New Atlas

Environment Audio available

Forests that live fast and die young may help speed up climate change

Michael Irving May 15, 2019

New research led by the University of Cambridge has found that forests may not be as useful a carbon sink as we thought. The team found that a warming climate makes trees grow faster and die younger, releasing their captured carbon back into the air sooner.

Researchers examined samples taken from trees in the Spanish Pyrenees and found that faster-growing trees tend ...

Robotics

Leech-like climbing robot a world first in free movement

James Holloway May 13, 2019

Combining suction cups and shower hoses, robotics researchers have created a wall-climbing robot said to be inspired by one of nature's congenital suckers: the leech. They're calling it a "world's first achievement in developing soft and flexible robot that is capable of free movement on a wall."

Electronics Audio available

Smallest pixels ever created have a heart of gold

Michael Irving May 12, 2019

Researchers at Cambridge University have managed to create the smallest pixels in the world, about a million times tinier than those in a phone. These new pixels could be used in huge, flexible displays that are relatively easy to manufacture and cheaper to run.

The smallest pixels ever created are made with a gold grain coated in an active polymer ...

Medical Audio available

Common blood pressure medication may be repurposed to treat dementia and Parkinson’s

Rich Haridy April 29, 2019

A new study has discovered a drug used to treat high blood pressure may also be beneficial for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and dementia. The research has only been verified in animals so far but the scientists are cautiously optimistic it will translate to humans.

Felodipine, a hypertension medicine, has been found to reduce signs of neurodegenerative disease in several animal ...

Environment Audio available

Antarctica Ice shelf the size of France threatened by effects of climate change

Anthony Wood April 29, 2019

A vital section of the world's largest ice shelf is losing ice 10 times faster than the overall melt rate for the structure, posing a potential risk to its future stability. The Ross Ice Shelf stretches out over 500,809 square km, and accounts for 32 percent of Antarctica's total ice shelf area.

The wall of the Ross Ice Shelf stretches for a staggering 600 km (373 miles) in ...

Environment

Eco-friendly plastic crystals take the gas out of refrigeration

David Szondy April 22, 2019

Scientists led by the University of Cambridge have developed a way to replace the organic gases used in most conventional refrigerators with plastic crystals. By using crystals of neopentyl glycol under pressure, it may be possible to build safer, greener, and more efficient cooling systems.

The new technology can replace the gases used in conventional refrigeration systems

Materials Audio available

"Metallic wood" makes nickel as strong as titanium, but five times lighter

David Szondy January 28, 2019

A new technique has been used to turn ordinary metals into "metallic wood" with a greatly improved strength-to-weight ratio. By manipulating materials at the atomic scale, scientists claim to have created a sheet of nickel that is as strong as titanium, but up to five times lighter.

A microscopic sample of the researchers’ "metallic wood"

Space Audio available

"Planet Nine" may be a distant, dusty disc of rock and ice

Michael Irving January 22, 2019

In recent years astronomers have found evidence that there might be a huge “Planet Nine” lurking on the fringes of the solar system. A new study has now poured some cold water on the idea, instead pitching the possibility that a dusty disc is causing all the weirdness out there.

An artist's rendering of the hypothetical Planet Nine

Health & Wellbeing

Cambridge-developed brain-training app claimed to improve attention and concentration

Rich Haridy January 21, 2019

A new brain-training app has been shown to improve attention and concentration after just one month of use. The smartphone game, developed by scientists from the University of Cambridge, is now commercially available, but not all experts are convinced of the app’s purported beneficial effects.

The Decoder brain-training app is currently available for Apple devices through a developer called Peak

Health & Wellbeing Audio available

Comprehensive new breast cancer risk prediction tool “could be a game changer”

Rich Haridy January 15, 2019

A new online tool has been developed that allows GPs to effectively calculate a patient's risk of developing breast cancer. The system is the first to combine a broad array of different elements, including genetics and environmental factors, to come up with a precise risk evaluation.

A new online tool developed to calculate breast cancer risk is the first to account for ...