https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from University of Cambridge A study of nearly 200,000 Amazon reviews shows that the usefulness of online product reviews depends not only on what is said, but on how the information is structured. The researchers, from the Universities of Cambridge and Queensland, studied Amazon reviews for products ranging from clothing to food to electronics. They found that how the information is organized matters as much as what is said, and that different review structures are more or less helpful, depending on how highly the reviewer has rated the product. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-online-sentiment-readers.html Economics & Business Wed, 08 Apr 2026 18:10:01 EDT news694886461 Researchers have developed a solar-powered reactor to break down hard-to-recycle forms of plastic waste—such as drink bottles, nylon textiles and polyurethane foams—using acid recovered from old car batteries, and converting it into clean hydrogen fuel and valuable industrial chemicals. The results are reported in the journal Joule. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-solar-reactor-battery-acid-plastic.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:00:01 EDT news694425241 Scientists have created the most detailed map to date, comprised of over 3 million cells, showing how breast tissue changes as women age—including dramatic changes during menopause. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-million-cell-menopause-reshapes-breast.html Tue, 31 Mar 2026 05:00:03 EDT news694083282 While immigration is often blamed for the rise of populism, it was cost of living and male job dissatisfaction that played a major role in the European surge in support for populist politics a decade ago, according to a University of Cambridge social scientist. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-money-job-dissatisfaction-drove-europe.html Social Sciences Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:00:05 EDT news694078862 As prices rise and the UK Government considers energy bill help once again, a new study warns that the country's approach to energy support is structurally geared toward short-term crisis response rather than long-term solutions. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-uk-energy-efficiency-future-crises.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 26 Mar 2026 20:00:01 EDT news693740759 The fact that Samuel Pepys owned at least two enslaved people in 17th-century London is no secret. In some of his personal letters he was unashamedly open about this. In September 1688, he told a ship's captain that neither "whipping or fetters" had reformed a "mischievous" slave in his household. He asked the captain to feed the man on "hard meat, till you can dispose of him in some plantation as a rogue." https://phys.org/news/2026-03-samuel-pepys-censored-links-slavery.html Archaeology Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:00:01 EDT news693640941 Schools, families, and social pressures are channeling young people—especially girls and poorer students—away from studying creative subjects because they are considered low-status or financially "risky," a new report says. The University of Cambridge study argues that the underrepresentation of women and people from lower-income backgrounds in the creative industries reflects a "narrowing pathway" that begins at school, and steers students away from subjects like art, music, and drama as their education progresses. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-income-students-girls-risky-creative.html Education Tue, 24 Mar 2026 20:10:01 EDT news693560821 Researchers have developed a new kind of nanoelectronic device that could dramatically cut the energy consumed by artificial intelligence hardware by mimicking the human brain. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, developed a form of hafnium oxide that acts as a highly stable, low-energy "memristor"—a component designed to mimic the efficient way neurons are connected in the brain. The results are reported in the journal Science Advances. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-brain-nanoelectronic-device-ai-hardware.html Hardware Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:00:01 EDT news693136502 Medieval manuscripts, paintings and chess sets reveal that the so-called "game of kings" defied social structures and racial attitudes by celebrating the intellectual prowess of winners irrespective of their skin color. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-medieval-chess-racial-harmony-mutual.html Archaeology Thu, 19 Mar 2026 07:10:02 EDT news693120302 Small changes to aircraft flight paths to avoid the atmospheric conditions that create condensation trails—known as contrails—could reduce aviation's global warming impact by nearly half, a new study suggests. The study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, suggests that changing cruising altitude by a few thousand feet, either up or down, could prevent contrails from forming. Reducing or avoiding contrail formation in this way would also be faster and cheaper than other climate mitigation measures for the aviation industry, since the practice can be adopted with existing aircraft and fuel. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-flight-paths-slash-aviation-climate.html Environment Tue, 17 Mar 2026 13:40:04 EDT news692967181 Research led by the University of Cambridge and the RSPB shows that farming wetland-adapted crops on wetter peat—known as paludiculture—can support richer and more diverse bird communities than drained grassland. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-tolerant-wetland-crops-nature-recovery.html Plants & Animals Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:20:01 EDT news692522449 AI-powered toys that "talk" with young children should be more tightly regulated and carry new safety kitemarks, according to a report that warns they are not always developed with children's psychological safety in mind. The recommendation appears in the initial report from "AI in the Early Years": a University of Cambridge project and the first systematic study of how Generative AI (GenAI) toys capable of human-like conversation may influence development in the critical years up to age five. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-toy-safety-standards-young.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:00:02 EDT news692529337 A study has traced thousands of conserved regulatory elements back 300 million years, revealing deep principles of plant genome evolution—a discovery that could pave the way for more precise engineering of crop traits. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-ancient-dna-sequences-gene-function.html Evolution Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:00:07 EDT news692529757 Scientists at the University of Cambridge have developed a new way to alter complex drug molecules using light rather than toxic chemicals—a discovery that could accelerate and improve how medicines are designed and made. Published in Nature Synthesis, the study introduces what the team calls an "anti-Friedel–Crafts" reaction. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-drug-breakthrough.html Biochemistry Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:00:02 EDT news692466421 The recreational drugs cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines significantly increase the risk of stroke—including among younger users—Cambridge researchers have concluded after analyzing data from more than 100 million people. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-highlights-linked-recreational-drugs-young.html Sun, 08 Mar 2026 19:10:02 EDT news691925461 Payments that enable landowners to rewild ecologically degraded land—in the form of biodiversity credits bought by investors wishing to offset their impact on nature—could be an effective component of the emerging market for nature recovery, but will not work as a standalone approach. