59 h. ago Norway launches scheme to lure top researchers away from US universities

Research council launches 100m kroner fund as Norwegian government calls for the protection of academic freedomNorway has launched a new scheme to lure top international researchers amid growing pressure on academic freedom in the US under the Trump administration.Following in the footsteps of multiple institutions across Europe, the Research Council of Norway on Wednesday launched a 100m kroner (£7.2m) fund to make it easier to recruit researchers from other countries. Continue reading...

Politics

60 h. ago Revealed: The number of times you should have sex every week to beat depression

A new report by researchers at Shantou University Medical College, China, reveals how many times per week people should be having sex for maximum mental health benefits.

Politics

67 h. ago Pandemics, pathogens and being prepared: why the work to identify emerging threats never stops

As the UK Pandemic Sciences Network conference kicks off in Glasgow, virus expert Prof Emma Thomson says new technologies are boosting science’s ability to fight novel strains of infectious diseasesProf Emma Thomson is someone who knows a thing or two about pandemics. As the recently appointed director of the Medical Research Council, University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) and a World Heath Organization consultant, Thomson is one of the country’s leading virus experts.“We used to think that pandemics would occur maybe once in our lifetimes. Now, it’s definitely within the next few years. It could even be tomorrow,” she says. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Georgia university receives $500,000 grant to preserve Gullah Geechee heritage

GSU will establish the Gullah Geechee Sacred Land Project to research and protect the community and its cultureA new $500,000 Mellon grant will allow Georgia State University to develop archival, historical and cultural research to protect Gullah Geechee heritage and communities in Georgia and South Carolina.Using the grant, GSU will establish the Gullah Geechee Sacred Land Project (GGSLP), which will be “dedicated to maintaining African American burial grounds by recovering communities’ spiritual, genealogical and spatial lineages and safeguarding the places where those communities interred their ancestors”, according to a statement by the college. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago GPs in poor parts of England are paid £5,500 less a year than in wealthy areas, study finds

Report analysed data from 8,500 doctors over 2015-21 and also found pressures on GPs were higher in deprived areasPatient satisfaction with GP services in England has collapsed, research findsGPs working in the most deprived areas in England are paid an average salary £5,525 less a year than their counterparts working in wealthier areas, according to a study.The report, by researchers at the University of Manchester and published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, analysed data from more than 8,500 GPs between 2015 and 2021 in the GP work life survey. Continue reading...

Economics

5 d. ago Massachusetts governor calls Trump’s attacks on Harvard ‘bad for science’

Maura Healey says president targeting universities hurts US ‘competitiveness’ and affects research and hospitalsMassachusetts governor Maura Healey said on Sunday that Donald Trump’s attacks on Harvard University and other schools are having detrimental ripple effects, with the shutdown of research labs and cuts to hospitals linked to colleges.During an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, the Democratic governor said that the effects on Harvard are damaging “American competitiveness”, since a number of researchers are leaving the US for opportunities in other countries After decades of investment in science and innovation, she said: “intellectual assets are being given away.” Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Revealed: London universities' ties to Chinese military research despite security concerns

Defence experts have expressed concerns that UK institutions continue to expand their collaboration with Chinese engineering universities,

Events

7 d. ago Hue are you kidding? Scientists claim to have discovered a new colour never seen by humans

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, say that by stimulating individual cells in the retina that the laser pushed their perception beyond its natural limits.

Events

8 d. ago Nearly 300 apply as French university offers US academics ‘scientific asylum’

Aix-Marseille University generates interest amid a US crackdown and calls for a ‘scientific refugee’ statusNearly 300 academics have applied to a French university’s offer to take in US-based researchers rattled by the American government’s crackdown on academia, as a former French president called for the creation of a “scientific refugee” status for academics in peril.Earlier this year, France’s Aix-Marseille University was among the first in Europe to respond to the funding freezes, cuts and executive orders unleashed on institutions across the US by Donald Trump’s administration. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Has alien life been found on another planet as James Webb telescope finds 'strongest evidence yet'?

