancers are also found in Tasmanian Devils, and in marine bivalves like mussels and clams. The researchers say that studying this unusual long-lived cancer could also be helpful in understanding how human cancers work.

The research was funded by the Wellcome and International Canine Health Postgraduate Student Inspiration Awards from the Kennel Club Charitable Trust.

Reference

Strakova, A. et al: ‘Sex disparity in oronasal presentations of canine transmissible venereal tumour.’ Veterinary Record, July 2022. DOI: 10.1002/vetr.1794

A new study reveals why a highly infectious variant of the cholera bug, which caused large disease outbreaks in the early 1990s, did not cause the eighth cholera pandemic as feared – but instead unexpectedly disappeared.

The study analysed samples of O139 Vibrio cholerae, a variant of the bacteria that causes cholera, and discovered significant changes in its genome over time that led to its unexpected decline.

These genetic changes resulted in a gradual loss of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and a change in the types of toxin produced by the cholera bug. In combination, these changes are likely to account for O139’s failure to seed the eighth cholera pandemic.

The cholera bug is not currently monitored on a regular basis. Scientists say continuous monitoring of the genes underlying AMR and toxin production is key to keeping ahead of the cholera bug as it evolves. In particular, this will help to plan changes to vaccines and appropriate public health responses to prevent future cholera outbreaks.

The O139 variant of Vibrio cholerae was first detected in India in 1992. It quickly became dominant over the existing O1 variant and caused huge disease outbreaks in India and Southern Bangladesh.

The rapid spread of O139 across Asia surprised scientists, who feared it would cause the eighth cholera pandemic – and as a result cholera vaccines were modified accordingly. But for some reason that pandemic never happened: by 2015 the variant had largely declined, and the O1 variant established itself once again as a dominant strain. Until now, scientists have not understood why.

The study is published today in the journal Nature Communications.

“There’s a real possibility that another cholera variant may emerge with the potential to cause large outbreaks, which could lead to the eighth cholera pandemic. Continuous surveillance of the variants in circulation is our best chance of preventing mass outbreaks,” said Dr Ankur Mutreja, in the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, senior author of the study.

Cholera is a life-threatening infectious disease, usually caught by eating or drinking contaminated food or water. It only causes large outbreaks in places where hygiene and sanitation is poor, so is mainly restricted to the developing world.

Cholera can also arise when water and sewage systems are disrupted due to war or natural disaster. Recent news reports have warned that the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, all but destroyed by weeks of Russian shelling, is now at risk of a major cholera outbreak.

In the past 200 years, seven cholera pandemics have killed millions of people across the world; the seventh is still ongoing with large outbreaks in Yemen and Somalia. The dominant variant of Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria that causes cholera outbreaks today, is called O1 and arose in the 1960s – replacing all pre-existing variants.

The new study analysed 330 samples of the cholera variant O139, taken between 1992 and 2015, to reveal two key changes in its genome that may have been the cause of its decline over three overlapping waves of disease transmission.

Before the O139 variant appeared, cholera was sensitive to many antibiotics. But O139 was resistant to these, which is likely to be the reason it became the dominant variant very quickly.

The study found that O139 had started out with several genes giving it resistance to antibiotics. But over time it gradually lost these genes. In tandem, the O1 variant gained antibiotic resistance.

“When it first arose, the O139 variant of cholera had antimicrobial resistance. But over time this resistance was lost - while the pre-existing O1 variant gained resistance and re-established itself,” said Mutreja.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that globally there are 1.3 to 4.0 million cases of cholera, with 21,000 to 143,000 deaths, every year. There have been seven pandemics of cholera, all of which have been caused by O1 variant of Vibrio cholerae, with the first one documented in 1817.

This research was funded by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.

Reference

Ramamurthy, T. et al. ‘Vibrio cholerae O139 genomes provide a clue to why it may have failed to usher in the eighth cholera pandemic.’ Nature Communications, July 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31391-4

Until now, common toads were thought to be terrestrial. The highest toad in this study was found three metres up a tree – and scientists say there is a chance the toads might be venturing even higher.

