research | Common News Update

Sep72023 by adminNo Comments

UK rejoins EU science research scheme Horizon

Science

Getty ImagesBy Jonathan AmosScience correspondentThe UK is to rejoin the EU's flagship scientific research scheme, Horizon, the government has announced.UK-based scientists and institutions will be able to apply for money from the £81bn (€95bn) fund from today. Associate membership had been agreed as part of the Brexit trade deal when the UK formally left the EU in 2020.However, the UK has been excluded from the scheme for the past three years because of a disagreement over the Northern Ireland Protocol.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "With a wealth of expertise and experience to bring to the global stage, we have delivered a deal that enables UK scientists to confidently take part in the world's largest research collaboration programme."We have worked with our EU partners to make sure th...

Sep32023 by adminNo Comments

UK scientists tackle the taboo subject of periods in polar research

Science

This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.By Harriet BradshawBBC Climate & Science reporterYou're tied to co-workers, on a glacier, in icy conditions, and then you realise… it's that time of the month. What do you do? Dealing with your period during fieldwork in the Arctic or Antarctic can be a challenge.And yet talking about menstruation has remained taboo. It's why it is on the agenda for the UK Polar Network (UKPN), a voluntary organisation which represents more than 400 early career scientists, and which is piloting a new workshop to tackle the issue head on. "I've had so many of my friends and my peers come and say, 'God, I couldn't talk to anyone about this; I felt so uncomfortable; I felt scared at times'," explains Ellie Hona...

Nov222022 by adminNo Comments

With new supplies, space station astronauts to research mending broken bones

Science

Nov. 21 (UPI) -- New research on the International Space Station will include implantable drug delivery devices and an adhesive that can stimulate bone growth. SpaceX will launch a resupply mission as early as Tuesday to deliver a payload of items developed by commercial companies that need to be tested in orbit. The launch window opens at 3:54 p.m. EST. It will be the 26th commercial resupply service mission by SpaceX and NASA. The Falcon 9 rocket is to be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The space-based research is sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory. The bone-mending injectable adhesive, called Tetranite, was developed by medical device company RevBio. The adhesive is intended to speed bone growth after breaks and fractures. The research will focus on how Tetran...

Jun202021 by adminNo Comments

PM’s research budget to make UK ‘science superpower’

Science

Getty ImagesThe prime minister has set out plans to cement the UK's place as a "science superpower".Boris Johnson announced how increases in the research budget would be spent.He will chair a new National Science and Technology Council to provide "strategic direction" on how research is harnessed for the "public good".And Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser to the government, will lead a new Office for Science and Technology Strategy.He will take up the role of the new national technology adviser, alongside his current role.Mr Johnson said the UK's vaccination programme had proven what the UK can achieve at scale and speed. "With the right direction, pace and backing, we can breathe life into many more scientific and technological breakthroughs that transform the lives of pe...

Jan42021 by adminNo Comments

Defects aid mother-of-pearl’s assembly, according to new research

Science

Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Scientists have finally uncovered the structural secrets of mother-of-pearl, or nacre, the organic-inorganic composite material that forms the smooth, shiny layer found inside the shells of many mollusk species. According to a new study, published Monday in the journal Nature Physics, structural defects in the material's self-assembly process ensure nacre's incredible uniformity and strength. Advertisement Impressively, mother-of-pearl is the product of a disorganized synthesis process. The process begins when individual cells begin depositing bits of material simultaneously at different locations. During the early stages of construction, the material is not at all uniform. "In the very beginning, the layered mineral-organic tissue is full of structural faults that propag...