Researchers from the University of Cambridge using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected chemicals produced by simple organisms such as marine phytoplankton and bacteria on exoplanet K2-18b

Politics

8 d. ago Donald Trump calls Harvard a ‘joke’ and says it should be stripped of funds – US politics live

President says university should lose government research contracts after it refused demands to accept outside political supervisionSeveral international students who have had their visas revoked in recent weeks have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, arguing the government denied them due process when it suddenly took away their permission to be in the US. The actions by the federal government to terminate students’ legal status have left hundreds of scholars at risk of detention and deportation. Their schools range from private universities like Harvard and Stanford to large public institutions like the University of Maryland and Ohio State University to some small liberal arts colleges. At least 901 students at 128 colleges and universities have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since mid-March, according to an Associated Press (AP) review of university statements and correspondence with school officials. In lawsuits against the Department of ...

Politics

9 d. ago Half of vessels in Scotland ‘invisible’ to marine tracking systems – study

The research comes from Heriot-Watt University.

Politics

1 week ago China to gain access to NHS medical records from 500,000 patients despite MI5 fears that health data could be misused by Beijing

The information is being uploaded to the central database of the UK Biobank, a research hub that makes data available to universities, scientific institutes and private companies.

Science

1 week ago Harvard stands to lose $2.2 billion in federal funding. Researchers fear science will suffer

In a high-stakes standoff, President Donald Trump’s administration says it will freeze $2.2 billion in federal research grants for Harvard University, which is pushing back on demands for changes to campus policy

Economics

1 week ago Wave science collaboration could improve earthquake warnings, researchers say

A team of international researchers led by Queen’s University Belfast has been collaborating on a study.

Events

1 week ago Scientists say 'debunked' theory may actually explain cause of autism: 'Not as far fetched as once thought'

In a new study, researchers at the University of Southern California found changes to the gut microbiome caused by diet and antibiotics may increase the risk of autism.

Politics

1 week ago Put your baby down to nap near a washing machine, expert says

Researcher warns that dark daytime naps can disrupt babies’ sleep when they properly go to bed at nightBabies should not be put in a dark, quiet room for a nap but in a light room with background noise like a washing machine, an expert has said.Prof Helen Ball, a scientific adviser for the charity The Lullaby Trust who has carried out sleep research with more than 5,000 parents and babies at Durham University, said long daytime naps are like “mini night times” that can disrupt babies’ sleep when they properly go to bed. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trafficking victims rejecting UK government support because they fear being deported

Nearly 6,000 victims of modern slavery chose not to be referred for help last year, new data showsThousands of trafficking victims have rejected the government’s support, many due to fear of the authorities or of being deported, lawyers have said.Nearly 6,000 trafficking victims rejected support from the government’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for victims of modern slavery last year, according to data based on research from the British Institute for International and Comparative Law and the Human Trafficking Foundation at the University of Oxford. Researchers found a range of reasons for this among respondents, including fear of traffickers, receiving support elsewhere, wanting to put things of being trafficked behind them and being reluctant to engage with UK authorities. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump is pushing students towards Britain – ministers, don’t let your immigration obsession stand in the way | Polly Toynbee

Beleaguered UK universities have a golden opportunity. If the government passes it up, it risks billions in revenue Shocking stories told at a US universities conference in San Diego described Donald Trump’s assaults on research grants, academics and students. Foreign students face deportation for infractions as minor as parking or speeding tickets. A reported 500 student visas have been suddenly revoked – with some students sent to deportation centres, and others told to “self-deport”. With a million foreign students warned by their universities not to travel abroad for fear of never getting back in, that’s a strong deterrent to others deciding whether to study in the US.Jo Johnson, former minster for universities, King’s College London visiting professor and chair of the Lords education committee, listening to this list of persecutions, spoke to me from San Diego. “The UK should be extending the warmest of welcomes, a safe port in a storm,” he says. Concerns about immigration numb...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump administration cuts $4m to Princeton’s climate research funding

White House claims university’s work exposed students to ‘climate anxiety’ and ‘exaggerated climate threats’US politics live – latest updatesAlmost $4m in federal funding has been stripped from an Ivy League university’s prestigious climate research department because the Trump administration has determined it exposed students and other young people to “climate anxiety”.The government research grants to Princeton University have been cut off because the White House considers its work on topics including sea level rise, coastal flooding and global warming to be promoting “exaggerated and implausible climate threats”, according to the New York Times. Continue reading...

Politics