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Carrying out fieldwork in high-security subterranean data centres, Alex Taylor explores fears of technological failure in our data-dependent society. Alex is a PhD student in the Division of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge.
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Cambridge University Library is celebrating its 600th anniversary with an exhibition of priceless treasures communicating 4,000 years of human thought. To celebrate, we have made six films on the six distinct themes featured in Lines of Thought. The second film in the series looks at Gravity; by following the discussions of generations of great scientific minds, from Copernicus to Hawking via Newton and Einstein, we begin to understand our place among the stars. To see more of the exhibits in this theme, visit the Virtual Exhibition: https://exhibitions.lib.cam.ac.uk/linesofthought/case/gravity/
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From 3000-year-old Chinese oracle bones to Penguin paperbacks of the 20th century, the collections at Cambridge University Library chart the technological revolutions that have changed the world around us.
The objects in the film all feature in the Library's spectacular new exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that Changed the World
- See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/news/lines-of-thought-revolutions-in-communications#sthash.N7v4PP1M.dpuf -
Research provides insight into feasibility of virus becoming airborne transmissible.
It might be possible for human-to-human airborne transmissible avian H5N1 influenza viruses to evolve in nature, new research has found.
Currently, avian H5N1 influenza, also known as bird flu, can be transmitted from birds to humans, but not (or only very rarely) from human to human. However, two recent papers by Herfst, Fouchier and colleagues in Science and Imai, Kawaoka and colleagues in Nature reveal that potentially with as few as five mutations (amino acid substitutions), or four mutations plus reassortment, avian H5N1 can become airborne transmissible between mammals, and thus potentially among humans. However, until now, it was not known whether these mutations might evolve in nature.
The Cambridge researchers first analysed all of the surveillance data available on avian H5N1 influenza viruses from the last 15 years, focusing on birds and humans. They discovered that two of the five mutations seen in the experimental viruses (from the Fouchier and Kawaoka labs) had occurred in numerous existing avian flu strains. Additionally, they found that a number of the viruses had both of the mutations. -
Britain has had a long history of interaction with India from the 17th century until the present day. During that time, a large number of Britons who lived in the region documented their lives using diaries, letters and photos, many of which have found their way into the archive of the Centre of South Asian Studies in Cambridge.
Centre of South Asian Studies: http://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk
Centre of South Asian Studies Archive: http://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/archive/... -
Howler monkeys are about the size of a small dog, weighing around seven kilos, yet they are among the loudest terrestrial animals on the planet, and can roar at a similar acoustic frequency to tigers.
Evolution has given these otherwise lethargic creatures a complex and powerful vocal system. For males, a critical function of the roar is for mating: to attract females and scare off rival males.
But not all male howler monkeys have been equally endowed. The bigger a male howler’s vocal organ, and the deeper and more imposing roar they possess, the smaller their testes and the less sperm they can produce.
Dr Jacob Dunn from Cambridge's Division of Biological Anthropology describes this evolutionary 'trade-off' and how it relates to Darwin's work on sexual selection.
Find out more here: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/calls-vs-balls-monkeys-with-more-impressive-roars-produce-less-sperm -
The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, J is for Jay – a surprisingly clever corvid with the ability to mimic human voices and much more.
Jays are corvids – members of the crow family. The jays we see in Britain are Eurasian jays. With their pinkish plumage, and characteristic flash of blue, they will be familiar to many people as woodland birds that are increasingly seen in gardens, even in cities.
Professor Nicky Clayton (Department of Psychology) has carried out pioneering research into the thinking power of corvids. Her observations have revealed these crows to be extremely clever. In Aesop’s Fables, the wise old crow drops pebbles into a pitcher of water to raise the level and allow her to drink. Clayton’s work has revealed that real-life crows can, if they need to, use pebbles in just this way.
- See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/j-is-for-jay#sthash.4jNKba3W.dpuf -
This set of 29 papier mache models of horses' teeth (Wh. 6135) was made by Dr Louis Auzoux in France in the 1890s. The original wooden case opens out to reveal four rows of spaces for sets on each side. A hinged wooden flap holds the teeth in place. The models demonstrate the appearance of horses’ teeth at different ages, the effects of wind sucking and crib biting, and the fraudulent ways of making a horse seem older or younger by the appearance of its teeth.
