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Not so dirty: methane fuels life in pristine chalk rivers

Classical guitarist Michael Poll tries out the experimental digital music cube article News story: Digital music gets a cubist makeover
6, February , 2014

An eight-inch wooden cube may be an unlikely spark for a musical revolution – but that’s the hope of a collaboration of electronic engineers at Queen Mary University of London and musicians working towards hackable electronic instruments that performers can easily modify to produce sounds in surprising new ways.

Sculptures on a theme of duality © Grenville Davey article News story: Sculpting String Theory: Queen Mary physicist collaborates with Turner Prize winning artist for new exhibition
14, April , 2014

A Queen Mary physicist and a Turner Prize winning artist have teamed up to create a new exhibition of sculptures and drawings inspired by String Theory research.

An artist plays the Brooklyn Bridge as part of the Human Harp project article News story: Human Harp to unleash the voice of the Roundhouse
4, August , 2014

An artist in residence at Queen Mary University of London has developed a new instrument, once used to play the Brooklyn Bridge for its 130th birthday, which will unleash the voice of the Roundhouse during a one-off residency.

Close up of dwarf birch tree article News story: Genetic legacy of rare dwarf trees is widespread
25, April , 2014

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have found genetic evidence that one of Britain’s native tree species, the dwarf birch found in the Scottish Highlands, was once common in England.

article News story: Chemistry students discover new way of identifying hydrogen peroxide
11, September , 2014

Chemists from Queen Mary University of London have discovered a new way of identifying peroxide-based explosives, which could make detection of suspect devices more cost-effective in the future.

article News story: Slip knot key to creating world’s toughest fibre
14, May , 2014

A new way of making super tough fibres could be realised by a simple knot, according to new research from a materials scientist at Queen Mary University of London.

article News story: Europe’s resilience of natural gas networks during conflicts and crises probed with maths
12, March , 2014

Gas networks in Eastern European countries, such as Ukraine and Belarus are less resilient than the UK during conflicts and crises, according to new research from mathematicians at Queen Mary University of London.

QMUL's pitch drop experiment: the view from the bottom camera article News story: Nature of solids and liquids explored through new pitch drop experiment
2, July , 2014

Physicists at Queen Mary University of London have set up a new pitch drop experiment for students to explore the difference between solid and liquids.

article News story: Entire amphibian communities are being wiped out by emerging viruses
16, October , 2014

Scientists from QMUL, UCL, Zoological Society of London, and the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC) in Madrid, tracing the real-time impact of viruses in the wild have found that entire amphibian communities are being killed off by closely related viruses introduced to mountainous areas of northern Spain.

Adam Daykin,  Head of Technology Transfer (Tech & Eng) at QMI, with award host and TV presenter Steve Mould article News story: QMUL wins prestigious business impact award
18, June , 2014

Queen Mary University of London has won the Business Impact Achieved Award  from an influential UK network that supports innovation and commercialisation of research for a spin-out called Actual Experience plc.    

article News story: Students on new QMUL course make important dinosaur discovery in Canada
20, October , 2014

Final year undergraduate students from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences studying a new module called Species and their Relationships: Dinosaurs to DNA have uncovered a rare and important dinosaur skull while on a trip to Canada as part of the course.

Part of the Art Neuro exhibit article News story: Centre for Public Engagement funds eight new projects
17, October , 2014

Every year the QMUL Centre for Public Engagement distributes Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) awards to support activities that bring new audiences to the work being done here at the university.

article News story: Mobile phones come alive with the sound of music
15, August , 2014

Charging mobile phones with sound, like chants from at football ground, could become a reality, according to a new collaboration between scientists from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Microsoft.

article News story: Scientists identify potential cause for 40 per cent of pre-term births
13, October , 2014

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and UCL (University College London) have identified what they believe could be a cause of pre-term premature rupture of the fetal membrane (PPROM), which accounts for 40 per cent of pre-term births, the main reason for infant death world-wide.

article News story: How could smartphones be easier to use when we can’t look at the screen?
12, September , 2014

Dr Nick Bryan-Kinns, Reader in Interaction Design in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science tells us about his latest research into how sighted and visually impaired people use touchscreen devices that they can’t see. This paper won the Best Short Paper prize at the Human Computer Interaction Conference 2014.