This is the first time that the tree climbing potential of amphibians has been investigated at a national scale.

The surprising discovery was made during a survey to search for hazel dormice and bats as part of the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme and the Bat Tree Habitat Key project. 

The research was led by the University of Cambridge and Froglife, and supported by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). It is published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

Dr Silviu Petrovan, Senior Researcher at the University of Cambridge and Trustee at Froglife, and first author of the study, said: “This is a really exciting finding, and significant for our understanding of the ecology and conservation of common toads - one of the most widespread and abundant European amphibians.”

He added: “We know common toads favour woodlands as foraging and wintering habitat, but it appears their association with trees is much more complex than we had previously thought.”

Common toads are regarded as typical terrestrial amphibians, which spend their time both on land and in water during breeding. To date there have only been a handful of documented sightings of common toads in trees in the UK. 

Consequently, common toads and UK amphibians in general have never been surveyed for in trees, unlike bat and dormouse surveys - which specifically target this habitat. The study highlights the importance of sharing data between conservation organisations representing different species, and shows that there is a lot to learn about wildlife in the UK – even about species believed to be well-known.  

Nida Al-Fulaij, Conservation Research Manager at PTES said: “We couldn’t believe what we found. We’re used to discovering woodland birds and other small mammals in nest boxes but we hadn’t considered finding amphibians in them.”

Over 50 common toads were found during surveys of hazel dormouse nest boxes (located 1.5m above ground) and tree cavities usually used by bats.

Many of the cavities were small or not visible from the ground, so it is unclear how toads are finding them and how difficult it is for toads to climb particular trees.

Toads were not found in boxes or tree holes with other species, however they were found using old nests made by dormice and even birds.

While 50 records is not a huge number, it is comparable to records of other animals known to use trees regularly - such as blue tits. This suggests that toads spend more time in trees than was previously thought. If this is true, it means that common toads could be found in up to one in every hundred trees in the UK in particularly favourable areas, such as near large ponds or lakes.

The discovery suggests that tree cavities might represent an even more important ecological feature than conservationists previously thought. It highlights the importance of protecting our remaining natural woodland habitats, especially ancient trees with veteran features (such as hollows, cracks and other natural cavities) for all wildlife.

Froglife research in 2016 showed that common toads have declined by 68% on average over the last 30 years across the UK.

It is not currently known why toads are climbing trees and using nest boxes. Factors could include searching for food, avoiding predators or evading parasites such as toad fly.

“Future targeted research will enable scientists to better understand the reasons for this tree-climbing behaviour in toads, and how woodland management should take it into account,” said Petrovan.

Froglife is calling on members of the public to record any sightings they have of amphibians in trees on their Dragon Finder App, or to contact them directly. 

Reference

Petrovan, S.O. et al: ‘Why link diverse citizen science surveys? Widespread arboreal habits of a terrestrial amphibian revealed by mammalian tree surveys in Britain.’ PLOS ONE, July 2022. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265156

Adapted from a press release by Froglife

An international team of experts has produced a list of 15 issues they believe are likely to have a significant impact on marine and coastal biodiversity over the next five to ten years.

Their ‘horizon scanning’ technique focuses on identifying issues that are not currently receiving widespread attention, but are likely to become important over the next decade. The aim is to raise awareness and encourage investment into full assessment of these issues now, and potentially drive policy change, before the issues have a major impact on biodiversity.

The issues include the impacts of wildfires on coastal ecosystems, the effects of new biodegradable materials on the marine environment, and an ‘empty’ zone at the equator as species move away from this warming region of the ocean.

“Marine and coastal ecosystems face a wide range of emerging issues that are poorly recognised or understood, each having the potential to impact biodiversity,” said Dr James Herbert-Read in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, joint first author of the paper.

