Category Archives: University of Cambridge

People with extremist views less able to do complex mental tasks, research suggests

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Cambridge University team say their findings could be used to spot people at risk from radicalisation

Our brains hold clues for the ideologies we choose to live by, according to research, which has suggested that people who espouse extremist attitudes tend to perform poorly on complex mental tasks.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge sought to evaluate whether cognitive disposition – differences in how information is perceived and processed – sculpt ideological world-views such as political, nationalistic and dogmatic beliefs, beyond the impact of traditional demographic factors like age, race and gender.

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‘Find of the century’: medieval hoard of treasures unearthed in Cambridge

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Graves found under demolished student halls are providing valuable insight into life in a post-Roman settlement

An early medieval graveyard unearthed beneath student accommodation at Cambridge University has been described as “one of the most exciting finds of Anglo-Saxon archaeology since the 19th century”.

King’s College discovered the “extensive” cemetery, containing more than 60 graves, after demolishing a group of 1930s buildings which had recently housed graduates and staff in the west of the city, to make way for more modern halls.

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Talking can spread Covid as much as coughing, says research

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Tiny aerosols of the virus emitted when speaking linger in air for longer than larger droplets from a cough

Speaking to a friend when infected with the coronavirus could be as dangerous as coughing near them thanks to lingering particles, research has suggested.

Covid can be spread through a number of routes, including virus-containing droplets emitted when an infected person breaths, speaks or coughs – a factor experts said could help to explain why Covid seems to spread more easily in indoor settings.

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Oxford University takes top spot in Guardian’s annual university guide

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This year’s report sees Oxford moving up from third to first for the first time in a decade

Oxford University has vaulted into top place in the Guardian’s annual universities guide for the first time in a decade, thanks to new employment data showing that more Oxford students are moving into graduate-level jobs after completing their studies.

This year’s Guardian university guide sees Oxford moving up from third to first, while the University of St Andrews stays in second place and Oxford’s ancient rival Cambridge drops to third after occupying the top spot for nine years.

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Elite Cambridge club asks members for £50,000 to keep it open

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Pitt Club, founded in 1835, faces financial crisis after losing rental income from Pizza Express

It has survived a wartime recruitment crisis, a disastrous fire and a “horrible scarcity of whisky”. Now a Cambridge University members’ club is facing a surprising new challenge to its survival: the lockdown misfortunes of Pizza Express.

One hundred and eighty-five years after it was founded, the university’s Pitt Club – whose alumni include John Maynard Keynes, John Cleese and the Prince of Wales – is so close to financial catastrophe that it has been forced to make a desperate appeal to its lifetime members.

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Climate change is turning parts of Antarctica green, say scientists

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Researchers map ‘beginning of new ecosystem’ as algae bloom across surface of melting snow

Scientists have created the first large-scale map of microscopic algae on the Antarctic peninsula as they bloom across the surface of the melting snow, tinting the surface green and potentially creating a source of nutrition for other species.

The British team behind the research believe these blooms will expand their range in the future because global heating is creating more of the slushy conditions they need to thrive.

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Cambridge University moves all lectures online until summer 2021

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Institution first to announce virtual teaching for next academic year

Cambridge has become the first university to set out measures for the full 2020-21 academic year, announcing that it will move all “face-to-face lectures” online for the duration. The institution added that it was “likely” social distancing would continue to be required.

The university said lectures would continue virtually until summer 2021, while it may be possible for smaller teaching groups to take place in person if it “conforms to social-distancing requirements”.

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Mice have a range of facial expressions, researchers find

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Findings offer researchers new ways to measure intensity of emotional responses

Whether it is screwing up your face when sucking a lemon, or smiling while sitting in the sun, humans have a range of facial expressions that reflect how they feel. Now, researchers say, they have found mice do too.

“Mice exhibit facial expressions that are specific to the underlying emotions,” said Dr Nadine Gogolla, co-author of the research from Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology. She said the findings were important, as they offer researchers new ways to measure the intensity of emotional responses, which could help them probe how emotions arise in the brain.

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Fossil hunters find evidence of 555m-year-old human relative

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Ikaria wariootia is half the size of a grain of rice and an early example of a bilateral organism

It might not show much of a family resemblance but fossil hunters say a newly discovered creature, that looks like a teardrop-shaped jellybean and is about half the size of a grain of rice, is an early relative of humans and a vast array of other animals.

The team discovered the fossils in rocks in the outback of South Australia that are thought to be at least 555m years old.

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‘Wonderchicken’: oldest fossil of modern bird discovered

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Tiny creature, half the size of a mallard, found in rocks dating back to dinosaur age

Experts have discovered a fossil of the world’s oldest known modern bird – a diminutive creature about half the size of a mallard duck.

Dubbed the Wonderchicken, the remains were found in rocks dating to about 66.8m to 66.7m years ago, revealing that the bird was active shortly before the asteroid strike that wiped out the dinosaurs 66m years ago.

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Academics refused permanent UK visas because of field trips abroad

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Ebola volunteering in Guinea and gender research in Bangladesh fall foul of hostile environment laws

When Dr Nazia Hussein spent six months researching class and gender identity in Bangladesh for her PhD at Warwick University in 2009, she had no idea that, a decade later, the Home Office would use this to refuse her application for permanent residency.

