Results from a 20-year study reveal dramatic ecological changes to lakes in Antarctica caused by a 1°C temperature increase. The findings, reported this week in SCIENCE, are yet more evidence of extreme changes in the Antarctic Peninsula region. This area has experienced some of the most rapid warming of anywhere on Earth in the past 50 years (2.5°C). The study lakes, on Signy Island, lie some 700 km north-east of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Scientists from the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Surv

Scientists examining the work that influenced Charles Darwin have rediscovered the details of what may be the world’s first ecological experiment.

Darwin, in his Origin of Species of 1859, referred to an experiment investigating the biology of grassland plants that showed how a greater diversity of grasses planted in experimental plots was responsible for greater production of plant matter. This subject, the relationship between biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems, is curre

A team of Italian researchers has demonstrated in the laboratory for the first time that combining two of the newest anti-cancer targeted agents may produce a powerful new combination against breast cancer – and possibly many other cancers as well. Their findings are reported (Thursday 24 January) in the journal Annals of Oncology.*

They found that trastuzumab (Herceptin) and the as yet unlicensed drug ZD1839 (Iressa), act synergistically against two rogue genes commonly involved in breast c

Life on the moons of Jupiter, and a source of healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids and low temperature enzymes that could even make washing powders work at low temperatures: The microbes that live in Antarctic sea ice may hold the answers to a host of everyday applications as well as revealing how life forms might be able to exist on frozen planets. One of those interested in sea ice and the life forms it supports is Dr David Thomas of the University`s School of Ocean Sciences. He is presently the on

Some of the world’s leading scientists are rubbing shoulders with experts at the University of Abertay Dundee to study tiny plant-like organisms that could unlock billion dollar industries for Europe.

Representatives from famous European universities and research centres, including the renowned Pasteur Institute in Paris and the Czech Academy of Sciences, are putting algae under the microscope in a project considered so important by the EU that it has been given a 1.75m Euro grant (around £1

The University of Abertay Dundee has been named as a key member of an international project, to develop new ways of delivering computer applications via the internet.

The 2.8 million euros (£1.8 million) scheme will see academics and business people from across Europe work together to develop the technology, which is set to revolutionise the way in which computer applications are accessed, delivered and updated for users across the globe.

Abertay University, the only UK body invited