He added: “By highlighting future issues, we’re pointing to where changes must be made today - both in monitoring and policy – to protect our marine and coastal environments.”

The horizon scan involved 30 experts in marine and coastal systems from 11 countries in the global north and south, from a variety of backgrounds including scientists and policy-makers. The results are published today in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Several of the issues identified are linked to exploitation of ocean resources. For example, deep sea ‘brine pools’ are unique marine environments home to a diversity of life - and have high concentrations of salts containing lithium. The authors warn that rising demand for lithium for electric vehicle batteries may put these environments at risk. They call for rules to ensure biodiversity is assessed before deep sea brine pools are exploited.

While overfishing is an immediate problem, the horizon scan looked beyond this to what might happen next. The authors think there may soon be a move to fishing in the deeper waters of the mesopelagic zone (a depth of 200m – 1,000m), where fish are not fit for human consumption but can be sold as food to fish farms.

“There are areas where we believe immediate changes could prevent huge problems arising over the next decade, such as overfishing in the ocean’s mesopelagic zone,” said Dr Ann Thornton in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, joint first author on the paper.

She added: “Curbing this would not only stop overexploitation of these fish stocks, but reduce the disruption of carbon cycling in the ocean - because these species are an ocean pump that removes carbon from our atmosphere.”

The report also highlights the potential impact of new biodegradable materials on the ocean. Some of these materials are more toxic to marine species than traditional plastics.

Herbert-Read said: “Governments are making a push for the use of biodegradable materials - but we don’t know what impacts these materials may have on ocean life.”

The authors also warn that the nutritional content of fish is declining as a consequence of climate change. Essential fatty acids tend to be produced by cold-water fish species, so as climate change raises ocean temperatures, the production of these nutritious molecules is reduced. Such changes may have impacts on both marine life and human health.

Not all of the predicted impacts are negative. The authors think the development of new technologies, such as soft robotics and better underwater tracking systems, will enable scientists to learn more about marine species and their distribution. This, in turn, will guide the development of more effective marine protected areas. But they also warn that the impacts of these technologies on biodiversity must be assessed before they are deployed at scale.

“Our early identification of these issues, and their potential impacts on marine and coastal biodiversity, will support scientists, conservationists, resource managers, policy-makers and the wider community in addressing the challenges facing marine ecosystems,” said Herbert-Read.

While there are many well-known issues facing ocean biodiversity including climate change, ocean acidification and pollution, this study focused on lesser-known emerging issues that could soon have significant impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems.

This horizon scanning process has previously been used by researchers from the Department of Zoology to identify issues that have later come to prominence, for example, a scan in 2009 gave an early warning that microplastics could become a major problem in marine environments.

The United Nations has designated 2021-2030 as the ‘UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.’ In addition, the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity will conclude negotiations on a global biodiversity framework in late 2022. The aim is to slow and reverse the loss of biodiversity, and establish goals for positive outcomes by 2050.

This research was funded by Oceankind.

Reference

Herbert-Read, J.E. et al. ‘A global horizon scan of issues impacting marine and coastal biodiversity conservation.’ Nature Ecology and Evolution, July 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01812-0

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The full list of issues identified by the report includes:

Ecosystem impacts

• Wildfire impacts on coastal and marine ecosystems
• Coastal darkening
• Increased toxicity of metal pollution due to ocean acidification
• Equatorial marine communities becoming depauperate (lacking variety) due to climate migration
• Altered nutritional content of fish due to climate change

Resource exploitation

• Untapped potential of marine collagens and their impacts on marine ecosystems
• Impacts of expanding trade for fish swim bladders on target and non-target species
• Impacts of fishing for mesopelagic (middle-depth) species on the biological ocean pump
• Extraction of lithium from deep-sea brine pools

Novel technologies

• Co-location of marine activities
• Floating marine cities
• Trace element contamination compounded by the global transition to green technologies
• New underwater tracking systems to study non-surfacing marine animals
• Soft robotics for marine research
• Effects of new biodegradable materials in the marine environment

Breaking news from 79 CE: Caecilius has a daughter. Barbillus is a Greco-Syrian man of colour. Enslaved people aren’t always happy. Metella is reading in the atrium.

