science wire

Even people at low risk of heart problems would benefit from statins, cheap drugs that lower levels of 'bad' cholesterol in the blood. That's the main finding of a giant collaborative study coordinated by Oxford's Clinical Trial Service Unit and the Health Economics Research Centre, and published in The Lancet today.

An Oxford University study has put the number of children who were living in the UK without legal immigration status in 2011 at around 120,000 - about 0.9 per cent of the total population of children below the age of 18.

Experts at Oxford University are calling for the introduction of taxes on sugary drinks as one measure that would encourage healthier diets and help tackle the obesity crisis in the UK.

The University of Oxford has announced the creation of a new centre to conduct research into how to improve outcomes for foster children and looked after children (in care) so they achieve more and have more fulfilling lives. The new centre called the Oxford University Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education is a collaboration between Oxford's Department of Education and the Core Assets Group, a major provider of children's services in the UK that will also financially support the centre.

For millennia birds have been prized, even hunted, for their beautiful plumage but what makes their feathers so colourful?

New accounts of the first performance of Rule Britannia uncovered by an Oxford University historian suggest that it was not initially received as an anthem of triumphant British national identity but as a reinforcement of opposition to King George II. Oliver Cox of the History Faculty came across two letters between audience members at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, the home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, on 1 August 1740, where Rule Britannia was first performed as the finale to Alfred: A Masque .

Six medical researchers at Oxford University have been elected as Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Areas of the world with high levels of biodiversity also contain more linguistic and cultural diversity, researchers at Oxford University, Penn State University and Conservation International have found. The study in the journal PNAS showed that 70% (4,824) of the world's known languages occur in an area that is less than a quarter of the earth's land surface.

A study examining children's schooling in Andhra Pradesh, India, has revealed a dramatic rise in the number of parents opting for fee-paying private schools over state-funded government schools.

A new examination of silkworm cocoons suggests how they could inspire lightweight armour and environmentally-friendly car panels. Scientists from Oxford University's Department of Zoology studied 25 types of cocoons for clues to how the structures manage to be very tough but also light and able to 'breathe'.

The Bodleian Library is asking the public for help in cataloguing one of its collections. As part of a new project, members of the public are being asked to help describe 4,000 music pieces from the Bodleian Libraries' collections.

Chris James has become the first person in the UK to have an electronic retina implanted into the back of his eye.

It's official: it was announced today that Oxford University scientists will help to prepare a mission to Jupiter and its icy moons.

A new space mission, involving Oxford University scientists, will explore Jupiter and its icy moons to reveal fresh insights into the habitability of the 'waterworlds' orbiting the giant planets in our solar system and beyond.

A postcard from Adolf Hitler as a young soldier has been uncovered by Europeana 1914-18, an archival project partnered by Oxford University and the British Library.

Exactly what sort of headgear do sub-atomic particles wear? This is one of the important issues addressed in an animation about the Large Hadron Collider ( LHC ), the first offering from Oxford Spark

A new report published by Oxford University's Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) argues that a 'carrot rather than stick' approach might be recommended in the framing of any future press regulation.

All's Well that Ends Well may be a collaboration between William Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton, Oxford University academics have found. It has long been thought the comedy in the First Folio of 1623 is textually problematic: it has a low incidence of Shakespeare's spelling, inconsistent speech prefixes and unusually narrative phrasing in its stage directions.

A new report finds that while there has been an increase in the UK parliament's involvement in debates about human rights over the last decade, and in the quality of that debate, there is still considerable scope for parliament to have a bigger role in making human rights more democratic.

The time diaries of working age men and women in the UK reveal that women in the 2000s who went to college or university spent more time doing paid work and did less housework compared with similarly educated women in the 1970s. The study also shows that there has been a sharp drop in the amount of paid work being done by men who did not go on to take further qualifications at a college or university.

In a crowd, looking different can be dangerous, at least if you're a pigeon.

More than 600 million people could be fed each year by halting the spread of fungal diseases in the world's five most important crops, according to new research. Data reviewed by an international team, led by scientists from Oxford University and Imperial College London, also suggest that in 70% of cases where infectious disease causes the extinction of a type of animal or plant, an emerging species of fungus is behind the problem.

The Oxford Martin School and the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) have announced that they are joining forces to create INET@Oxford, a major new interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Oxford.

A collaboration between the Bodleian and the Vatican Libraries will bring ancient texts into the digital era.

More than half of all accidents in Tudor England happened in summer when farming work was at its height, an Oxford University study has found.

UK Biobank opens today for research into the causes of disease, having amassed one of the most detailed large-scale health resources ever. The giant resource provides a snapshot of the health and lifestyles of the nation, with more than 1,000 separate pieces of information already available for half a million Britons.

Coral off Tahiti has linked the collapse of massive ice sheets 14,600 years ago to a dramatic and rapid rise in global sea-levels of around 14 metres. Previous research could not accurately date the sea-level rise but now an Aix-Marseille University-led team, including Oxford University scientists Alex Thomas and Gideon Henderson, has confirmed that the event occurred 14,650-14,310 years ago at the same time as a period of rapid climate change known as the Bølling warming.

Male and female Balearic Shearwaters may head for different migration hotspots over the summer period a new study suggests. The Balearic Shearwater is a frequent visitor to southern UK coastal waters, yet with just 3,200 estimated breeding pairs left in existence it is the only European seabird to be officially classified as Critically Endangered.

Professor Werner G. Jeanrond has been appointed Master of St Benet's Hall, a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford run by Ampleforth Abbey.

An Oxford University researcher has won FameLab UK , a competition that aims to spot the best new science communicators by getting them to deliver a nugget of science wisdom in a talk lasting just three minutes.

A study of chimpanzees gives tantalizing evidence that humans may have evolved upright walking in order to carry more food. A team of scientists from Oxford University, Cambridge, and Kyoto University tested the theory that two-legged (bipedal) walking should occur more of the time when animals are carrying prized but rare resources.

British scientists are to carry out the largest trial anywhere in the world of a gene therapy for cystic fibrosis. A consortium of researchers from Oxford University, Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh will start enrolling patients on the trial this month. The UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium hopes that the study will show for the first time whether the gene therapy they have developed can improve the health of patients.

Last month Oxford University spinout firm Oxford Nanopore revealed that it is to produce a new DNA sequencing machine the size of a USB stick. The announcement caught many by surprise, with the prospect of shrinking today's bulky DNA sequencers into tiny devices that could decode the building blocks of life in hours (even seconds) instead of days, being widely reported in the media.

A new report by the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford says an urgent remodelling of the UK's energy infrastructure is needed.

Certain birds may have compass information mapped directly onto their vision, much as fighter pilots have 'head up displays' overlaying flight information on their view of the skies. It's well known that birds, such as the European Robin, can detect the Earth's magnetic field in order to help them navigate on long migratory flights.

At this year's Oxford London Lecture, Oxford University gerontologist Professor Sarah Harper spoke about the implications of a falling birth rate coupled with rising longevity - a phenomenon affecting most countries across the globe.

The risk of womb rupture in pregnancy and labour is very small and lower than previously thought, according to a new Oxford University study. Uterine or womb rupture is a rare complication where the womb wall tears open, and occurs most often in labour when the womb is under pressure and contracting.