article News story: Music and Arts Technology students demonstrate PhD work in Tech City
24, October , 2014

QMUL PhD students who are part of a programme to combine research with digital creativity took part in a research showcase in East London.

article News story: Queen Mary receives share of £125m for bioscience PhD students
2, October , 2014

Queen Mary University of London is part of a group of London-based institutions awarded £15m to train bioscience PhD students as part of a £125m nationwide campaign to support the training and development of PhD students tackling some of the world’s major challenges.

article News story: Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day at QMUL
14, October , 2014

Ada Lovelace Day is an annual celebration of the contributions of women to science, technology engineering, and mathematics. This year we wanted to keep our celebrations close to home by giving some of those working at QMUL the opportunity to introduce themselves and their work.

article News story: QMUL scientist creates automatic birdsong recognition app
29, October , 2014

Warblr is an app is based on technology developed at QMUL and the prototype was developed with an Innovation Fund grant.

article News story: QMUL scientists find further evidence that fish are cleverer than previously thought
29, October , 2014

Scientists working at Queen Mary University of London and University of Bath have found that zebrafish are able to visually process multiple objects simultaneously, more proof that fish are cleverer than their ‘three-second memory’ reputation suggests.

article News story: False memories could be a side-effect of human ability to learn rules
18, September , 2014

Our tendency to create false memories could be related to our ability to learn rules according to research from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

Dr David Mulryne article News story: QMUL Astronomer Awarded Royal Society University Research Fellowship
19, September , 2014

Dr David Mulryne, a postdoctoral Research Assistant in Queen Mary University of London’s School of Physics and Astronomy, has been awarded a prestigious University Research Fellowship by the Royal Society.

article News story: New research to help save UK trees from beetle threat
25, March , 2014

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London are among seven UK teams to secure a share of £7m in funding for the fight against pests and diseases endangering Britain’s woodlands.

Dr Steve Le Comber article News story: Criminal profiling technique targets killer diseases
13, May , 2014

A mathematical tool used by the Metropolitan Police and FBI has been adapted by researchers at Queen Mary University of London to help control outbreaks of malaria, and has the potential to target other infectious diseases. 

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute article News story: Saturn’s rings reveal how to make a moon
15, April , 2014

Disturbances in the icy rings of Saturn have given scientists an insight into how moons are made.

XYZ prototype article News story: Unleash your inner engineer with a new Kickstarter campaign
26, June , 2014

Graduate designers from Queen Mary University of London are raising money through crowd-funding site Kickstarter to manufacture a new Lego-like construction set.

Visualisation of the arousal of the audience in response to music article News story: Audience arousal gauged during live performances
13, August , 2014

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London’s Centre for Digital Music have created a tool that allows real-time visualisations of the audience’s reaction during live music performances.

article News story: New programme to support computing teaching launched
31, January , 2014

A new set of free workshops and resources to support those who teach computing in London will be debuted at Queen Mary University of London on Monday 3 February.

article News story: Research and Industrial Engagement Showcase 2014 at Queen Mary
7, November , 2014

Queen Mary’s first ever science and engineering research and industrial engagement conference took place on Thursday 6th November, showcasing our work to an audience of top businesses.

Makoto Kobayashi accepting a copy of the book article News story: Physics Nobel Prize winners attend conference at QMUL
18, July , 2014

A conference marking 50 years since the discovery of CP violation, a tiny difference between matter and antimatter that is vital for our existence, was held at Queen Mary University of London on 10-11 July.

The river Itchen in Hampshire article News story: Not so dirty: methane fuels life in pristine chalk rivers
1, April , 2014

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have found that naturally high concentrations of the greenhouse gas methane contributes to energy production in chalk rivers, in a new study published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Graphene (Image courtesy of AlexanderAlUS) article News story: New study reveals communications potential of graphene
19, February , 2014

Providing secure wireless connections and improving the efficiency of communication devices could be another application for graphene, as demonstrated by scientists at Queen Mary University of London and the Cambridge Graphene Centre.

article News story: QMUL celebrates 10-year partnership with BUPT
1, July , 2014

To mark the 10-year anniversary of Queen Mary University of London’s (QMUL) partnership with the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), the institutions have signed a letter of intent and exchanged QMUL-BUPT Joint Programme 10th anniversary plaques.

