Probiotics (microbes that protect their host and can prevent disease) can prevent diarrhoea associated with the use of antibiotics, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.

Researchers at the Hammersmith Hospital in London reviewed nine trials carried out to study the benefits of probiotics in the prevention of antibiotic associated diarrhoea. In all nine trials, the probiotics were given in combination with antibiotics and the control groups received placebo and antibiotics.

They found t

Genital infections with Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) have risen in western Scotland over the last 15 years, particularly among young women, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.

Researchers reviewed all genital samples of herpes simplex processed between 1986 and 2000 at the West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre.

Of the 3,181 swabs testing positive for the virus, 63% were from women and 37% were from men. Twenty-nine per cent of patients were aged 21-25 years. In 1986-1988,

A study of the ancient Mediterranean Sea will help to produce more accurate predictions of climate change.

A team led by Royal Holloway geologist Dr Michal Kucera will map sea-surface temperature of the Mediterranean over past millennia. The data will provide a new target to test the computer models on which our predictions of climate change are based.

We currently make climate change predictions using mathematical models developed using climate records of the last two centuries. T

In this month`s issue of EMBO Reports Kahle et al. describe how they genetically engineered a mouse to show pathological symptoms similar to those of human patients suffering from the neural disease Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), also known as Shy-Drager-Syndrome. The model could help researchers to develop and test new efficient drugs against this wide spread disease.

More than 100,000 Europeans and 100,000 US-Americans suffer from MSA. Affected individuals either show symptoms similar to t

Top quality colour printing could be revolutionised thanks to the revival in Bristol of an old printing process once used to create, among other things, colour charts for selecting glass eyes. Art researchers from the University of the West of England have discovered a 21st century use for the process, known as collotype, which fell out of favour during the early 1900s. As an added bonus, new inks are being developed which unlike current computer colour printouts, won`t fade over time.

In th

Photovoltaics is a science that examines light-electricity conversion. Conversion of solar energy carried by photons is transformed by solar cells into direct-current electrical energy. Interest in the use of photovoltaic (PV) solar technologies is growing rapidly, as it will permit the direct production of electricity from solar radiation without any harmful emissions or noise. Rising energy costs, the finite nature of fossil fuels and worries about climate change has renewed interest in making the