These statements may read like indecipherable babble to some, but for students of Latin, they are among the most notable changes in the new edition of the Cambridge Latin Course: the leading textbook in the ancient language.

The course, a mainstay of Latin learning in British schools since the 1970s, has something nearing cult status with its fans. Its vivid stories, beginning in Book One with the adventures of a Pompeiian family featuring Caecilius, his wife, Metella, son, Quintus, and cook, Grumio, have inspired fan fiction, artistic tributes and even a cameo on Doctor Who.

The newly-published fifth edition represents one of the most significant new editions in its 50-year history. It draws on a wider range of sources and on new scholarship to give a more accurate, evidence-based picture of the classical world. In doing so, it better prepares students to engage with classical works and to think critically about the past, while addressing concerns raised by teachers, academics and students about the representation of women, enslaved people, and minorities in the Roman world.

While the original cast are as central as ever, new characters have been introduced, stories rewritten and features updated. Women have greater prominence (Caecilius has a new daughter called Lucia, for example), readers learn more about the lives of enslaved people, and the multicultural reality of Rome’s vast, intercontinental empire is represented in greater detail.

The course, written by the Cambridge Schools Classics Project at the University of Cambridge, has been informed by a fact-finding exercise in 2018 which involved school visits, surveys and interviews with hundreds of teachers and pupils, confirmed other long-held doubts about representation in the course books, prompting a more thorough reassessment.

Caroline Bristow, director of the Cambridge School Classics Project, said: “The aim has always been to introduce students to the complexity of the Roman world and get them to think critically about it while learning Latin. That prepares them to engage more thoroughly with authentic classical sources. The feedback we got told us we weren’t doing enough in that regard.”

Girls were especially keen to see more of the female characters – many had already started inventing their own backstories for them.

The stories in the new edition are, as ever, rooted in historical research, but expand women’s roles and devote more attention to their lived experiences. Lucia, for example, is being pushed into an arranged marriage in Book One. Caecilius also hires a female painter, Clara, to introduce students to the fact that poorer Roman women had to work as well as men.

Bristow said: “We wanted to provide students with a more rounded picture of people and events, while ensure the stories remain historically grounded. We’ve done that by drawing from that wider range of sources and events.”

This also helps to address the challenges that inclusion, access and minority representation can present for Classics educators. In particular, research highlights the imposter syndrome that people of colour feel when encountering the inaccurate, but standard, depiction of Rome as predominantly white. Other studies have shown that without being prompted to see diversity, even students of colour automatically make this assumption about the Roman world – a finding backed up by teachers’ experiences in the classroom.

Responding to this, greater attention was given to cultural diversity in the new edition. For example, Barbillus, a wealthy Greco-Syrian merchant character, features more prominently and is clearly presented as a person of colour. His early presence in the stories is partly intended to challenge another general misconception, that such people were always enslaved.

Jasmine Elmer, a Classics educator and media personality whose work focuses on trying to broaden access to, and understanding of, the ancient past, was one of several experts who reviewed the new edition. “We’ve tended to take an all-white view of an empire that clearly wasn’t,” she said. “If you’re a person of colour, it’s natural to wonder whether people like you were even there. The new course seems to be braver about those issues. It doesn’t run away from complicated subject matter; it turns it into teaching points.”

Enslaved characters were, in earlier editions, sometimes depicted in simplistic terms: as “happy”, “hard-working” or “lazy”. In the new edition, slavery is now depicted through the eyes of its victims, focusing on their anxieties and gruelling lives.

Other changes reflect developments in historical scholarship since the series was last updated. Ingo Gildenhard, a Professor of Classics at Cambridge, advised the production team on a section on gladiators in Book One. Traditionally, gladiatorial combat has been presented as a strange, bloodthirsty aspect of Roman culture. Without ignoring its horrors, modern research nonetheless shows the reality was more complex: arena combat also stirred Roman audiences because it reinforced key contemporary values, such as martial prowess.

