Latest University of London Stories
A study by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London and Barts and The London NHS Trust proves that HGVs pose the greatest risk of death and serious injury to cyclists. A number of high profile campaigns have highlighted the vulnerability of cyclists on our city roads but very little evidence exists to back up these campaigns and to show how deaths and injuries can be prevented. The new study is the first of its kind to show the types and severity of injuries caused by collisions...
University of London researchers report they have found evidence that Mars experiences "marsquakes" in the same way Earth does with an earthquake. The researchers said the existence of marsquakes is an indication that conditions on Mars could include liquid water. The team from the University of London used High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) imagery to examine a fault system known as Cerberus Fossae. They analyzed the way boulders had fallen and rolled during...
Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London are aiming to improve the health of Londoners by combining a century-old mapping technique with up-to-the-minute technology. Using type 2 diabetes as their example, the researchers have compiled detailed maps of east London highlighting the geographical 'hotspots' of disease risk. The maps, which are published today in BMJ Open reveal startling similarities to the renowned 'poverty maps' created in the late 19th Century by Victorian...
The ability to change vocal sounds (vocal plasticity) and develop an accent is potentially far more widespread in mammals than previously believed, according to new research on goats from Queen Mary, University of London. Vocal plasticity is the ability of an individual to modify the sound of their voice according to their social environment. Humans benefit from an extreme form of vocal plasticity which allows us to produce a wide range of sounds and accents, but in most other mammals...
Bumblebees can use cues from their rivals the honeybees to learn where the best food resources are, according to new research from Queen Mary, University of London. Writing in the journal PLoS ONE, the team from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences explain how they trained a colony of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) to use cues provided by a different species, the honeybee (Apis mellifera), as well as cues provided by fellow bumblebees to locate food resources on...
Scientists from Queen Mary, University of London have discovered the workings behind some of the bacteria that kill hundreds of thousands every year, possibly paving the way for new antibiotics that could treat infections more effectively. With antibiotic resistance on the rise in strains of pathogenic bacteria, innovative strategies are needed to discover ways of treating bacterial infections in both humans and in agriculture. Writing in the journal PLoS Pathogens, the team from Queen...
How to catch a killer weed Invasive species which have the potential to destroy biodiversity and influence global change could be tracked and controlled in the same way as wanted criminals, according to new research from Queen Mary, University of London. Geographic profiling (GP) was originally developed as a statistical tool in criminology, where it uses the locations of linked crimes (for example murder, rape or arson) to identify the predicted location of the offender's residence....
A new insight into the impact that warmer temperatures could have across the world has been uncovered by scientists at Queen Mary, University of London. The research, published in the journal Global Change Biology today (20 January), found that the impact of global warming could be similar across ecosystems, regardless of local environmental conditions and species. The team, based at Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, went to Iceland to study a set of...
New research from Queen Mary, University of London has uncovered a gene which plays a key role in the development of oesophageal cancer (cancer of the gullet). The researchers studied families who suffer a rare inherited condition making them highly susceptible to the disease and found that a fault in a single gene was responsible. Initial studies suggest that the gene could play a role in the more common, non-inherited form of the disease, revealing a new target for treating this...
A devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk has been traced to defects in mitochondria, the 'batteries' or energy-producing power plants of cells. This finding by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London and Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro - at McGill University, is published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. The disorder, Autosomal...
