The Hidden Dangers of Placebos
Poorly reported placebos could lead to mistaken estimates of benefits and harms. Their findings are published today, September 30, 2019, in the European Journal of…
University of Oxford News
Finding the ‘Breath of Life’ in a Silurian Ostracod
A new animal species related to crabs and shrimp, preserved in 430-million-year-old rocks in Herefordshire, England, presents a rare look at the respiratory organs of…
Ancient Parasites Unlock Secrets of Human History
A radical new approach combining archaeology, genetics, and microscopy can reveal long-forgotten secrets of human diet, sanitation, and movement from studying parasites in ancient poo,…
Archaeologists Shed New Light on the People Who Built Stonehenge
Despite over a century of intense study, we still know very little about the people buried at Stonehenge or how they came to be there….
Molecular Dating Traces Cockroach History Back to Last Supercontinent
Cockroaches are so hardy, a popular joke goes, that they’ve occupied the Earth long before humans first appeared —and will probably even outlast us long…
New Research Shows Mars Is Not As Dry As It Seems
When searching for life, scientists first look for an element key to sustaining it: fresh water. Although today’s Martian surface is barren, frozen, and inhabitable,…
Scientists Untangle the Volatile Processes That Shaped Earth
New research untangles many of the processes involved in shaping Earth, revealing that the mini-planets that added to Earth had previously undergone melting and evaporation….
Physicists Reveal Unified Theory for Fundamental Forces
New research suggests that the “swimmers” of the natural world — from ships at sea to microorganisms floating through the bloodstream to ubiquitous quantum particles…
Tardigrades Will Be The Last Survivors On Earth
A newly published study reveals that an eight-legged micro-animal will survive the risk of extinction from all astrophysical catastrophes and survive long after humans are…
Researchers Discover 305 Million-Year-Old “Early Spider” Fossil
A team of scientists has discovered the fossil of a 305 million-year-old arachnid, revealing more about the early origins of modern-day spiders. The new species,…
Aegirocassis Benmoulae Hints at Early Arthropod Evolution
Newly discovered fossils of an extinct sea creature named Aegirocassis benmoulae provide key evidence about the early evolution of arthropods. A presentation by Dr. Peter…
Genetic History of HIV Reveals the Pandemic’s Origins
A newly published study from Oxford University and the University of Leuven reveals that the HIV pandemic with us today is almost certain to have…
Superabsorption Can Be Achieved and Sustained in Simple Nanostructures
Research from the University of Oxford establishes that superabsorption can be achieved and sustained in certain simple nanostructures, by trapping the system in a highly…
Three Closely Orbiting Supermassive Black Holes Could Help in the Search for Gravitational Waves
An international team of astronomers discovered three closely orbiting supermassive black holes that could help in the search for gravitational waves. An international team, including…
Stronger 3D Material Behaves Like Graphene
Scientists have discovered a stronger 3D material (cadmium arsenide) that has the same electronic properties as 2-D graphene. Scientists have discovered a material that has…
Third Law of Thermodynamics Restored in Thin Films of Spin Ice
A newly published study reveals that the Third Law of Thermodynamics can be restored in thin films of the magnetic material spin ice. Thin films…
Researchers Smash Room-Temperature Quantum Bit Storage Record
In a newly published study, an international team of researchers detail how they used an ensemble of phosphorous-31 donors in isotopically purified silicon-28 to demonstrate…
Oxford Researchers Creating Simpler, Cheaper Solar Cells
By working to improve perovskite cell efficiency, scientists at Oxford University are creating simpler and cheaper solar cells. Over the last four years, solar cells…