Teaching materials in the new edition draw attention to that more nuanced perspective. “It’s essential that instead of brushing aspects of Roman culture under the carpet, we look at it in the round,” Gildenhard said. “Part of this is about empowering teachers with new scholarship they might not have encountered. It’s also about inviting students to think critically about the past and its relationship to the present. That’s a valuable skill whether or not you end up doing Latin long term.”

Pupils and teachers have tested the new edition and responded positively. One young reviewer told the team: “I like that Lucia is educated, but I would like to know whether she actually wants to marry or not.” Of Clara, another commented: “It’s good that Caecilius is hiring women”.

Bristow said: “We sometimes get told that children just want to learn the language, study the amazing things Romans did and dress up as gladiators,” she said. “There’s lots that was inspiring, but this was a complex world. We’re teaching children to be Classicists. We’re not teaching them to be Romans.”

This story was first published by Cambridge's Faculty of Education.
 

The Centre for Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence (CHIA) brings together researchers from engineering and mathematics, philosophy and social sciences; a broad range of disciplines to investigate how human and machine intelligence can be combined in technologies that best contribute to social and global progress.

Anna Korhonen, Director of CHIA and Professor of Natural Language Processing, said: “We know from history that new technologies can drive changes with both positive and negative consequences, and this will likely be the case for AI. The goal of our new Centre is to put humans at the centre of every stage of AI development – basic research, application, commercialisation and policymaking – to help ensure AI benefits everyone."

Artificial intelligence is a rapidly developing technology predicted to transform much of our society. While AI has the potential to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems in healthcare, education, climate science and economic sustainability it will need to embrace its human origins to become responsible, transparent and inclusive.

Per-Ola Kristensson, Co-director of CHIA and Professor of Interactive Systems Engineering, said: “For true progress and real-life impact it’s critical to nurture a close engagement with industry, policy makers, non-governmental organisations and civil society. Few universities in the world can rival the breadth and depth of Cambridge making us ideally positioned to make these connections and engage with the communities who face the greatest impact from AI.”

Designed to deliver both academic and real-world impact, CHIA seeks partners in academic, industrial, third-sector and other organizations that share an interest in promoting human-inspired AI.

John Suckling, Co-director of CHIA and Director of Research in Psychiatric Neuroimaging, said: “Our students will be educated in an interdisciplinary environment with access to experts in the technical, ethical, human and industrial aspects of AI. Early-career researchers will be part of all our activities. We are committed to inclusivity and diversity as a way of delivering robust and practical outcomes.”

CHIA will educate the next generation of AI creators and leaders, with dedicated graduate training in human-inspired AI.

Professor Mark Girolami from the Department of Engineering, said: “As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly pervasive, it’s critical to align its development with societal interests. This new University-wide Centre will explore a human-centric approach to the development of AI to ensure beneficial outcomes for society. Cambridge's depth of expertise in AI and a focus on interdisciplinary collaboration make it an ideal home for CHIA.”

Apart from research and education, the CHIA will also host seminars, public events and international conferences to raise awareness of human-inspired AI. Forums will be convened around topics of ethical or societal concern with representation from all stakeholders.

Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, said: “If we’re to ensure that AI works for everyone and does not widen inequalities, then we need to place people at its heart and consider the societal and ethical implications alongside its development. Cambridge, with its ability to draw on researchers across multiple disciplines, is uniquely positioned to be able to lead in this area.”

Neil Lawrence, DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning, added: “Artificial intelligence is provoking new questions in our societies. It’s vital that we deliver the answers in a people-centric manner. The Centre in Human-Inspired AI will provide a new interdisciplinary hub that delivers the solutions for these challenges.”