article News story: Searching for patterns is essential for our survival
10, March , 2014

Iconic musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse all died at the age of 27. Why do we read into these random instances as patterns?

article News story: Do you speak cow? Researchers listen in on ‘conversations’ between calves and their mothers
12, December , 2014

Researchers have been eavesdropping on ‘conversations’ between calves and their mothers — measuring the process of how cows communicate using detailed acoustic analysis for the first time.

article News story: Plants convert energy at lightning speed
3, March , 2014

A new way of measuring how much light a plant can tolerate could be useful in growing crops resilient to a changing climate, according to scientists from Queen Mary University of London.

Credit: Royal Academy of Engineering article News story: Royal recognition for tech start-up entrepreneur and QMUL researcher
11, June , 2014

A scientist from Queen Mary University of London attended a prestigious reception hosted by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Monday 9 June to recognise the growing potential of UK tech start-ups.

article News story: Top professional engineering body endorses QMUL’s Joint Programme in China
26, June , 2014

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has reconfirmed the academic accreditation of the three courses offered by the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) Joint Programme with Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT).    

A bumblebee is caught in the fangs of a crab spider while foraging for food. article News story: Safe(bee) in numbers
30, April , 2014

Bumblebees can distinguish between safe and dangerous environments, and are attracted to land on flowers popular with other bees when exposed to perilous situations, according to new research from Queen Mary University of London.

article News story: British scientists’ antenna lens could revolutionise design of aircraft and more
16, April , 2014

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and BAE Systems have seemingly defied the laws of physics to create a new type of antenna lens which could revolutionise the design of aircraft, ships, radios and satellite dishes – potentially any product which uses an antenna.

© Neil Cook, University of Hertfordshire article News story: New study suggests each red dwarf star has at least one planet
4, March , 2014

Three new planets with properties that might make them suitable for life are amongst eight new planets discovered orbiting nearby red dwarf stars by an international team of astronomers, including scientists from Queen Mary University of London.

Dr Jonathan Grey, with a common carp caught by local fishermen. Despite having been introduced into Lake Naivasha only 10 years ago, carp now dominates the fishery return, and is indicative of the degraded water quality of the lake. article News story: Farming and wetlands: readdressing the balance
5, February , 2014

More than 50 per cent of our planet’s wetlands, from peatbogs to estuaries, both natural and man-made, are under threat from habitat destruction and climate change. 

article News story: QMUL scientists discover teeth protein promises bone regeneration
2, July , 2014

Patients suffering from osteoporosis or bone fractures might benefit from a new discovery of a protein that plays an important role in bone regeneration made by bioengineers at Queen Mary University of London.

article News story: Discovery brings scientists one step closer to understanding tendon injury
7, January , 2014

Research led by Queen Mary University of London has discovered a specific mechanism that is crucial to effective tendon function, which could reveal why older people are more prone to tendon injury.   

Professor Lars Chittka article News story: Hat-trick of research awards for QMUL bee expert
9, May , 2014

A scientist from Queen Mary University of London, who studies how bees forage for food and the evolution of their sensory systems, has received a top prize from the UK’s national academy of science as well as a prestigious grant from the international Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP). These two awards are in addition to a major grant awarded by European Research Council last month.

article News story: Who is watching the watchers?
12, February , 2014

We are being watched. Our movements and activity tracked. Our data is being traded behind the scenes, changing hands many times without our knowledge.

Professor Peter McOwan and Louis McCallum presented drumming robot nicknamed Mortimer at the British Science Festival in Birmingham article News story: QMUL’s drumming robot makes first public appearance at British Science Festival
8, September , 2014

A stripped down version of the drumming robot developed by researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has delivered its first public appearance, playing along with a young audience member.

© Brian Squibb article News story: Goats are far more clever than previously thought
26, March , 2014

Goats learn how to solve complicated tasks quickly and can recall how to perform them for at least 10 months, which might explain their remarkable ability to adapt to harsh environments, say researchers at Queen Mary University of London.

