Latest Research News

Research in the 'unsexier' sciences is about to be given a financial boost
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is aiming to turn the tide with a wave of new funding to keep research in beset university departments afloat. Its science and innovation awards scheme will dole out £50 million over the next three years to at least 15 strong research teams in disciplines ranging from statistics and organic chemistry to electronics design. The initiative is part of the plethora of grants in the EPSRC's "delivery plan" - a document setting out how the research council intends to spend its nearly £2 billion budget between now and 2008. Energy is a key word in the document, which was published at the end of May.
The Guardian

UK scientists announce massive shopping list
The UK's eight leading research councils have published a huge shopping list for British scientists over the next three years. On it is a £40 million research ship and an animal health laboratory to guard against diseases like foot and mouth. The research councils also hope to achieve more coordination and work across subject boundaries, getting better value for their money which is due to rise to more than £3 billion a year by 2007-08.
The Guardian , The Times Higher Education Supplement (June 3)

Fungus could make peanuts less allergenic
By simply baking peanuts with a harmless fungus, researchers can dramatically decrease their “allergenicity”. The process could one day allow millions of peanut allergy sufferers to enjoy nutty foods without fear of a lethal reaction, they suggest. “This is a simple biological method that is safe, edible and won’t add too much to costs. If the process is adopted by industry we think it could really help to reduce allergies,” says Mohamed Ahmedna at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, US, one of the team.
New Scientist

Closing the window keeps volcanoes at bay
An eruption of Mount Vesuvius, near Naples in Italy, could kill as many as the Indonesian tsunami, says a British researcher. But lessons learned from the 1997 eruption on the Caribbean island of Montserrat could reduce the damage, he says. "Vesuvius is one of the most serious problems facing Europe," says Peter Baxter of Cambridge University's Department of Medicine, who collaborated with volcanologists and civil engineers on the Montserrat study.
Nature

Teenage early morning laziness 'natural'
A US study published today found that early school starts were forcing students to perform academically at a time of day when they were at their worst. The researchers, from Northwestern University in Illinois, go so far as to describe the school day as causing an "epidemic of sleep deprivation among adolescents". They say the weekend lie-in enjoyed by so many young people is simply part of their natural cycle and should not be dismissed as laziness.
The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian

Bug in your keyboard that can kill
The deadly MRSA superbug can survive in hospitals for longer than previously thought, lurking on false fingernails and computers for weeks, according to new research by scientists in America. A study found that strains of the bug could survive for up to eight weeks, and the researchers, of the Minnesota-based Ecolab, said this emphasised the need for frequent hand-washing and disinfection of hospitals. A British expert in combating MRSA added that hospitals should adopt food industry-style regulations, which prevent staff from wearing false fingernails, jewellery and other potential breeding grounds for infection.
The Scotsman

US mental survey depresses experts
A national survey of US citizens has found that 6 per cent of them have a debilitating mental illness. The researchers involved say they also found that treatment is hard to get, and often not sufficient when available. They estimate that only about a third of those in care receive "minimally adequate treatment", such as the appropriate drugs or a few hours of therapy over a period of several months.
Nature