This new agreement aims to equip research students with the capabilities to work across disciplines and sectors. In addition, students will hone important translational skills that are needed to turn their research into new medicines and better outcomes for patients.

“Cambridge University and AstraZeneca see the future of medicine happening at the intersection of different disciplines, where biological understanding of disease processes and the chemistry of how drugs work, meets engineering and artificial intelligence,” said Kathryn Chapman, Deputy Director of the Milner Therapeutics Institute and the University’s Relationship Manager for AstraZeneca.

Professor Andy Neely, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Relations, University of Cambridge underscores an important piece of working across subject areas: collaboration. He said: “Training the next generation of brilliant scientists who are able to collaborate with colleagues in different disciplines and with industry partners will be critical to getting new treatments to patients.”

“This new agreement demonstrates AstraZeneca’s commitment to developing early career scientists and offers a fantastic opportunity for AstraZeneca and Cambridge University to collaborate by sharing knowledge and expertise across academia and industry,” said Jacqui Hall, Head of Early Careers and R&D Learning, AstraZeneca.

Learning how to collaborate and translate advances in research into breakthroughs that improve patient outcomes will be central to the programme. To facilitate this, each student will have both an academic and industry supervisor. They will also benefit from access to AstraZeneca’s state-of-the-art labs at its Discovery Centre, home to over 2,200 scientists based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

By participating in the programme, students will gain insights into all stages of the drug discovery pipeline and receive guidance as to how they can collaborate with industry and help turn their research into new life-changing medicines for patients.

The MY Resilience In ADolescence (MYRIAD) study programme span spans eight years of research and explore whether schools-based mindfulness training could improve the mental health of young people. It involved more than 28,000 children aged 11-14, 100 schools and 650 teachers. The main studies from this programme are published in a series of papers in a special issue of Evidence-based Mental Health.

Professor Willem Kuyken from the University of Oxford, one of the lead authors, said: “MYRIAD is the largest of its kind to explore, in detail, whether mindfulness training in schools can improve young people’s mental health. With early adolescence being an important window of opportunity in terms of preventing mental health problems and promoting well-being, and young people spending much of their waking lives at school, a schools-based programme could be a good way to support young people’s mental health.”

Reports suggest that one in five teenagers experience mental health problems, and three quarters of all mental illnesses that anyone will ever develop before the age of 24. For example, the peak age of onset of depression is between 13 and 15 years of age. The MYRIAD studies showed that certain groups of young people were more likely to report mental health problems: girls, older teenagers, those living in urban areas, and those living in areas of greatest poverty and deprivation.

The young people participating in the studies reported mixed views of the mindfulness-training curriculum (some rating it highly and others negatively), while 80% did not do the required mindfulness practice homework.

Professor Mark Williams from the University of Oxford, added: “The findings from MYRIAD confirm the huge burden of mental health challenges that young people face, and the urgent need to find a way to help. They also show that the idea of mindfulness doesn’t help – it’s the practice that matters. If today’s young people are to be enthused enough to practice mindfulness, then updating training to suit different needs and giving them a say in the approach they prefer are the vital next steps.”

In addition, to teach mindfulness well, committed staff, resources and teacher training and support are needed, and the co-design of programmes and resources with young people would likely be more effective, say the researchers. A multitude of factors affect young people’s health, for example, their environment at school and at home, their school’s culture, and their individual differences.

Co-investigator Professor Tamsin Ford from the University of Cambridge said: “Our work adds to the evidence that translating mental health treatments into classroom curricula is difficult and that teachers may not be best placed to deliver them without considerable training and support – another approach would be for mindfulness practitioners to work with students at risk of poor mental health or who express a particular interest in attending mindfulness training.”

Other findings included:

• Mindfulness training improved overall school climate (atmosphere and culture), especially views of the school leadership, connectedness, and respect – although most effects washed out after one year.
• Teachers who did the mindfulness training reported lower levels of burnout, particularly feelings of reduced exhaustion and depersonalization – although most effects washed out after one year.