The photo shows one of the probes in cellular membranes of pancreatic cells article News story: Scientists improve metal detectors for early diagnosis of lifestyle and age-related diseases
4, July , 2014

Sensors created by chemists at Queen Mary University of London could lead to a set of new tools for researchers to investigate conditions like diabetes resulting in earlier diagnosis and new treatments.   

article News story: Digital music to feel impact of Big Data
25, February , 2014

A new project that will use large music collections – so called Big Data – to support music research has been launched by Queen Mary University of London, City University London, University College London and the British Library.

This photo shows cells adhering to large nanopatterns. The green dots indicate the sites of adhesions, and the red area shows where molecules responsible for contracting the cells are located. article News story: Stem cells are a soft touch for nano-engineered biomaterials
9, June , 2014

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have shown that stem cell behaviour can be modified by manipulating the nanoscale properties of the material they are grown on - improving the potential of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering as a result.

article News story: New risk factors for avalanche trigger revealed
4, April , 2014

The amount of snow needed to trigger an avalanche in the Himalayans can be up to four times smaller than in the Alps, according to a new model from a materials scientist at Queen Mary University of London.

article News story: Schizophrenia in the limelight: film-industry technology provides insights into social exclusion
20, January , 2014

The first 30 seconds of a social encounter is crucial for people with symptoms of schizophrenia for establishing contact with people, according to new research carried out at Queen Mary University of London.

Emmanouil Benetos returns to QMUL to take up the fellowship awarded by the Royal Academy of Engineering article News story: Prestigious fellowship to support software inspired by the human ear
25, July , 2014

A researcher from Queen Mary University of London has won a new fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) to develop versatile algorithms that can separate and interpret sounds, based on the way the human auditory system works.

Dr Stephen Goldup article News story: Queen Mary chemist wins prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry Award
6, May , 2014

Dr Stephen Goldup from Queen Mary University of London has been named the Royal Society of Chemistry Hickinbottom Award winner for 2014, recognising the contribution to organic chemistry of a researcher under the age of 35.

A screenshot from Trapdoor Zombies article News story: Student creativity unleashed by new apps
9, June , 2014

A zombie game is just one of three new smartphone apps created by students at Queen Mary University of London and supported by QApps, the university’s ground-breaking app development venture.

article News story: New book challenges the concept of ‘nudge’
25, April , 2014

Buying houses one can’t afford, not saving for the future, failing to stick to one’s diet, the list of examples of bad decision-making is lengthy. Psychologists and behavioural economists tell us that our unconscious mind is the problem, but also the solution, at least if we use ‘nudge’, an approach developed by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein to shape the unconscious mind.

Dr Daniel Stowell explaining his research article News story: Birdsongs automatically decoded by computer scientists
17, July , 2014

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have found a successful way of identifying bird sounds from large audio collections, which could be useful for expert and amateur bird-watchers alike.

article News story: Best way to rid a garden of snails revealed by QMUL scientist
16, May , 2014

Gardeners wanting to rid their spring flowerbeds of pesky snails may have to ditch the beer traps and egg shells and revert to developing a strong throwing arm, according to new research co-authored by a physicist at Queen Mary University of London.

article News story: Chemistry festival for secondary school pupils returns to QMUL
16, May , 2014

Students from schools across London, Hertfordshire and Kent enjoyed an exciting day of hands-on fun activities at the Salters' Festival of Chemistry at Queen Mary University of London on Wednesday 14 May.

Professor Dino Distefano article News story: QMUL professor and Facebook software engineer wins national award
24, April , 2014

A professor at Queen Mary University of London whose software company was acquired by Facebook is one of four recipients of the national academy for engineering’s coveted Silver Medal.

Artistic representation of a low-mass star and planets (not to scale): The red-hue colour tries to reproduce the colour of the ambient light a human might perceive on planets around such red-stars. article News story: Astronomers discover ancient worlds from another galaxy next door
4, June , 2014

An international team of scientists, led by astronomers at Queen Mary University of London, report of two new planets orbiting Kapteyn’s star, one of the oldest stars found near the Sun. One of the newly-discovered planets could be ripe for life as it orbits at the right distance to the star to allow liquid water on its surface.

article News story: Student’s stand-up robot photo wins national competition
31, March , 2014

A PhD student from Queen Mary University of London won the overall prize in a national photo competition with an image of robot that can tailor its stand-up comedy routine in response to the audience’s reaction.

article News story: Researchers determine why tendons break down with age
4, August , 2014

Scientists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have identified differences in the proteins present in young and old tendons, in new research that could guide the development of treatments to stop tissue breakdown from occurring.

