Researchers at Imperial College London have genetically engineered bacteria to grow animal-and plastic-free leather that dyes itself.In recent years,scientists and companies have started using microbes to grow sustainable textiles or to make dyes for industry–but this is the first time bacteria have been engineered to produce amaterial and its own pigment simultaneously.Synthetic chemical dyeing is one of the most environmentally toxic processes in fashion,and black dyes–especially those used in colouring leather–are particularly harmful.The researchers at Imperial set out to use biology to solve this.In tackling the problem,the researchers say their self-dyeing vegan,plastic-free leather,which has been fashioned into shoe and wallet prototypes,represents astep forward in the quest for more sustainable fashion. 查看详细>>

A programme that offers free legal advice to environmentally positive startups from Imperial’s Enterprise Lab and Undaunted’s Greenhouse accelerator has been named Most Effective Pro Bono Partnership in this year’s LawWorks awards.The Green Tech Legal Collaborative(GTLC)was singled out in astiff competition that involved seven other partnerships active in the community and in business.“Legal issues can be daunting for startup founders whose background is in research and technology,so it’s great that we can mobilise some of the best legal minds in the country to help them at this important stage in their development,”said Dr Simon Hepworth,Director of Imperial Enterprise.“This is just the kind of diverse expertise,and personal kindness,coming from inside and outside the College,that builds founder confidence and makes us want to work even harder to bring great ideas to life.”He also thanked the GTLC participants for their commitment.“It’s amazing that busy people will give up their precious time to support others.We are very grateful to the lawyers and practices that make this project possible,and congratulate them on this well-deserved award.”The awards are given by LawWorks,a charity that supports and promotes pro bono legal services.The aim is to recognise the commitment of its members,their charity and corporate partners,and the work of independent law clinics.“We are delighted that LawWorks has recognised the important impact of the GTLC,which was started by agroup of like-minded legal and compliance professionals who wanted to support climate action using our collective expertise and specialisms,”said Ruchit Patel,a partner Ropes&Gray,one of the programme’s founding firms.“This award is welcome recognition from the legal profession of the great work the programme is doing,and is testament to the passion and dedication of all involved and the power of collaboration in the fight against climate change,"said Mia Motiee of Bloomberg,who is amember of the GTLC steering committee. 查看详细>>

The UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Healthcare will train anew generation of PhD-level researchers,including clinical PhD fellows and allied healthcare professionals,to develop AI systems that address healthcare challenges with afocus on patient needs and societal values.Centre Director and Principal Investigator Professor Aldo Faisal,from the Departments of Computing and Bioengineering,said:“This is an incredible opportunity for the UK and NHS,and one that demonstrates Imperial College London’s thriving digital healthcare ecosystem."The Centre will allow us to develop anew generation of more than 120 future leaders who we will recruit over the next five years.During their PhD studies they develop patient-ready solutions that align with patient needs.Our aim is to help transform the healthcare ecosystem and help reduce the unmet demand for health and care.“Designing patient-ready AI requires not only state of the art research in AI and healthcare,but also understanding the regulatory,legal,ethical,and human constraints that are specific to health and care.This means it is extremely challenging to develop and deploy practical AI systems.We have created over the past five years an ecosystem of experts,institutions,stakeholders,data,and networks so thatour new UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Healthcare is ready to face this challenge head on.” 查看详细>>

Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B,the research shows how‘passive acoustic monitoring’can speed up the study of threatened species,determining what their needs are in order to guide conservation decisions.Lead author Dr Jenna Lawson,from the Department of Life Sciences(Silwood Park)and the Grantham Institute at Imperial,said:“Identifying thresholds,or‘tipping points’below which threatened species may decline,is essential in the design of strategies to prevent local extinctions.“Our results highlight the dangers of forest loss and paving roads through important habitat,and provide tools and knowledge for setting targets and developing conservation strategies for the protection of Geoffroy’s spider monkey and other species that inhabit tropical forest ecosystems.”Threatened species can be hard to study over large areas and over extended time periods,since they can be very spread out and be active only at certain times.Passive acoustic monitoring(PAM)–placing audio detectors across the habitat and recording when atarget species calls to other members–has been suggested as amore effective method.However,to be effective,the detector needs to work well and there needs to be agood automated method for sorting through the many thousands of hours of recordings for the right species calls.The team used an AI model to sift the data,and then checked all‘positive’signals manually.They gathered 35,805 hours of audio across 341 sites,which they managed to analyse in eight weeks–a significant improvement compared to having to listen to all the audio manually,which could have taken up to 20 years to listen to.Overall,they found 2,977 calls across 64 of the sites.This allowed them to conclude that the monkeys were not found where there was less than 80%forest cover,suggesting this is athreshold for them.This figure is important since previous monitoring of the same species in different countries has shown different forest cover needs,for example down to 50%in Mexico,showing that the local context is important when creating conservation policies.The monkeys in Costa Rica however were equally tolerant of both primary and secondary(re-grown after clearing)forests,as long as there was at least 80%cover.This may be because in Costa Rica secondary forests are generally older than in other regions,allowing the trees and their fruit to mature enough for the monkey’s specialist diet.While the monkeys did not seem to be disturbed by secondary gravel roads,they were not found with one kilometre of primary paved roads that bisect their forest territories.This means that even where there is good forest cover overall,the presence of aroad can significantly affect how monkeys can move around this habitat.Lead researcher Dr Cristina Banks-Leite,from the Department of Life Sciences(Silwood Park),said:“The effect of primary paved roads could only be seen in astudy like ours,where asufficient area can be covered over time.While secondary roads were not so much of an issue,our results did show the monkeys were only found where roads and building in general were limited,suggesting they are very sensitive to human disturbance.” 查看详细>>

The Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials at Imperial College London will transform current mineral extraction approaches to support the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.The new centre will be led by Imperial College London in partnership with Rio Tinto,and will act as the hub for collaboration with other leading global institutions.It will drive anew,sustainable model for materials production,supporting the mining and materials processing industry in developing new sustainable techniques and technologies to provide the critical materials the world needs for the energy transition.The global transition to renewable energy generation,use and storage will require asignificant growth in the production and supply of critical materials including metals and rare earth elements.These will be needed to support the scale up of electrification such as wind turbines,electric vehicles,and green hydrogen production.The mining industry plays avital role in increasing the supply of these materials.Global governments have recognised these materials as key to enable arapid,just and sustainable transition to adecarbonised society.However,the extraction of the earth’s resources is itself energy and water intensive and can be ecologically damaging.A sustainable future requires dramatic and rapid change in this industry.The Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials will deliver research programs to transform the way vital materials are produced,used and recycled and make them more environmentally,economically and socially sustainable.Rio Tinto has committed$150 million over ten years to create the centre,which will be embedded in the rich innovation ecosystem of Imperial College London’s White City Campus.The Centre’s work will follow asystems-based approach,as developed by Imperial’s Transition to Zero Pollution initiative-considering not just asingle problem,but the big picture.The Cross-Faculty Centre will be led from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering and the Inaugural Director will be Professor Jan Cilliers,Chair in Mineral Processing.It will bring together diverse,inter-disciplinary teams to deliver innovative,and transformative solutions with environment,society,and governance at their core. 查看详细>>

Dr Fiona Simpson has won aprestigious Independent Research Fellowship from the Natural Environment Research Council(NERC).She will divide her time as aFellow between the Grantham Institute–Climate Change and the Environment and the Department of Physics at Imperial.She has been awarded£1,032,422 for afive-year project called‘Electromagnetic Array Research over aTectonic Hotspot(EARTH)’.The EARTH project will use atechnique called magnetotellurics(MT)to produce new models of magma flows beneath Scotland,Iceland and Greenland.As well as solving longstanding questions about the origins of Iceland’s volcanism,the data will also be used to assess the risks of solar storms on an energy cable proposed between Iceland the UK.Dr Simpson’s findings will be used to supplement existing seismological data,helping governments and communities to plan for and mitigate events such as the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010,which grounded flights across Europe.She said:“Hundreds of millions of people‘s lives globally are impacted by volcanic activity.If we can understand what drives eruptions,by mapping magma below Earth‘s surface,we can be better prepared to deal with the consequences.” 查看详细>>

The discovery of an older star travelling through astar-forming region shows how these kinds of stars could provide essential radioactive elements to developing solar systems.These elements are needed to provide heat to the interiors of infant planets.For the Earth,this heat may even have indirectly contributed to plate tectonics on our planet,which helps sustain abreathable atmosphere.The study,by University of Sheffield and Imperial College London scientists,is published today in the journal Astrophysics Journal Letters.Old,evolved stars called Asymptotic Giant Branch(AGB)stars,shed large quantities of radioactive chemical elements,in particular Aluminium-26 and Iron-60.These elements are known to be aheat source in the early Solar System,when the Earth was forming.As it was believed AGB stars didn‘t have close encounters with young stars,the source of these elements was thought to be very massive stars that formed nearby.However,the radiation from these stars is thought to be so intense that it could actually stop planets from forming,creating aconundrum.The new study reports the observation of an AGB star moving through ayoung star-forming region,presenting apotentially more viable way of providing these radioactive elements.Lead author Dr Richard Parker,from the University of Sheffield,said:“AGB stars have been known to be aviable source of Aluminium-26 and Iron-60,but until now researchers have been sceptical that these old,evolved stars could ever meet young stars that are forming planets.“By showing that AGB stars can meet young planetary systems,we have shown that other sources of Aluminium-26 and Iron-60,such as the winds and supernovae of very massive stars,may not be required to explain the origin of these chemical elements in our Solar System.” 查看详细>>

New research has investigated the potential impact of living near Heathrow airport on cardiovascular hospitalisations and deaths.The sound of airplanes flying overhead late at night is linked to aslight increase in hospital admissions for heart-related problems the following day,a study from Imperial College London suggests.Researchers from Imperial and the University of Leicester combined hospital admissions and mortality data with environmental modelling to assess short-term associations between aircraft noise and cardiovascular events the following day in apopulation of 6.3 million residing near Heathrow Airport between 2014-2018. 查看详细>>