Professor Mark Greenberg, one of the study co-investigators at Pennsylvania State University, said: “The MYRIAD project carefully tested the effects of a brief mindfulness intervention for early teens and found it to have no impact on preventing mental health problems or promoting well-being. In order to improve wellbeing for young people, it is likely we need to make broader systemic changes in schools that both teach them new coping skills and support staff to create environments where youth feel valued and respected.”

Miranda Wolpert, Director of Mental Health at Wellcome, which funded the research, said: “In science, it is just as important to find out what doesn’t work as what does. It can take real bravery to share such findings.  This rigorous, large-scale study found that when mindfulness training was delivered at scale in schools it did not have an impact on preventing risk of depression or promoting well-being in students aged 11 to 14 years.”

Adapted from a press release by the University of Oxford

Nyobolt, which spun out of the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry in 2016 and was co-founded by Professor Dame Clare Grey DBE FRS and CEO Dr Sai Shivareddy, is commercialising high-performance battery and charging technologies to create a world where lengthy charge times no longer exist.

The £50 million funding is led by H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders (HCS), a subsidiary of Masan High-Tech Materials, one of the world’s largest tungsten suppliers – a key component of Nyobolt’s technology. The investment is set to drive Nyobolt’s market entry by establishing its presence and launching the manufacturing of millions of units next year. H.C. Starck funding will enable Nyobolt’s first materials manufacturing plant in the UK, as well as expansion of the US cell engineering facility and the teams’ growth across the globe.  

The investment and future collaboration between Nyobolt and H.C. Starck in the supply of materials, scale up of manufacture and recycling aims to provide a sustainable solution supporting the transition to net zero in multiple sectors. 

The ultra-fast charging battery solution developed by world renowned experts at Nyobolt drastically decreases charge time from hours to minutes, maximising uptime and productivity. Nyobolt’s technology will lead the world towards transport decarbonisation, by erasing the greatest barrier preventing drivers from going electric – charge anxiety. The technology is applicable for devices ranging from home appliances to electric vehicles and industrial robotics, improving performance and revolutionising energy storage markets. 

As well as ensuring security of supply of key materials, this strategic partnership will enable Nyobolt to benefit from the established recycling capabilities of H.C. Starck, allowing the efficient use of resources to minimise the environmental impact of Nyobolt’s ultra-fast charging batteries. The collaboration will lead to a sustainable supply chain for Nyobolt’s technology, making the technically demanding process of battery recycling easier and more efficient. 

Nyobolt’s technology builds on a decade of battery research led by University of Cambridge battery scientist Professor Clare Grey, who has been recently appointed as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Honours list for her services to science, marking her extensive contributions to the battery industry and its pivotal role for a more sustainable world.

Professor Dame Clare Grey, Chief Scientist and Co-founder of Nyobolt said: “We are excited to move our technologies from development to deployment in the market. We founded Nyobolt following the discovery of new anode technologies containing tungsten with remarkable fast charging capability to bring these properties to the market in applications touching all aspects of daily life. The funding from H.C. Starck will help Nyobolt to scale up our operations in the UK and United States and bring a more sustainable solution into the energy storage industry. Nyobolt technology will not only enable net zero both in the electrification of transport, but also the storing of clean and renewable energy on and off the grid. With the investment from H.C. Starck, Nyobolt’s ultra-fast charging, high power batteries will help lead the way towards achieving the clean energy goals set by governments around the world.”

Dr Sai Shivareddy, CEO and Co-founder of Nyobolt said: “Fast charging remains a critical unmet need as the world electrifies with more sustainable forms of energy – a need our technology addresses. We are excited about the partnership with H.C. Starck and see it as a stepping stone to increase scale and speed to market revealing the true potential of Nyobolt technologies. The Series B funding will put Nyobolt in the driving seat of a fast-moving battery industry and allow us to showcase the uniqueness of our battery technology, developed by our team of experts, which is set to transform the energy storage industry. With H.C. Starck investment and technologies, Nyobolt will expand its manufacturing capabilities while minimising its carbon footprint with an effective recycle and reuse program.”

