̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Oxford ̽��ֱ��

Snakes in potted olive trees ‘tip of the iceberg’ of ornamental plant trade hazards

jg533 — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 10:44:12 +0000

Invasive pests are slipping unnoticed into northern Europe in huge shipments of cut flowers and potted plants, say researchers, with potential to damage food crops and the natural environment

Plastic Fantastic Cambridge

plc32 — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 13:48:55 +0000

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Association Football Club (CUAFC) will wear a design that copies the match kit from their 1905 Varsity fixture with Oxford for this year's 150th Anniversary Varsity match. But the shirts, socks and shorts for the 39th Women’s Varsity Match and the 139th Men’s Varsity Match in Cambridge on Friday 15th March are a modern marvel of recycling innovation.

Reducing inequality is essential in tackling climate crisis, researchers argue

jg533 — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 10:32:12 +0000

In a report just published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers argue that tackling inequality is vital in moving the world towards Net-Zero – because inequality constrains who can feasibly adopt low-carbon behaviours.

They say that changes are needed across society if we are to mitigate climate change effectively. Although wealthy people have very large carbon footprints, they often have the means to reduce their carbon footprint more easily than those on lower incomes.

̽��ֱ��researchers say there is lack of political recognition of the barriers that can make it difficult for people to change to more climate-friendly behaviours.

They suggest that policymakers provide equal opportunities for low-carbon behaviours across all income brackets of society.

̽��ֱ��report defines inequality in various ways: in terms of wealth and income, political influence, free time, and access to low-carbon options such as public transport and housing insulation subsidies.

“It’s increasingly acknowledged that there’s inequality in terms of who causes climate change and who suffers the consequences, but there’s far less attention being paid to the effect of inequality in changing behaviours to reduce carbon emissions,” said Dr Charlotte Kukowski, a postdoctoral researcher in the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Departments of Psychology and Zoology, and first author of the report.

She added: “People on lower incomes can be more restricted in the things they can do to help reduce their carbon footprint, in terms of the cost and time associated with doing things differently.”

̽��ֱ��researchers found that deep-rooted inequalities can restrict people’s capacity to switch to lower-carbon behaviours in many ways. For example:

Insulating a house in the UK can be costly, and government subsidies are generally only available for homeowners; renters have little control over the houses they live in.

̽��ֱ��UK has large numbers of old, badly insulated houses that require more energy to heat than new-build homes. ̽��ֱ��researchers call for appropriate government schemes that make it more feasible for people in lower income groups to reduce the carbon emissions of their home.

Cooking more meat-free meals: plant-based meat alternatives currently tend to be less affordable than the animal products they are trying to replace.

Eating more plant-based foods instead of meat and animal-derived products is one of the most effective changes an individual can make in reducing their carbon footprint.

Buying an electric car or an electric bike is a substantial upfront cost, and people who aren’t in permanent employment often can’t benefit from tax breaks or financing available through employer schemes.

Other low-carbon transport options - such as using public transport instead of a private car - are made less feasible for many due to poor services, particularly in rural areas.

Sometimes the lower-carbon options are more expensive - and this makes them less accessible to people on lower incomes.

“If you have more money you're likely to cause more carbon emissions, but you're also more likely to have greater ability to change the things you do and reduce those emissions,” said Dr Emma Garnett, a postdoctoral researcher at the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford and second author of the report.

She added: “Interventions targeting high-emitting individuals are urgently needed, but also many areas where there are lower-carbon choices - like food and transport - need everyone to be involved.”

̽��ֱ��researchers say that campaigns to encourage people to switch to lower-carbon behaviours have tended to focus on providing information. While this is important in helping people understand the issues, there can still be many barriers to making changes.

They suggest a range of policy interventions, such as urban planning to include bus and bike lanes and pedestrian-friendly routes, progressive taxation rates on wealth and income, and employer-subsidised low-carbon meal options.

̽��ֱ��research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Wellcome.

Reference: Kukowski, C A & Garnett, E E: ‘Tackling Inequality is Essential for Behaviour Change for Net Zero.’ Nature Climate Change, December 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s41558-023-01900-4

Promoting climate-friendly behaviours will be more successful in societies where everyone has the capacity: financially, physically, and timewise, to make changes.

People on lower incomes can be more restricted in the things they can do to help reduce their carbon footprint.

Charlotte Kukowski

RgStudio / Getty

Businesswoman commuting on electric bike

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'Significant breakthrough' in understanding the deadly nature of pandemic influenza

sjr81 — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 14:59:28 +0000

Influenza is one of the main infectious diseases in humans. Seasonal influenza viruses account for about 650,000 deaths per year, whereas pandemic strains such as the 1918 H1N1 pandemic virus have been linked to 50-100 million deaths worldwide. Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses such as the H5N1 and H7N9 strains have a mortality rate of about 50% in humans.