Ceres Power,an energy technology company created over 20 years ago from research carried out at Imperial,made its debut last week on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.Previously listed on the Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market(AIM),the move is asignificant milestone in the company’s development.“It allows us to attract new pools of investment,particularly from international investors,who really value the full listing,”said Phil Caldwell,the company’s chief executive.“And because of our progress and our size,we should gain indexation onto the FTSE 250.”The move is also avote of confidence in London as acentre for deep-tech companies,at atime when there have been high-profile moves to New York and other markets.“I believe it’s important for the UK economy to see more tech businesses listed in London,”said Mr Caldwell.“We are proud at Ceres to be aleading example of aUK-based technology driving the global effort to tackle climate change and achieve net zero.”The company was founded in 2000 to develop fuel cell research carried out by Professor Nigel Brandon,now Dean of Imperial’s Faculty of Engineering,and Professors Brian Steele,John Kilner and Alan Atkinson in the Department of Materials.“It’s really great to see the company moving forward in this way,”said Professor Brandon.“When we set the company up out of Imperial College over 20 years ago,we were very excited about the technology and its potential impact,but Ireally do not think any of us saw just how significant this could really be.”Fuel cells consume substances such as natural gas or hydrogen in order to produce electricity,with low or zero carbon emissions depending on the fuel.They also produce zero particulate emissions,making them an inherently green energy technology.Ceres Power uses advanced materials to build fuel cells that operate at moderate temperatures,generating electricity with high-efficiency and at low cost.This makes them accessible for avariety of applications,including transport,data centres,and combined heat and power systems for homes and businesses.The same technology it uses to generate electricity can also be reversed,creating electrolysers that convert renewable energy into green hydrogen.This hydrogen can then be used as afuel or to store the energy,buffering fluctuations in production from wind or solar power,for example.The potential of this technology was recognised in June when Ceres Power was selected as one of three finalists for the 2023 MacRobert Award,the longest-running and most prestigious UK prize for engineering innovation.“These Ceres technology electrolysers show the lowest conversion losses that I’ve come across,”said Professor Sir Richard Friend,chair of the MacRobert Award judges.“They are spectacularly efficient.That is ahuge game changer for hydrogen generation.” 查看详细>>

Professor Nicholas Long and the Microporous Membranes Team have won accolades in this year’s Royal Society of Chemistry awards.The two awards are in the Research&Innovation Prizes category,which recognise brilliant chemical scientists carrying out amazing work in academia and industry.Dr Helen Pain,Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry,said:“The RSC’s prizes programme enables us to reflect on and celebrate the incredible individuals and teams whose brilliance enriches our knowledge,advances our understanding,and brings new ideas and technologies that benefit society as awhole.We’re very proud to recognise the contributions of our winners today.”Professor Long and his team design and synthesise new chemical bonds or combinations of elements for awide array of uses.For example,a new molecule could be used as an industrial catalyst,a conducting or switchable material,or as abiomedical imaging probe.In this latter area,his group are developing less toxic MRI(magnetic resonance imaging)contrast agents,as well as fluorescent and radiochemical probes that can provide better and earlier disease diagnosis.They are also working on metal-containing nanomaterials that target cancerous tumours.Their solar cell work is aimed at producing cheap,stable and flexible solar devices,with excellent efficiencies.After receiving the prize,Professor Long said:“I am absolutely delighted to win this prestigious prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry.I would like to say abig thank you to all the current and past members of my research group,alongside my many collaborators who have all helped in my research endeavours over the past 25 years.“These collaborations have opened up new areas of application for my research and it would have been impossible for me to win this Interdisciplinary Prize without my collaborator friends.Plus abig shout-out to my family for their endless love and encouragement!I am truly honoured to win this award,and to join the impressive list of its previous winners.”The team of academic and industrial partners from London,Edinburgh,Liverpool,Cambridge,and Illinois,has been recognised for its work to improve energy storage.The Horizon Prizes celebrate ground-breaking developments which push the boundaries of science.The Microporous Membranes team,led by Imperial and the University of Edinburgh,won the accolade for developing new membranes for organic-based redox-flow batteries(RFB).The high performance of these membranes could ultimately create more economically competitive battery systems for energy storage.The group–which brought together minds with specialities in areas such as synthetic chemistry,computational chemistry,membrane science and engineering,and electrochemical engineering–also receive atrophy and aprofessionally produced video to celebrate the work.After receiving the prize,team leader Dr Qilei Song,from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial,said:“We’re thrilled our work to develop anew generation of ion-exchange membranes is being recognised."These microporous membranes can be used for avariety of applications,including in the storage of renewable energy,and so they have the potential to make areal positive impact in the fight against climate change.”The team successfully developed anew generation of ion-conducting membranes based on polymers of intrinsic microporosity,demonstrating their exceptional performance in organic-based RFB chemistries.With funding support from an ERC Proof of Concept grant,the team are exploring commercialisation of the membranes.The new membranes show great promise for the development of inexpensive electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies,which would support the storage of renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar and therefore help efforts to transition away from fossil fuels. 查看详细>>