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-biodiversity-credits-boost-rewilding-fall.html Environment Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:30:01 EDT news691770968 Experts are warning that far from being over-diagnosed, people with ADHD are waiting too long for assessment, support, and treatment. In a paper published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, a group of experts say there is no robust evidence that ADHD is over-diagnosed in the UK. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-evidence-adhd-experts.html Fri, 06 Mar 2026 07:20:02 EST news691999261 Robots are becoming increasingly capable in vision and movement, yet touch remains one of their major weaknesses. Now, researchers have developed a miniature tactile sensor that could give robots something much closer to a human sense of touch. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-graphene-based-artificial-skin-human.html Robotics Thu, 05 Mar 2026 12:00:04 EST news691933261 Electrons can be "kicked across" solar materials at almost the fastest speed nature allows, scientists have discovered, challenging long-held theories about how solar energy systems work. The finding could help researchers design more efficient ways of harvesting sunlight and converting it into electricity. The research is published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-molecular-catapult-electrons-limits-physics.html General Physics Thu, 05 Mar 2026 05:00:04 EST news691864861 A year after stopping taking weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, people regain—on average—60% of their lost weight. But beyond this, their regained weight plateaus, with individuals managing to keep off 25% of the weight lost to treatment, say researchers at the University of Cambridge. The work appears in eClinicalMedicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-glp-drugs-triggers-rapid-regain.html Overweight & Obesity Wed, 04 Mar 2026 18:30:07 EST news691836301 A new international study published in eClinicalMedicine has mapped global blood transfusion practices for life-threatening abdominal injuries, highlighting significant variation in care worldwide and opportunities for health systems to learn from one another. The work represents the first multicenter international study to report on blood transfusion strategies for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery following trauma (trauma laparotomy). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-international-trauma-analysis-big-transfusion.html Biomedical technology Wed, 04 Mar 2026 18:30:03 EST news691835882 Cambridge scientists have shown that when tumors first emerge, interactions with healthy cells in the underlying supportive tissue determine their ability to survive, grow, and progress to advanced stages of disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-tiny-tumors-discovery-cancer-earliest.html Oncology & Cancer Wed, 04 Mar 2026 11:00:07 EST news691755601 Suicide in autistic people originates in the inequalities they face across their lives, starting in childhood, and spanning education to employment, and health and social care, a new study by a team at Cambridge and Bournemouth Universities has found. The researchers call for a radical change in the way society understands suicide and mental illness in autistic people, who are three to five times more likely to die by suicide. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-transitional-autistic-people-death-suicide.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:10:02 EST news691341661 "Play nicely, children," has been a familiar plea of stressed-out parents and teachers since time immemorial. Now, new research suggests that getting children to play together cooperatively may depend less on their social skills than the type of play involved—and who they are playing with. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-children-friends-play-goal.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Feb 2026 19:10:01 EST news691230721 A unique study imaging brain activity in children born with upper limb difference—for example, one hand—has shown the amazing ability of the brain to adapt to compensate and support their daily lives. The research, led by a team at the University of Cambridge and Durham University, reveals widespread changes in the brain as it devotes more resources to helping the children adapt to the world around them. The results of the study are published in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-children-born-upper-limb-difference.html Neuroscience Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:00:02 EST news691071662 Many people use AI chatbots to plan meals and write emails, AI-enhanced web browsers to book travel and buy tickets, and workplace AI to generate invoices and performance reports. However, a new study of the "AI agent ecosystem" suggests that as these AI bots rapidly become part of everyday life, basic safety disclosure is "dangerously lagging." https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-ai-bots-lack-basic-safety.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 19 Feb 2026 20:00:06 EST news690710462 Researchers have identified a "tipping point" about 2.7 million years ago when global climate conditions switched from being relatively warm and stable to cold and chaotic, as continental ice sheets expanded in the Northern Hemisphere. Following this transition, Earth's climate began swinging back and forth between warm interglacial periods and frigid ice ages, linked to slow, cyclic changes in Earth's orbit. However, glacial periods after this tipping point became far more variable, with large swings in temperature over relatively short timescales of roughly a thousand years. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-flickering-glacial-climate-early-human.html Earth Sciences Thu, 19 Feb 2026 14:00:16 EST news690642626 Flexible electronics are often sold on a simple promise: bendable screens, lightweight solar cells or wearable devices that can bend and flex without breaking. But what does that "flexibility" actually look like at the molecular scale, and how does it affect performance? Researchers led by the University of Cambridge say they have taken a first step towards answering this question. Using ultra-sensitive atomic force microscopy—which analyzes materials by "feeling" them—the researchers were able to measure how stiff flexible semiconductor molecules are when packed together, down to the scale of just a few molecules. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-flexibility-limits-wearable-devices.html Electronics & Semiconductors Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:20:01 EST news690728686 A simple, digital intervention that includes mentally playing Tetris can dramatically reduce intrusive memories of trauma in a month, even to the point of being symptom-free after six months, new research has found. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-tetris-gameplay-treatment-traumatic-flashbacks.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 19 Feb 2026 07:42:28 EST news690709206 Scientists have identified a further 12 dog breeds as being at risk of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome—a condition that can cause serious breathing problems—including the Pekingese, Shih Tzu, Boston terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, Cavalier King Charles spaniel, chihuahua and boxer. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-pekingese-shih-tzu-staffordshire-bull.html Plants & Animals Wed, 18 Feb 2026 14:00:05 EST news690564661