news 2017

The past 12 months have provided many eye-grabbing headlines from the Imperial community from world-leading research to incredible inventions. Before 2018 is upon us with its own wave of news, we take a quick look back at the most popular articles on our award-winning news site (ranked by the number of page views).

Bacteria not only develop resistance to antibiotics, they also can pick it up from their rivals. In a recent publication in "Cell Reports", Researchers from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have demonstrated that some bacteria inject a toxic cocktail into their competitors causing cell lysis and death.

Harvesting energy from our movements and a method for determining the composition of cement were two of the most widely downloaded papers in 2017. Spiral - Imperial College London's open access repository - allows academics to make journal articles and other research outputs open access, meeting the requirements of the post-2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF).

What unites the needs of Ebola workers, people with multiple sclerosis and athletes comes down to one thing - cold hands. A device that cools the hands is finding widespread use from the playing field to the clinic. A cooling device that has been improving strength and endurance in mostly male athletes for 15 years is finding new uses in helping people with multiple sclerosis live normal lives, preventing overheating in Ebola workers and cooling working dogs.

Biomedical engineering professor Kristyn Masters handles samples in her lab, where she and colleagues identified the early stages of a process that may eventually cause aortic stenosis, a severe narrowing of the aortic valve that reduces blood flow to the body and weakens the heart. (Photo by Stephanie Precourt) The diminutive size of our aortic valve - just shy of a quarter - belies its essential role in pushing oxygen-rich blood from the heart into the aorta, our body's largest vessel, and from there to all other organs.

Some surprise research headlines need a second look, but quirky studies can often reveal serious science. From a geological Brexit to jellyfish computers, some research announcements are more than a little bit quirky. However, look beyond the headline and you'll find fascinating research with powerful real world applications.

Robotic prosthetics, AI guessing your brain age and much, much more. It's been quite a year for research, so here's just a few of the top stories. At times this year it may have seemed like science took a back seat, with politics bullying its way to the forefront and Brexit shoehorned into every headline to contend with.

A new marker that could be used to diagnose fatal breast cancer up to one year ahead of current methods has been identified in a study led by UCL. The study, published in Genome Medicine today, found that changes detected in a part of DNA which the researches named EFC#93 could suggest early signs of deadly breast cancer.

The re-emergence of a rust disease that can kill wheat is threatening food security. A breakthrough has been announced in the prestigious journal Science. Global collaborators include CSIRO, the US Department of Agriculture and Rothamsted Research. Rust pathogens devastating crops in Africa, making a comeback in Europe Scientists have isolated the very first rust pathogen gene that wheat plants detect to 'switch on' resistance.

Chemotherapy for one type of leukaemia could be improved by giving patients a drug currently used to treat an unrelated condition, new research shows. Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an aggressive cancer that stops healthy blood cell production. Chemotherapy is the standard treatment, but improvements are needed as the five-year survival rate in patients older than 60 is only 5-15 per cent.

Thursday, December 21, 2017 Children who eat fish at least once a week sleep better and have IQ scores that are 4 points higher, on average, than those who consume fish less frequently or not at all, according to new findings from the University of Pennsylvania published today in Scientific Reports , a Nature journal.

Researchers from the University of Bern, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology develop a high-precision, sensor-based surgical robot for spinal operations together with industry partners. Their project is being funded with two million Swiss francs, sponsored by the "BRIDGE" programme of the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Commission for Technology and Innovation.

A new test that measures RNA or protein molecules in human cells can accurately identify viral infection as a cause of respiratory symptoms, according to a Yale study published Dec. 21 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Performed with a simple nasal swab, the test could prove to be a quicker, cheaper way to diagnose respiratory viral illnesses than current methods, the researchers said.

Clinical trial of novel approach to treating osteoporosis represents "significant breakthrough," according to clinician-scientist at the Lady Davis Institute The results of a large-scale multi-centre international phase 3 clinical trial shows that an innovative drug combination can significantly lower the risk of fracture among high risk patients with osteoporosis A regimen of a novel bone anabolic medication (which builds bone mass) followed by

Listening to white noise can increase your ability to learn new words, a study by The University of Queensland has revealed. UQ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Dr Anthony Angwin said the study was the first to show the effect listening to white noise could have on word learning performance.

Veterinary researchers at the University of Nottingham have produced a new tool to help UK dairy vets and farmers monitor and reduce use of antibiotics in their dairy herds to help combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the farming industry and beyond. It follows a new study by the Nottingham Vet School showing that, in a large sample of dairy farms, 25% of farms used 50% of the total antibiotics used across all farms in a year - with antibiotic footbaths accounting for the biggest volume dispersed into the food chain.

The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, together with European and African collaborators, carried out a mass dog vaccination in Chad and determined its effect on human rabies exposure. The study employed a bio-mathematical method for estimating the transmission dynamics of rabies. The researchers conclude that with political will and the necessary funding, elimination of rabies is possible in Africa.

OCUVIS, a visualization software developed by a soon-to-be-launched EPFL spin-off, lets architects simulate 3D building models to assess the performance of natural light indoors. After specifying the ambient conditions, architects can view the visual and non-visual characteristics of the resulting natural light in their designs.

The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, together with European and African collaborators, carried out a mass dog vaccination in Chad and determined its effect on human rabies exposure. The study employed a bio-mathematical method for estimating the transmission dynamics of rabies. The researchers conclude that with political will and the necessary funding, elimination of rabies is possible in Africa.

By attaching specialised molecules to the backbone of DNA, researchers have made it easier to detect rare molecules associated with early disease. The presence of, or changes in the concentration of, certain proteins in biological fluids can be indicators of disease. However, in the early stages of disease these 'biomarkers' can be difficult to detect, as they are relatively rare.