As a medical student in Paris, Auzoux noticed that there was often a shortage of human remains available for dissection. To deal with the shortage of bodies, he began producing accurate anatomical models that could be taken apart piece by piece. With financial support from the French state, Auzoux founded a factory for producing anatomical models. The models became a commercial success and were used by schools, universities and hospitals, as well as by private individuals who could rent models at low costs. Responding to changing trends in scientific research and education, the company branched out and began producing models of human embryos, animals and plants.
The horses’ teeth are on display in the Main Gallery of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science.
The museum is open Monday to Friday 12:30-4:30pm. The Museum is not always open during University vacations and visitors are advised to check beforehand. Admission is free.
Produced by Veronica Balzano and Nick Saffell -
Fumiya Iida’s research looks at how robotics can be improved by taking inspiration from nature, whether that’s learning about intelligence, or finding ways to improve robotic locomotion. A robot requires between ten and 100 times more energy than an animal to do the same thing. Iida’s lab is filled with a wide array of hopping robots, which may take their inspiration from grasshoppers, humans or even dinosaurs. One of his group’s developments, the ‘Chairless Chair’, is a wearable device that allows users to lock their knee joints and ‘sit’ anywhere, without the need for a chair.
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One of the most important maps of the UK ever made – described as the ‘Magna Carta of geology’ – is to go on permanent public display in Cambridge after being restored to its former glory.
- See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/the-magna-carta-of-scientific-maps#sthash.cfVPSGJz.dpuf
William Smith’s 1815 Geological Map of England and Wales, which measures 8.5ft x 6ft, demonstrated for the first time the geology of the UK and was the culmination of years of work by Smith, who was shunned by the scientific community for many years and ended up in debtors’ prison. Today, exactly 200 years since its first publication, a copy of Smith’s map – rediscovered after more than a century in a museum box – will go on public display at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences. Aside from a copy held at The Geological Society in London, the Cambridge map is believed to be the only such map on public display anywhere in the world. -
Animal research plays an essential role in our understanding of health and disease and in the development of modern medicine and surgical techniques. As part of our commitment to openness, this film examines how mice are helping the fight against cancer. It takes a in-depth look at the facilities in which they are housed, exploring issues of animal welfare and the search for replacements.
We welcome comments about this article. However, as with discussions on all of our news and feature pages, comments will be moderated so please do not post contributions that are offensive or contain profanities and do stay on topic. We do not moderate comments in real-time so do bear with us if there is a delay before they appear. -
On display at the Whipple Library, Cambridge, is a book described as the 'most important book in the history of scientific racism'
Current research into this book is revealing how racist ideas travelled between the United States and Europe in the 19th century.
Crania Americana, published in Philadelphia in 1839 by Samuel George Morton, is being studied by Cambridge University PhD student James Poskett at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science.
His research has uncovered, for the first time, just how influential this book was in scientific circles that included the likes of Charles Darwin and James Cowles Prichard.
www.hps.cam.ac.uk/library/Fpage.html -
Cambridge scientists are part of a resolution revolution. Building powerful instruments that shatter the physical limits of optical microscopy, they are beginning to watch molecular processes as they happen, and in three dimensions. Here, Professor Clemens Kaminski describes how a new era of super-resolution microscopy has begun.
The developments earned inventors Eric Betzig and William E Moerner (USA) and Stefan Hell (Germany) the 2014 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and are based on clever physical tricks that work around the problem of light diffraction.
Among the scientists in Cambridge who are using the techniques, Kaminski’s team in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology designs and builds super-resolution microscopes to study Alzheimer’s disease. “The technology is based on a conceptual change, a different way of thinking about how we resolve tiny structures. By imaging blobs of light as separate points in time, we are able to discriminate them spatially, and thus prevent image blur.” Their work is funded by the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, Alzheimers Research UK, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Leverhulme Trust.
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A tiny sketchbook that brings to life one of the most famous voyages in history has been digitised and made available online for the first time.