̽��ֱ��reasons for difference in disease severity and lethality caused by seasonal influenza viruses on the one hand, and pandemic and highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses on the other hand is still poorly understood. Previous research has indicated that in infections with the 1918 pandemic virus or infections with an H5N1 avian virus, a powerful immune response is established that leads to death.

This led Dr Aartjan te Velthuis of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and his colleagues Prof Ervin Fodor, Dr Josh Long and Dr David Bauer of the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford, to ask what viral molecule can trigger this powerful immune response.

̽��ֱ��British groups first looked to how viruses are detected by the cell. Normally, an infected cell spots the presence of a virus by sensing the genetic material of the virus, RNA in the case of flu.

Work by Dr Richard Randall, a co-author on the manuscript from the ̽��ֱ�� of St Andrews, has shown that influenza viruses are good at hiding their RNA. This observation prompted te Velthuis and his colleagues to look for flu RNA that the virus was not able to hide from the cellular pathogen sensing system. What they found was truncated pieces of the viral genome that the virus had produced in error. ̽��ֱ��researchers called these pieces mini viral RNAs.

Fodor and his colleagues next investigated whether different influenza viruses produce mini viral RNAs at different frequencies and whether there was a link with the strong innate immune response that, for instance, the 1918 pandemic virus induces.

A combination of in vitro and in vivo experiments performed at Oxford and Cambridge, as well as by collaborators Leo Poon of the ̽��ֱ�� of Hong Kong, Debby van Riel of the Erasmus Medical Centre, and Emmie de Wit of the Rocky Mountain Laboratories, revealed indeed a strong correlation between the ability of an influenza virus to generate mini viral RNAs and the amount of inflammation and cell death the virus infection caused.

“We think it is a significant breakthrough and that it is particularly exciting that we are finding this factor a hundred years after the 1918 pandemic,” said Dr te Velthuis.

̽��ֱ��research groups are now continuing their efforts to investigate whether there is a causal link between influenza virus mortality and the production of mini viral RNAs. Together with their latest work, these efforts may help us understand better how influenza viruses cause disease, how we can identify dangerous influenza viruses, and how to develop new antivirals against influenza virus infections.

̽��ֱ��work was funded by the Wellcome Trust, Royal Society, Medical Research Council, NIH, and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.

Researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford have discovered a new molecule that plays a key role in the immune response that is triggered by influenza infections. ̽��ֱ��molecule, a so-called mini viral RNA, is capable of inducing inflammation and cell death, and was produced at high levels by the 1918 pandemic influenza virus. ̽��ֱ��findings appeared in Nature Microbiology yesterday (September 17).

We think it is a significant breakthrough and that it is particularly exciting that we are finding this factor a hundred years after the 1918 pandemic.

Aartjan te Velthuis

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Genome editing reveals role of gene important for human embryo development

sc604 — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 17:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��team used genome editing techniques to stop a key gene from producing a protein called OCT4, which normally becomes active in the first few days of human embryo development. After the egg is fertilised, it divides until at about 7 days it forms a ball of around 200 cells called the ‘blastocyst’. ̽��ֱ��study found that human embryos need OCT4 to correctly form a blastocyst.

“We were surprised to see just how crucial this gene is for human embryo development, but we need to continue our work to confirm its role” says Dr Norah Fogarty from the Francis Crick Institute, first author of the study. “Other research methods, including studies in mice, suggested a later and more focussed role for OCT4, so our results highlight the need for human embryo research.”

Dr Kathy Niakan from the Francis Crick Institute, who led the research adds, “One way to find out what a gene does in the developing embryo is to see what happens when it isn’t working. Now we have demonstrated an efficient way of doing this, we hope that other scientists will use it to find out the roles of other genes. If we knew the key genes that embryos need to develop successfully, we could improve IVF treatments and understand some causes of pregnancy failure. It will take many years to achieve such an understanding, our study is just the first step.”

̽��ֱ��research was published in Nature and led by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, in collaboration with colleagues at Cambridge ̽��ֱ��, Oxford ̽��ֱ��, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Seoul National ̽��ֱ�� and Bourn Hall Clinic. It was chiefly funded by the UK Medical Research Council, Wellcome and Cancer Research.

̽��ֱ��team spent over a year optimising their techniques using mouse embryos and human embryonic stem cells before starting work on human embryos. To inactivate OCT4, they used an editing technique called CRISPR/Cas9 to change the DNA of 41 human embryos. After seven days, embryo development was stopped and the embryos were analysed.