Dr Hady Seyeda, CEO of H.C. Starck Tungsten said: “This investment marks a milestone in our strategy to move further downstream, and get closer to consumers by developing new, innovative applications including our recently trademarked “starck2charge” battery materials product range. Nyobolt’s technology is a real breakthrough that we can help commercialise based on our vast experience in transferring innovative solutions into large-scale manufacturing. This partnership is also going to accelerate the development towards a circular economy for batteries via enhanced recycling and new models of use.”

Mr Craig Bradshaw, CEO of Masan High-Tech Materials commented: “I am really proud that just over two years after acquiring and integrating the H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders business into MHT we have been able to expand our breadth of business capabilities through the acquisition of a significant equity stake in Nyobolt. We look forward to working together with the Nyobolt team to advance their product offering and opportunities to partner in the manufacturing and commercialisation of their products as well as offering a full life cycle for the advanced strategic materials required in the Nyobolt batteries.”

Adapted from an announcement by Cambridge Enterprise

Mergers of firms have boomed over the past four decades, with a 40-fold increase in deals done each year. These mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are sealed by talented, highly skilled executives, lawyers, bankers and advisers, and spending on mergers totalled $5 trillion in 2021. Yet most mergers fail, and don’t achieve the boost in operating profits they were touted to achieve.

Why? And why hasn’t this been fixed?

Those questions lie at the heart of a new book – The Merger Mystery: Why Spend Ever More on Mergers When So Many Fail?– authored by Geoff Meeks, Emeritus Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School, and J. Gay Meeks, Senior Research Associate in the Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge. Digital versions are available for free from Open Books Publishers.

M&A takes increasing share of executives’ time and energy

“As evidence of disappointing outcomes mounted, Western businesses were devoting to M&A a large and rapidly increasing share of their key strategic resources: investment funds and senior executives’ time and energy,” the book says.

The authors outline key factors that have led to the huge gap between the theory and hope surrounding mergers and their actual outcomes: These include:

• The people taking part in the mergers are often able to enjoy subsidies and privileges at others' expense. This has made some deals attractive to participants despite bringing no operating gains, while taxpayers, creditors, pensioners, customers and suppliers have lost out.
• Incentive structures for key players and advisers can induce perverse, inefficient results with rewards for CEOs and other top executives involved in acquiring businesses, in part tied to a correlation between CEO salary and firm size and in part open to “gaming” by participants.
• The glamour of life on the acquisition trail, including being in the media spotlight, boasting rights and the thrill of the chase.

Deal incentive structures enrich bosses, not other stakeholders

Examples cited in the book of deal incentive structures that have enriched bosses at the expense of other stakeholders include the $27 billion acquisition of Refinitiv by London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2021 that tripled the acquirer’s revenue and resulted in a 25% boost in the CEO’s base salary, yet LSE shares fell by a quarter in the same month. In another case, simply closing Vodafone’s $181 billion acquisition of Mannesmann in 2000 triggered a $10 million bonus for Vodafone’s CEO.

“Over time you would expect managers and their advisers to learn from their mistakes, filter out unpromising mergers, and ensure that a large majority of deals result in operating gains,” the book says. “However, this has not happened.”

The book is based on a synthesis of the ideas of economists from Adam Smith to recent Nobel Laureates, with more than 100 statistical studies and evidence from 100 businesses involved in mergers, mostly in the particularly active US and UK markets, but with data from other countries too.

What are the solutions?

The book suggests reforms by government, regulators, non-executives and others that could significantly reduce the number of failed mergers. These include changes in participants’ contracts that would mitigate conflicts of interest; removing tax, legal, and other distortions which encourage mergers that offer no operating gains; and improving both the appraisal of merger proposals and the monitoring of outcomes.

Adapted from an article which first appeared on Cambridge Judge Business School website