Shared history
Oxford historian Peter Frankopan, who carries the all-encompassing job title of Professor of global history, has now gone one step further by attempting to tell the whole history of mankind in its connectedness and exchange with the Earth’s natural environment. This is a very ambitious undertaking, filling more than 660 pages for the text alone.
Inflammatory issue
Mountains of books have been published instructing us on how to live a healthy life well into old age. Few, however, are written by authors as well qualified on this topic as Shilpa Ravella. Assistant Professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, US, Ravella specialises in transplant gastroenterology and human nutrition, and has authored papers on a range of medical topics.
Imperial materials
Imperial College London, UK, has launched a new facility dedicated to innovation in advanced materials through collaboration between academia and industry.
Phage therapy
Bacteriophages – viruses that attack bacteria – could be a valuable weapon in the fight against drug resistant infections, but more investment is needed to realise the benefits, reports Jasmin Fox-Skelly.
Groundwater concerns
New chemicals have been found in water taken from Danish waterworks, including several that pose health concerns. Chemists from the University of Copenhagen detected more than 400 compounds in an untargeted analysis of groundwater (Environmental Pollution, doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119758).
New era for AD
Early detection of Alzheimer’s could lead to speedier interventions and treatments – years before symptoms appear, Maria Burke reports
Hungry fungi degrade polypropylene
Scientists at the University of Sydney, Australia, report they have biodegraded polypropylene with the help of fungi (npj Materials Degradation, doi: 10.1038/s41529-023-00342-9).
Mixing it up
Recent research shows how emulsions – and other novel techniques to mix oil and water – can tackle problems ranging from the pain caused by dry eye to reducing salt in processed foods. Lou Reade reports
Leader: Renewables rule?
Globally, electricity generation was the cleanest it has ever been in 2022, according to energy analyst, Ember. In its latest report, now in its fourth edition, Ember says clean sources of generation, including nuclear and hydro, accounted for 39% of total generation