̽��ֱ��embryos used in the study were donated by couples who had undergone IVF treatment, with frozen embryos remaining in storage; the majority were donated by couples who had completed their family, and wanted their surplus embryos to be used for research. ̽��ֱ��study was done under a research licence and strict regulatory oversight from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the UK Government's independent regulator overseeing infertility treatment and research.

As well as human embryo development, OCT4 is thought to be important in stem cell biology. ‘Pluripotent’ stem cells can become any other type of cell, and they can be derived from embryos or created from adult cells such as skin cells. Human embryonic stem cells are taken from a part of the developing embryo that has high levels of OCT4.

“We have the technology to create and use pluripotent stem cells, which is undoubtedly a fantastic achievement, but we still don’t understand exactly how these cells work,” explains Dr James Turner, co-author of the study from the Francis Crick Institute. “Learning more about how different genes cause cells to become and remain pluripotent will help us to produce and use stem cells more reliably.”

Sir Paul Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute, says: “This is exciting and important research. ̽��ֱ��study has been carried out with full regulatory oversight and offers new knowledge of the biological processes at work in the first five or six days of a human embryo’s healthy development. Kathy Niakan and colleagues are providing new understanding of the genes responsible for a crucial change when groups of cells in the very early embryo first become organised and set on different paths of development. ̽��ֱ��processes at work in these embryonic cells will be of interest in many areas of stem cell biology and medicine.”

Dr. Kay Elder, study co-author from the Bourn Hall Clinic, says: "Successful IVF treatment is crucially dependent on culture systems that provide an optimal environment for healthy embryo development. Many embryos arrest in culture, or fail to continue developing after implantation; this research will significantly help treatment for infertile couples, by helping us to identify the factors that are essential for ensuring that human embryos can develop into healthy babies.”

Dr Ludovic Vallier, co-author on the study from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Wellcome - MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, said: “This study represents an important step in understanding human embryonic development. ̽��ֱ��acquisition of this knowledge will be essential to develop new treatments against developmental disorders and could also help understand adult diseases such as diabetes that may originate during the early stage of life. Thus, this research will open new fields of opportunity for basic and translational applications.”

Reference:
Norah M.E. Fogarty et al. 'Genome editing of OCT4 reveals distinct mechanisms of lineage specification in human and mouse embryos.' Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature24033.

Adapted from a Francis Crick Institute press release.

Researchers have used genome editing technology to reveal the role of a key gene in human embryos in the first few days of development. This is the first time that genome editing has been used to study gene function in human embryos, which could help scientists to better understand the biology of our early development.

This knowledge will be essential to develop new treatments against developmental disorders and could also help understand adult diseases such as diabetes that may originate during the early stage of life.

Ludovic Vallier

Dr Kathy Niakan/Nature

Day 2 embryo

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Science fiction vs science fact: World’s leading AI experts come to Cambridge

sjr81 — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 10:22:27 +0000

̽��ֱ��two-day conference (July 13-14) at Jesus College is the first major event held by the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) since its globally-publicised launch by Stephen Hawking and other AI luminaries in October 2016.

Bringing together policy makers and philosophers, as well as leading figures from science and technology, speakers include Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, Matt Hancock (Minister for Digital and Culture), Baroness Onora O'Neill and Francesca Rossi (IBM).

Dr Stephen Cave, Executive Director of CFI, said: “Rarely has a technology arrived with such a rich history of myth, storytelling and hype as AI. ̽��ֱ��first day of our conference will ask how films, literature and the arts generally have shaped our expectations, fears and even the technology itself.

“Meanwhile, the second day will ask how and when we can trust the intelligent machines on which we increasingly depend – and whether those machines are changing how we trust each other."

Programme highlights of the conference include:

Sci-Fi Dreams: How visions of the future are shaping development of intelligent technology
Truth Through Fiction: How the arts and media help us explore the challenges and opportunities of AI
Metal people: How we perceive intelligent robots – and why
Trust, Security and the Law: Assuring safety in the age of artificial intelligence
Trust and Understanding: Uncertainty, complexity and the ‘black box’

Professor Huw Price, Academic Director of the Centre, and Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge, said: “During two packed days in Cambridge we’ll be bringing together some of the world’s most important voices in the study and development of the technologies on which all our futures will depend.

“Intelligent machines offer huge benefits in many fields, but we will only realise these benefits if we know we can trust them – and maintain trust in each other and our institutions as AI transforms the world around us.”

Other conference speakers include Berkeley AI pioneer Professor Stuart Russell, academic and broadcaster Dr Sarah Dillon, and Sir David Spiegelhalter, Cambridge’s Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk. An AI-themed art exhibition is also being held to coincide with the Jesus College event.