Sofia Papadimitriou and Fang Mai article News story: Queen Mary scientists take research to Parliament
25, March , 2014

Two Queen Mary University of London researchers were shortlisted from hundreds of applicants to present their work to politicians and a panel of expert judges as part of a poster competition for the sciences earlier this month.

article News story: Silver lining found for making new drugs
26, June , 2014

Chemists at Queen Mary University of London have discovered a new chemical to aid drug manufacturing processes, making it more environmentally-friendly and easier to scale up for industry.

Male fallow deer calling article News story: Fight or flight? Vocal cues help deer decide during mating season
10, February , 2014

Male fallow deer are sensitive to changes in the groans that rivals make during mating season when competing for the attention of female deer, and can assess the level of threat other males pose simply from vocal cues, according to new research from Queen Mary University of London.

article News story: New grants boost QMUL’s commercial collaborations in audio
23, July , 2014

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London’s Centre for Digital Music have teamed up with commercial sound recognition pioneer Audio Analytic, with the support of two new grants worth £385K from the Technology Strategy Board.

article News story: QMUL antenna experts contribute to lighter, safer, more fuel efficient aircraft
18, July , 2014

Experts in in antennas and electromagnetics from Queen Mary University of London will work with industry partners in a £11.6m project looking at future communications systems for civil aircraft.

article News story: Crayfish study provides complicated web of interactions
17, February , 2014

How different species of invasive crayfish interact with each other and affect their local environment has been uncovered for the first time by scientists at Queen Mary University of London.

Actual Experience opened the market at the London Stock Exchange article News story: Fourfold rise in Actual Experience shares on first day of trading
18, February , 2014

A Queen Mary University of London spinout company, which helps companies manage their digital supply chains, saw shares jump to more than four times their float price on its first day listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

article News story: Mortimer the Drumming Robot features in Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
23, December , 2014

Mortimer, the robot developed by PhD student Louis McCallum from the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, has taken a key role in the prestigious Royal Institution (RI) Christmas Lectures.

article News story: QMUL helps launch crowd funded moon mission
19, November , 2014

With the success of the Rosetta Mission comet landing still fresh in people’s minds Queen Mary have joined a consortium of British organisation to plan a crowd-funded mission to the moon.

article News story: Syphilis sailed the ocean blue: why a bent femur won’t overturn Columbus theory
11, December , 2014

Following recent dispute over its origins in Europe, Dr Rob Knell from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences explains why he is yet to be convinced by any alternative to the theory that Columbus brought syphilis across the Atlantic.

article News story: Professor Iwan Williams on his role in the Rosetta comet mission
4, December , 2014

The world was enraptured last month as the Rosetta mission’s Philae lander made its historic landing on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. QMUL’s Professor Iwan Williams had more reason than most to be interested, as he was one of a team of investigators working the CONSERT instrument that is part of the mission. Here he explains what CONSERT is trying to find out and how it took on a vital new function after the landing.

article News story: QMUL researcher conducts experiments with Science Museum visitors
5, December , 2014

Londoners are notorious for avoiding eye contact with each other but how bad are we really? That’s one of the things visitors to the Science Museum can currently help to find out if they take part in an experiment being run by QMUL and UCL researchers to learn how long people can comfortably make eye contact with someone else.

article News story: Animal welfare could be improved by new understanding of their emotions
2, December , 2014

A new study from researchers at Queen Mary University of London looking at how goats express subtle positive emotions could lead to greater understanding of animal welfare.

article News story: Magic tricks created using artificial intelligence for the first time
17, November , 2014

Researchers working on artificial intelligence at Queen Mary have taught a computer to create magic tricks.

article News story: QMUL awarded £5million to create new labs and expand science and engineering teaching
9, December , 2014

Queen Mary has been awarded the maximum allocation of £5million of new funding by the government in order to create two new facilities on our Mile End campus.

Fossil of a young lizard with skin and scale impressions preserved article News story: A prequel that outshines the original: the exceptional 160-million-year-old fossils found in Inner Mongolia
3, March , 2014

A new fauna of fossil species at 160 million year old sites in China have been co-discovered by a scientist at Queen Mary University of London.

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