news 2023

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.

Declining fertility in dairy cows could be mitigated by taking into account the epigenetic profile of the "fathers" . Around the world, dairy cows are finding it increasingly difficult to "get pregnant". Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this drop in fertility, but a team from Laval University has just identified a factor that has passed under the radar of most researchers until now.

International scientists including UdeM professor Kevin Wilkinson address the worrisome problem of millions of tonnes of plastic being used on farms around the world. Every year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, some 12.5 million tonnes of plastic are used in agricultural production worldwide.

At least 75 per cent of type 2 diabetes cases could be avoided by adopting a healthy lifestyle. A plant-based diet has been shown to play a key role in this. With limitations - as demonstrated in a study led by Tilman Kühn from MedUni Vienna's Center for Public Health: A more plant-based diet only develops its protective effects if not only the consumption of animal-based foods, but also industrially processed and highly sugary foods is reduced.

A team of researchers has revealed how to find the exact origin of a wine based solely on its chemical components. Does every wine carry its own chemical signature and, if so, can this be used to identify its origin? Many specialists have tried to solve this mystery, without fully succeeding.

Increasing the amount of folate through our diet or taking supplements could help to reduce bowel cancer risk. These are the findings of new research , co-led by Dr Konstantinos Tsilidis from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. It suggests that increasing the intake of folate - which can be found in leafy greens, such as spinach, cabbage and broccoli - could help to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by up to 7%.

Plant Biology Farmland often harbors a multitude of pathogens which attack plants and reduce yields. A Swiss research team has now shown that inoculating the soil with mycorrhizal fungi can help maintain or even improve yields without the use of additional fertilizers or pesticides. In a large-scale field trial, plant yield increased by up to 40 percent.

University of Bonn study shows where diversified farming also makes economic sense Where and how can diversified farming practices be put to profitable use in order to boost both productivity and biodiversity? Researchers at the University of Bonn have tackled this question in a study that has now been published in "Communications Earth & Environment.

A major breakthrough has been unveiled in Nature Communications, revealing the results of an in-depth study on the beneficial effect of temporal crop diversification in reducing pesticide use in France. These results, based on a detailed analysis of more than 14,000 observations, pave the way for an in-depth understanding of the links between temporal crop diversity and dependence on pesticides, be they fungicides, insecticides or herbicides.

Researchers hoping to rebrand a marine pest as a nutritious food have developed the world's first system of farming shipworms, which they have renamed 'Naked Clams'. Naked Clams taste like oysters, they're highly nutritious and they can be produced with a really low impact on the environment. Dr David Willer These long, white saltwater clams are the world's fastest-growing bivalve and can reach 30cm long in just six months.

Many people want to eat healthily, but also value the sustainability of their food . Intuitively, healthy is often equated with sustainable. A study by scientists from the Johannes Kepler University Linz, the University of Constance and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences has investigated whether this perception corresponds to reality.

A fresh approach to urban agriculture could help Glasgow's 'food deserts' flourish into sources of healthy, affordable produce to help reduce inequality, new research suggests. A fresh approach to urban agriculture could help Glasgow's 'food deserts' flourish into sources of healthy, affordable produce to help reduce inequality, new research suggests.

The virus that causes cold sores can survive and remain infectious for several hours on food or food-related surfaces. It is generally accepted that the virus responsible for cold sores is transmitted via saliva or direct contact with the lesions it causes. However, there are other potential transmission routes, according to a study published by a team from Université Laval in the Journal of Applied Microbiology .

Scientists at the University of Innsbruck have been studying the water cycle and glaciers in the Andes near Huaraz in northern Peru for a long time. They recently documented a previously unreported rainfall phenomenon. These light rainfalls, known locally as "Pushpa", mark the beginning of the sowing season.

New coating protects nitrogen-fixing bacteria from heat and humidity, which could allow them to be deployed for large-scale agricultural use. Production of chemical fertilizers accounts for about 1.5 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. MIT chemists hope to help reduce that carbon footprint by replacing some chemical fertilizer with a more sustainable source - bacteria.

High consumption of highly processed animal products and soft drinks containing sweeteners and sugar increases the risk of multimorbidity In a groundbreaking multinational study involving 266,666 participants from seven European countries, nutrition scientists from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), have found that a high consumption of highly processed foods, also known as ultra-processed foods (UPFs), is associated with a higher risk of multimorbidity from cancer and cardiometabolic diseases.

Research on the electrification of agricultural machinery The special requirements placed on trucks and agricultural machinery often make it difficult for engineers to bring them into the electric age. At the Agritechnica agricultural machinery fair researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are now showing what a modular development kit for electric tractors can look like.

A University of Queensland-led research team says the key to a more sustainable food future may be a better understanding of ancient Indigenous food production systems. Their ARC Discovery project 'Testing the Dark Emu hypothesis' combines bioarchaeology, archaeobotany, palynology, ethnobotany and plant genetics in partnership with Indigenous communities to challenge existing perspectives.

Our microbiome is directly and indirectly linked to the development of a growing number of human pathologies. This is true for the bacterial component, but also for the population of microscopic fungi that make up the intestinal microbiome. However, most of the fungi in our diet come from the food industry (cheeses, bread, etc.

Existing air pollution regulations will reduce thousands of premature adult deaths in the UK, but even the most effective technically feasible actions, which will save thousands more lives, will do little to protect the country's sensitive ecosystems, find UCL researchers. The new research, published in GeoHealth , found that existing air pollution regulations could avoid 6,751 early deaths amongst adults in the UK by 2030 compared to if no regulations existed.