CFI brings together four of the world’s foremost universities (Cambridge, Berkeley, Imperial College and Oxford) to explore the implications of AI for human civilisation. Researchers will work with policy-makers and industry to investigate topics such as the regulation of autonomous weaponry, and the implications of AI for democracy.

Many researchers take seriously the possibility that intelligence equal to our own will be created in computers within this century. Freed of biological constraints, such as limited memory and slow biochemical processing speeds, machines may eventually become more broadly intelligent than we are – with profound implications for us all.

Launching the £10m centre last year, Professor Hawking said: “Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of civilisation but it could also be the last – unless we learn how to avoid the risks. Alongside the benefits, AI will also bring dangers like powerful autonomous weapons or new ways for the few to oppress the many.

“We cannot predict what might be achieved when our own minds are amplified by AI. ̽��ֱ��rise of powerful AI will either be the best or the worst thing to happen to humanity. We do not yet know which.”

Professor Maggie Boden, External Advisor to the Centre, whose pioneering work on AI has been translated into 20 languages, said: “ ̽��ֱ��practical solutions of AI can help us to tackle important social problems and advance the science of mind and life in fundamental ways. But it has limitations which could present grave dangers. CFI aims to guide the development of AI in human-friendly ways.”

Dr Cave added: “We've chosen the topic of myths and trust for our first annual conference because they cut across so many of the challenges and opportunities raised by AI. As well as world-leading experts, we hope to bring together a wide range of perspectives to discuss these topics, including from industry, policy and the arts. ̽��ֱ��challenge of transitioning to a world shared with intelligent machines is one that we all face together.”

̽��ֱ��first day of the conference is in partnership with the Royal Society, while the second is in partnership with Jesus College's Intellectual Forum. ̽��ֱ��conference is being generously sponsored by Accenture and PwC.

Further details and ticketing information can be found here.

Some of the world’s leading thinkers and practitioners in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will gather in Cambridge this week to look at everything from the influence of science fiction on our dreams of the future, to ‘trust in the age of intelligent machines’.

Rarely has a technology arrived with such a rich history of myth, storytelling and hype as AI.

Dr Stephen Cave

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In search of Life at Lady Mitchell Hall

bjb42 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:00:57 +0000

‘Life’ is the subject for 2012, as all eight lectures will delve into the many aspects of this broad yet compelling topic from various disciplines. Previous themes in years past include Beauty, Risk, Identity, Conflict, and Survival.

Life as a cell, life in a military field hospital in Afghanistan, and life after death are some of the topics explored in the multi-disciplinary lecture series. ̽��ֱ��first lecture entitled From Genomes to the Diversity of Life was presented on 20 January by Professor Michael Akam of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. Subsequent talks will be held by Professor Frances Ashcroft from Oxford ̽��ֱ��, Cambridge’s own Dr Robert Macfarlane, Dr Michael Scott, Dr Mark de Rond, Professor Chris Bishop, and Professor Ron Laskey. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Southampton’s Professor Clive Gamble concludes the series with his talk: ̽��ֱ��After Life.

̽��ֱ��Darwin College lecture series began in 1986 and has proved to be one of the most sought after events in Cambridge ever since. ̽��ֱ��series marks one of the key events at Darwin College and has run every year from January to March since inception.

̽��ֱ��lectures continue from 27 January and continues every Friday for six weeks at 5.30pm at the Lady Mitchell Hall. Because the annual series is extremely popular, organisers suggest that anyone hoping to attend should arrive early to ensure a place. ̽��ֱ��organisers have also secured an adjacent theatre with live television coverage so that those who are unable to secure a place in the main hall are able to still view the lecture.

̽��ֱ��continuing schedule is as follows:

27 January, Dr Robert Macfarlane, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Life in Ruins

03 February, Professor Frances Ashcroft, ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford ̽��ֱ��Spark of Life

10 February, Dr Michael Scott, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Life in the Ancient World

17 February, Dr Mark de Rond, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Life in Conflict

24 February, Professor Ron Laskey, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Life and Death of a Cell

02 March, Professor Chris Bishop, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Artificial Life

09 March, Professor Clive Gamble, ̽��ֱ�� of Southampton ̽��ֱ��After Life

Past lectures are also available on iTunes, and Darwin College Lecture books are available from the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press.

Darwin College continues the popular Darwin College lecture series this week on 27 January with Life in Ruins. ̽��ֱ��annual eight week series held at Lady Mitchell Hall is free to the public and is renowned for its famous speakers and thought-provoking discussions.

̽��ֱ��annual series is popular as organisers suggest that anyone hoping to attend should arrive early to ensure a place.

Darwin College

Darwin College Lecture Series 2012

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