Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
Image Description: a bumblebee on an orange flower. 1. Bees have hairy tongues for drinking nectar. Bumblebees are able to drink both runny nectars and gloopy nectars. How they are able to do this has baffled scientists – until now. Bees have long, rod-like tongues covered in hair-like protrusions, best described as a tiny mop. This […]
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Image credit: Reversing Your Diabetes Today (CC0 1.0) Millions of people in the UK are living with Type 2 diabetes, resulting from the body’s inability to properly produce or respond to the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels, insulin. While Type 1 usually arises in childhood, Type 2 is associated with adults, especially those that […]
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Image Credit: Irina Gelbukh (CC BY-SA 3.0) In July this year, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that genetically edited organisms qualify as genetic engineering in the EU and the UK and hence fall under the 2001 GMO (genetically modified organisms) Directive. Genetic engineering is where foreign DNA, often from another species, is inserted […]
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Note: the article that follows is a work of satire, and therefore should not be taken as factual Researchers at the University’s Department of Life Sciences have had a breakthrough in political biology, successfully instilling principles into a human being without compromising on its support for the Liberal Democrats. A highly complex mix of […]
Continue ReadingOxford’s Department of Education has tested a new parenting app, EasyPeasy, and found that the programme has positive effects on children’s concentration levels, determination, and ability to make their own decisions. EasyPeasy is an app for parents and carers of 2-5 year old children that encourages positive parent-child interaction through play in the home. The […]
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The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical diagnosis and treatment is a swiftly burgeoning area of technology. Brainomix, a medical imaging company, is at the forefront of this. Specifically, they use AI for rapid diagnosis and treatment for victims of strokes. Brainomix was launched in 2010 as a spin-out of Oxford University, with the […]
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Many food bank users are falling deeper into financial and food insecurity, according to a report released last week. The study, commissioned by the Trussell Trust – a poverty charity with a 400-strong food bank network – highlights income insecurity and the prevalence of food insecurity and material deprivation in the population of food bank […]
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A new study by economic researchers at the University of Oxford has found that Uber on average increased employment for taxi drivers on wages and for those who were self-employed. The study was done through an analysis of labour data in the markets into which Uber had entered. Although it found that employment did not […]
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The Danish drug company Novo Nordisk will invest £115 million over the next ten years in a new science research centre to be based in Oxford. The facility, which will work on new treatments for type 2 diabetes will employ roughly 100 academics and scientists. David Gauke, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, described the decision […]
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Like wars and famine, infectious diseases are an eternal challenge to human progress and development. They remain among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and their links with climate change are making the scenario worse. The ongoing problems of Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV and recent outbreaks of the […]
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Earlier this week Jo Johnson, the Universities and Science Minister, took a tour around Oxford’s leading quantum research facilities and robotics labs to announce new investment in front line physics and engineering. This move comes as part of an overarching government commitment to UK science investment, with £6.9 billion invested in laboratories and equipment to […]
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New research has shown that urban transport networks are becoming too complex for the human mind. A team of mathematicians and physicists from Oxford and Paris has shown that even a journey with just two changes comes close to exceeding the brain’s cognitive limits. After analysing 15 of the world’s largest transport networks researches found […]
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Scientists at Oxford University have, for the first time, been able to identify the origins of the ‘Timebomb in the Testicles’ phenomenon. This is a set of severe disease causing mutations within the testicles of healthy men that go on to cause serious genetic disorders in their offspring, despite both parents being healthy. The mutations […]
Continue ReadingAccording to climate scientists at Oxford University, heavy storms, such as the one that caused devastating flooding in the South of England in the winter of 2013/2014, are heavily facilitated by climate change. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions increase the risk of extreme floods by more than 40 per cent, the researchers found. As temperatures keep […]
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For years, the concept of a head transplant has conjured illusions of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, rather than being a tangible reality. Now, however, brain surgeon Sergio Canavero has proposed an operation, set to take place in 2017, in which a living human head will be transplanted onto a donor body. If it were to be […]
Continue ReadingAn investigation by The Oxford Student has found huge variations in the amount colleges spend on their students. Topping our ranking is St John’s, which spent more money on the “core activities” of teaching, research and residential services than their entire income. St John’s spent 110 per cent of its income for the 2012/2013 financial […]
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Oxford University has overtaken Cambridge to take the number one ranking for the quality and extent of its research. The Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Research Excellence Framework measured the quality of research from more than 52,000 academics in 154 universities to reveal that Oxford has the largest volume of world-leading research in the […]
Continue ReadingBig changes are coming to the University of Oxford’s medical research facilities. Earlier this month, the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis at the University of Oxford was granted £5.5 million, according to a recent University press release. The new osteoarthritis research centre was launched during National Arthritis Week, which ran from October 7 […]
Continue ReadingA ground-breaking study, led by Oxford Professor Gil McVean, has collated human genome sequences from 1,092 individuals around the world. The successful ‘1000 Genomes Project’ will allow scientists to identify genetic variations that occur in particular countries and geographic regions. This study will enable the international team to identify diseases that are caused by rare […]
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