University of Cambridge

If certain animals posses a trait that decreases their chance of survival, then that the trait is less likely to be passed along to offspring. Such appears to be the case with rhinos hunted for their large horns, according to a recent analysis of photographs.

Rare earth elements are vital for electronics, but they’re in short supply. Now scientists have recreated a promising alternative – a “cosmic magnet” that normally takes millions of years to form in meteorites is cooked up in the lab in seconds.

New evidence has emerged in the debate about whether there’s liquid water on Mars. In a study led by the University of Cambridge, scientists examined the topology of Martian ice sheets and found signatures that match subglacial lakes here on Earth.

Scientists at Cambridge have identified a protein that plays a key role in cancer metastasis, which not only hints at a new potential treatment but reveals for the first time that this process isn’t unique to cancer, as previously thought.

For almost a century, popular culture has presented images of lazy, unmotivated "stoners" who do little more with their lives than smoke cannabis, but across a series of lab experiments and brain imaging tests a new study is busting that long-held myth.

Leaves are impressive machines, converting sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into energy. Cambridge scientists have now created artificial leaves that can float on water, tapping into sunlight above it and water below to efficiently produce fuels.

Organ transplants can be life-saving, but matching blood types means many people are left on waiting lists. Cambridge scientists have now demonstrated a technique that could one day make donated organs universal, by converting them to blood type O.

Cold sores are for life – but how long has the virus itself been with humanity? Cambridge scientists have now sequenced the genome of the facial herpes virus, including samples taken from several ancient human remains, and traced it back 5,000 years.

Scientists debate whether or not there’s life on Venus. A new Cambridge study has analyzed the Venusian atmosphere and found no sign of the chemical fingerprints microbes would be expected to produce – but it doesn’t rule out life on similar planets.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have taken cutting-edge sensors used to measure temperature changes within cells to gain fascinating new insights into Alzheimer's disease, and shown how preventing overheating could slow its progression.

As the number of electronic devices grows, we have to get creative with our energy sources. Cambridge researchers have now demonstrated how an algae energy harvester can use sunlight to power a microprocessor for over a year without any intervention.

A specific cellular stress response involving heat shock proteins has been found to reverse the build-up of the toxic proteins linked to dementia. Future research will now look for a way to therapeutically trigger this mechanism.