Latest research news

Koreans link with Scots in £18m deals
A fledgling Scottish firm and the University of Aberdeen have firmed up two multi-million research deals with South Korean partners - the first of what are hoped to be many such arrangements to be forged with the Asia Pacific country. The university will receive £2 million in the first year, in a six-year commitment, with the potential to extend for another three years, putting the total potential investment in Scotland at £18 million.
The Scotsman

Britain a leader in making research available on web
Britain is in the vanguard of the drive to make academic research freely available to anyone over the internet, according to new research. Creating online archives of research already published in traditional journals is part of a move towards open access in academia, a movement backed by scholars and charities including the Wellcome Trust. While the United States has more open-access archives - 1 - than any other country and Britain is second with 54, Sweden has the most archives relative to its population. By this measure, Britain is third and the US is in 10th place.
The Guardian

Tumour risk for rural mobile users
Mobile phone users who live in the countryside are more likely to develop brain tumours than those in towns and cities, a study published today shows. Researchers found that people from rural areas who had used a digital mobile for five years or more were up to four times more likely to be diagnosed with a tumour. They claimed the finding was due to handsets operating at greater power levels when they are further away from transmitters.
The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Evening Standard

Long labours affect women for life, says research
Six out of ten women who suffered a lengthy labour giving birth to their first child believe the experience will affect them for life, research revealed today. The study found that 60 per cent of first-time mothers who had a prolonged labour believed it would stay with them forever. The Swedish researchers, from Umea University, looked at 84 women who had prolonged labours, either with assisted vaginal or Caesarean deliveries. They compared their experiences with 171 women who had normal births.
The Scotsman

MRI doubles detection of breast cancer
Scans using magnetic resonance imaging rather than traditional mammography have been found to be almost twice as effective in detecting breast cancer in younger women. A study of more than 800 women aged 35 to 49 found that an MRI scan detected 77 per cent of cancers compared with 40 per cent using X-rays. When an MRI scan and mammography were both used the detection rate was 94 per cent.
The Daily Telegraph, The Scotsman, The Guardian

Microsoft founder pledges $450m for health projects in developing world
Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, yesterday pledged to double his support for research into new vaccines, drugs and health tools for the developing world to nearly $500 million. At the opening of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Mr Gates said he was optimistic that better focused scientific efforts could help reduce sharply what he called a "tragic inequality" in health around the world.
The Financial Times

Tube air is safer than inside cars
Travelling on the Tube is healthier than driving on London's roads, doctors said today. Research has shown that, although it may seem dusty, commuters are actually exposed to less fine-particle pollution on the Underground than they would be on London's roads. The study, commissioned by London Underground and published today in the journal Occupational and Environmental-Medicine, said the Tube harboured larger and heavier particles.
The Evening Standard

Beer drinking curbed by prodigious weed
An extract from a plant known in the US as “the vine that ate the South” may help reduce alcohol consumption in heavy drinkers, a small-scale study suggests. Previous research has shown that kudzu plant extract has helped reduce alcohol drinking in rats and hamsters, but this is the first study to show the effect in humans. The plant was introduced to the US to combat soil erosion but has now become a persistent weed.
New Scientist