Hussein, a Bangladeshi expert on gender, race and religion, now a lecturer at the University of Bristol, was “absolutely shocked” when her application for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) was rejected last year on the grounds that she had spent too many days out of the country during the 10-year application period. This was despite the fact she had submitted clear evidence that her PhD research constituted essential fieldwork and an unavoidable and legitimate absence.

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Students slam Cambridge over handling of sexual misconduct cases

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Don in charge of student welfare at Trinity Hall gave evidence on behalf of male student accused of rape

Hundreds of Cambridge students have accused the university of “a complete failure” to deal with complaints of sexual misconduct after an investigation that raised concerns about a conflict of interest among academics.

In a letter signed by more than 500 current and former students, Cambridge University Students’ Union Women’s Campaign has called for colleges to be stripped of their powers to investigate sexual misconduct complaints against their own members.

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London Bridge attack: girlfriend praises ‘phenomenal’ Jack Merritt

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Prisoner course coordinator opened doors for marginalised in society, says Leanne O’Brien

The girlfriend of Jack Merritt, killed in the London Bridge terror attack, has paid an emotional tribute to the “phenomenal” Cambridge graduate.

Leanne O’Brien, who was comforted by family members as she wept during a vigil for Merritt in Cambridge on Monday, said her boyfriend had “opened so many doors for those that society turned their backs on”.

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Bronze cockerel to be returned to Nigeria by Cambridge college

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Benin bronze statue at Jesus College to be repatriated after 1897 theft by British forces

A bronze cockerel taken by British colonial forces and donated to Jesus College Cambridge is to be returned to Nigeria in an unprecedented step that adds momentum to the growing repatriations movement.

The Okukor, described by the college as a “royal ancestral heirloom”, will be one of the first Benin bronzes to be returned to Nigeria by a major British institution since the punitive expedition in 1897 when thousands of bronzes were stolen from Benin City by British forces.

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Prince of Wales settles in at Cambridge university – archive, 9 Oct 1967

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9 October 1967: The Prince, who is reading archaeology, was greeted by 1,000 sightseers who had gathered outside the Great Gate

The arrival of Prince Charles at Cambridge yesterday to start his university career had all the appearances of a welcome given to a “pop” star.

Prince Charles, who will be 19 next month, was driven in a bright red mini to the gates of Trinity, where he will be for two years, and was immediately screamed and shouted at by more than 1,000 sightseers who had gathered outside the Great Gate.

The words of greeting from Lord Butler, Master of Trinity, were drowned by the cries of well-wishers, and the Prince, together with the Master and his senior tutor shot into Trinity Great Court as the college porters heaved the Great Gate shut against the crush of people outside.

Related: From the archive: happy 21st birthday Prince Charles

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US academic given two weeks to leave UK after eight years

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Visa system for researchers is hostile and costly and risks jamming a pipeline of talent, universities warn

After eight years researching music history at Glasgow University, Elizabeth Ford hoped her request for a visa extension would sail through this summer. Instead, the Home Office gave the American academic two weeks to pack up her life and leave the country.

Ford has held a research fellowship at Edinburgh University – which, like Glasgow is in the elite Russell Group – and is due to begin a new research fellowship at Oxford University. But this is in jeopardy after a letter from the Home Office in July, which said that her leave to remain, granted a year before, was erroneous, and that she must leave within two weeks.

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Alana Cutland plane death: police investigate possible medication link

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Student, who fell from aircraft, had reportedly suffered severe reaction to prescribed drugs

Police in Madagascar are investigating whether a British student who died after falling from a light plane deliberately opened the doors after suffering a severe reaction to medication.

Alana Cutland, 19, who has been described by her family as a “bright, independent young woman”, fell from the two-door Cessna C168 on 25 July. She had been carrying out research in the remote area of Anjajavy on the island off Africa’s east coast.

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Madagascar police say Alana Cutland opened door of aircraft herself

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British student died following her fall from airplane shortly after takeoff

A British student who died after falling from an airplane flying over Madagascar opened the door of the aircraft herself, according to local police.

Alana Cutland, who was described as a “bright, independent young woman”, was on a research trip on the island. Officers there told the BBC and the Sun newspaper she fell shortly after the Cessna C168 on which she was travelling took off.

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Cambridge scientists create world’s first living organism with fully redesigned DNA

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Researchers create altered synthetic genome, in move with potential medical benefits

Scientists have created the world’s first living organism that has a fully synthetic and radically altered DNA code.

The lab-made microbe, a strain of bacteria that is normally found in soil and the human gut, is similar to its natural cousins but survives on a smaller set of genetic instructions.

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Cambridge University rescinds Jordan Peterson invitation

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Offer of visiting fellowship to controversial professor resulted in backlash from faculty and students

Cambridge University has rescinded its offer of a visiting fellowship to Jordan Peterson, the self-styled “professor against political correctness”, after a backlash from faculty and students.

Peterson, a psychology professor from Toronto who has courted controversy for his views on transgender rights, gender and race, announced on Monday via his YouTube channel that he was joining Cambridge for two months.

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