The intricate pencil drawings and watercolours in the sketchbook were made by Conrad Martens, shipmate to Charles Darwin as they travelled around South America on the voyage of HMS Beagle.
Now, for the first time, all of Martens’ Beagle sketches have been made freely available online through Cambridge University Library’s Digital Library: http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/
Martens made the drawings between the summer of 1833 and the early months of 1835. Cambridge University Library owns his two sketchbooks from this period and has made the above audio slideshow to celebrate their addition to the Digital Library.
“These drawings were made almost two centuries ago but even now, they still really vividly bring to life one of the most famous voyages in the world and arguably the most famous in the history of science,” said Dr Alison Pearn, Associate Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project.
“Each of these pages is only 14cm by 20cm. It’s wonderful that everyone now has the opportunity to flick through these sketchbooks in their virtual representation and to follow the journey as Martens and Darwin saw it unfold.”
The first sketchbook begins just before Martens heard that the Beagle was looking for a new ship’s artist, capturing street life in Montevideo in August 1833. The later sketches give a sense of how hard and difficult the journey must have been both on sea and land in uncharted territory.
Martens did not have much time to make his sketches and the notebooks are littered with hastily-scribbled notes to himself about colours, textures and the geology of the landscapes before him.
“Darwin described the Beagle voyage as the most formative experience of his life and to see it through the eyes of one of his companions is a very vivid reminder of the reality of that journey,” added Pearn. “Martens sketches are a visual counterpart to Darwin’s letters home. Both bring to life a really remarkable adventure in a vast and remote part of the world.”
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A transformational new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) - the result of over three decades of research in Cambridge -- has now been approved by the EU agency responsible for regulating new drugs.
In recognition of the highly effective new treatment, the University of Cambridge has produced this video which explores the history of the drug, showing the many challenges as well as successes experienced during the course of this development.
For more information, visit: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/drug-developed-in-cambridge-approved-for-treatment-of-multiple-sclerosis -
Fashion conveys complex messages. The recreation of an outfit taken from one of an extraordinary series of Renaissance portraits reveals how one man made his mark on society.
In 1530 Matthäus Schwarz, an accountant in the German city of Augsburg, was man in his prime: slim, smart and successful. In a portrait that shows him in an outfit made for the occasion of the Imperial Diet of Augsburg, he is every inch the fashionable man about town, ready to step out of his door and join the party.
In the painting Schwarz wears a doublet made in panes of brilliant red and yellow silk over a shirt cut from fine linen. His slender calves are shown off in yellow leather hose and his knees are cross-gartered. On his feet are slim shoes and on his head is a flat black beret made in felted wool. At his waist are belts carrying the sword and red purse that complete the picture.
Now an experimental project undertaken by Dr Ulinka Rublack, Reader in Early Modern History at the University of Cambridge, has brought this portrait alive in a historically accurate reconstruction of the outfit it depicts. The project reveals the role of dress in conveying complex social and political messages and the way in which fashion had a profound effect on mood and behaviour. -
Atomic-level engineering is at the forefront of modern, greener jet engine design.
The increasing demand for more people to fly while reducing carbon emissions is one of the greatest aeronautical engineering challenges. Efficiency requires engines to run hotter and faster, but the best materials are already running close to their limits. At the Cambridge Rolls-Royce UTC, we design metal alloys that are able to withstand the extreme conditions inside the gas turbine engine.
The jet engine is a tough engineering environment. The hot gas stream exceeds 1800⁰C, and the forces on the rotating turbine blades are equivalent to hanging 15 hatchback cars from each one. But to reach the full potential of the engine we must develop new materials to withstand even higher temperatures and stresses. We study how atomic arrangements in metals influence their properties and performance. By engineering the position, size and type of atoms in metal alloys, we can radically change their capabilities. This knowledge is enabling us to design new materials for modern jet engines. -
Researchers have captured the first 3D video of a living algal embryo turning itself inside out, from a sphere to a mushroom shape and back again. The results could help unravel the mechanical processes at work during a similar process in animals, which has been called the “most important time in your life.” Read more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/upside-down-and-inside-out
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