news 2023

Matabele ants are able to detect and treat infected wounds in their fellow ants. The work carried out at the University of Lausanne's Department of Ecology and Evolution on this African species is the subject of a publication in "Nature Communications" and a documentary.

For decades, science fiction authors have imagined scenarios in which life thrives on the harsh surfaces of Mars or our Moon, or in the oceans below the icy surfaces of Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa. But the study of habitability-the conditions required to support and sustain life-is not just confined to the pages of fiction.

On the path to a circular economy, Judith Deriu is developing natural color pigments from plants and uses them to make sustainable printing inks for industry in the laboratory at the Research Institute of Textile Chemistry and Textile Physics in Dornbirn. Natural dyes have been used by humans for centuries.

A low carbon abundance in planetary atmospheres, which the James Webb Space Telescope can detect, could be a signature of habitability. Scientists at MIT, the University of Birmingham, and elsewhere say that astronomers' best chance of finding liquid water, and even life on other planets, is to look for the absence, rather than the presence, of a chemical feature in their atmospheres.

Good news for anyone who wants to quit smoking in the new year: In a recently published study, Innsbruck scientists show that ten-minute brisk walking sessions reduce the cravings of temporarily abstinent smokers and improve their overall well-being. The study is the first to compare the effect of indoor and outdoor activity on smoking cessation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can reliably detect emotions based on facial expressions in psychotherapeutic situations. These are the findings of a feasibility study by researchers from the Faculty of Psychology and the University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK) at the University of Basel. The AI system is also able to reliably predict therapeutic success in patients with borderline personality pathology.

Study of rigorous trial shows mixed results, suggests need to keep examining how nutrition can combat a pervasive disease. How much can healthy eating improve a case of diabetes? A new health care program attempting to treat diabetes by means of improved nutrition shows a very modest impact, according to the first fully randomized clinical trial on the subject.

Research suggests that conservation of Asian forests now can help resist impacts from climate change. A team of international scientists led by Dr Rebecca Hamilton at the University of Sydney has found that rather than dry savannah in South East Asia dominating during the Last Glacial Maximum more than 19,000 years ago, there was a mosaic of diverse closed and open forest types, upending previous scientific consensus.

From creating new navigation systems to remixing old experiments, here are Imperial's top five quantum moments from 2023. Throughout 2023 Imperial has had many quantum breakthroughs. From wavefunction experiments to satellite-free navigation systems, this is 2023's round-up of quantum research at Imperial and how it's making its way out of the lab.

Light in the evening is thought to be bad for sleep. However, does the colour of the light play a role? Researchers from the University of Basel and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) compared the influence of different light colours on the human body. The researchers' findings contradict the results of a previous study in mice.

Publication involving a former ENS de Lyon PhD candidate and the EVS laboratory, in the journal Marine Geology . Earliest Evidence of Port-Related lead pollution in Bronze Age Greece First discovery of brown coal in a stratigraphic context at the end of the Bronze Age Lechaion's harbour archaeological chronology pushed back by at least 5 centuries New perspectives on regional economy and trade during the LBA/EIA transition Lechaion in Corinth, Greece, is the largest ancient port in Greece.

Carbon is the building block of biological life on Earth. The element is present in many compounds, such as the sugars, proteins, and carbohydrate molecules that make up everything from animals to plants to bacteria. One particular carbon-based molecule, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), is both ubiquitous on Earth and abundant in space.

Swallowing the device before a meal could create a sense of fullness, tricking the brain into thinking it's time to stop eating. When you eat a large meal, your stomach sends signals to your brain that create a feeling of fullness, which helps you realize it's time to stop eating. A stomach full of liquid can also send these messages, which is why dieters are often advised to drink a glass of water before eating.

Science study: Increasing policy support for reducing racial health disparities Journal of Communication study: Too close for comfort: Leveraging identity-based relevance through targeted health information backfires for Black Americans Strategies used by doctors to increase patient engagement with health information may work with white Americans, but can backfire with Black Americans.

Exposure to tears activates human smell receptors and alters aggression-related circuits in the brain All land mammals have tear glands in their eyes, but the human tearing experience was until recently considered unique. After all, we are the only animal to shed a tear while watching Beaches . Now a new Weizmann Institute of Science study reveals that human tears have much more in common with those of other animals than previously thought: They contain chemicals that reduce aggression in others, as do the tears of, for example, mice and blind mole rats.

Research at Göttingen and Warwick Universities reveals how filament interactions affect cellular networks Tiny things matter - for instance, one amino acid can completely alter the architecture of the cell. Researchers at the Universities of Göttingen and Warwick investigated the structure and mechanics of the main component of the cytoskeleton of the cell: a protein known as actin.

Researchers at TU Graz have developed a new measuring system that can statically and dynamically monitor the condition of buildings using just a few antennas. From the outside, the Kölnbrein water dam, operated by Verbund in Carinthia, which is Austria's highest dam, and the DC Tower in Vienna, Austria's tallest building, do not have much in common, but for a research group around Caroline Schönberger and Werner Lienhart from the Institute of Engineering Geodesy and Measurement Systems at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), they are equally interesting from a scientific point of view.

Toys aren't just sitting under the Christmas tree patiently waiting to be opened, they are also playing a significant role in scientific research at Cardiff University. Right across the University, the gifts old and young might receive this year are helping further our understanding of human development, democratising biomedical research, or helping shed light on some of the universe's unanswered questions.

Here's a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial. From a simulation to understand why land-cover changes have occurred, to a study that found different antidepressants all target serotonin, here is some quick-read news from across Imperial. Changing landscapes When land-cover changes happen, such as during the expansion of agriculture, there are numerous possible interacting reason for such changes, from environmental to social.

When you uncork a bottle of champagne, complex supersonic phenomena occur. Scientists at TU Wien have now been able to calculate exactly what happens for the first time. It sounds like a simple, well-known everyday phenomenon: there is high pressure in a champagne bottle, the stopper is driven outwards by the compressed gas in the bottle and flies away with a powerful pop.