A recent University of Cambridge spin-out company, Paragraf, has started producing graphene—a sheet of carbon just one atomic layer thick—at up to eight inches in diameter, large enough for commercial electronic devices. Paragraf is producing graphene ‘wafers’ and graphene-based electronic devices, which could be used in transistors, where graphene-based chips could deliver speeds more than ten…

Cambridge researchers are working to solve one of technology’s biggest puzzles: how to build next-generation batteries that could power a green revolution. Like many of us, when I wake up I reach for the phone on my bedside table and begin scrolling through Twitter, Instagram, email and news apps. I listen to streamed music as…

The Gaia satellite has spotted an enormous ‘ghost’ galaxy lurking on the outskirts of the Milky Way. An international team of astronomers, including from the University of Cambridge, discovered the massive object when trawling through data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite. The object, named Antlia 2 (or Ant 2), has avoided detection until…

In a series of exciting experiments, Cambridge researchers experienced weightlessness testing graphene’s application in space.   Working as part of a collaboration between the Graphene Flagship and the European Space Agency, researchers from the Cambridge Graphene Centre have tested graphene in microgravity conditions for the first time. Testing graphene’s potential in cooling systems for satellites,…

Researchers have successfully incorporated washable, stretchable and breathable electronic circuits into fabric, opening up new possibilities for smart textiles and wearable electronics. The circuits were made with cheap, safe and environmentally friendly inks, and printed using conventional inkjet printing techniques. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, working with colleagues in Italy and China, have…

Researchers have demonstrated how a non-toxic alternative to lead could form the basis of next-generation solar cells. The team of researchers, from the University of Cambridge and the United States, have used theoretical and experimental methods to show how bismuth – the so-called “green element” which sits next to lead on the periodic table, could…

A team of architects and chemists from the University of Cambridge has designed super-stretchy and strong fibres which are almost entirely composed of water, and could be used to make textiles, sensors and other materials. The fibres, which resemble miniature bungee cords as they can absorb large amounts of energy, are sustainable, non-toxic and can…

The researchers have developed an AI system which uses five different facial expressions to recognise whether a sheep is in pain, and estimate the severity of that pain. The results could be used to improve sheep welfare, and could be applied to other types of animals, such as rodents used in animal research, rabbits or…

The Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction is building on advances in sensing technology to learn everything possible about a city’s infrastructure – its tunnels, roads, bridges, sewers and power supplies – in order to maintain it and optimise its use for the future. It can be tough getting people excited about infrastructure because we often don’t…

Two black holes in nearby galaxies have been observed devouring their companion stars at a rate exceeding classically understood limits, and in the process, kicking out matter into surrounding space at astonishing speeds of around a quarter the speed of light. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used data from the European Space Agency’s…

An international team of astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, has obtained the most detailed ‘fingerprint’ of a rocky planet outside our solar system to date, and found a planet of two halves: one that is almost completely molten, and the other which is almost completely solid. According to the researchers, conditions on the…

The earliest-known example of Chinese writing – written more than 3,000 years ago on the bones of an ox – has become the world’s first Chinese oracle bone to be scanned and printed in 3D. Cambridge University Library, which is celebrating its 600th anniversary this year, holds 614 Chinese inscribed oracle bones in its collection.…

Researchers hope that working out the behaviours of soft solids, which can act like either solids or liquids, may make for tastier cakes – and safer oil wells. What do cake batter and a massive, offshore oil drilling rig have in common? The answer lies in a type of material known as a soft solid,…

Researchers have shown how a bizarrely shaped black hole could cause Einstein’s general theory of relativity, a foundation of modern physics, to break down. However, such an object could only exist in a universe with five or more dimensions. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University of London, have successfully simulated…

A low-cost, high-speed method for printing graphene inks using a conventional roll-to-roll printing process, like that used to print newspapers and crisp packets, could open up a wide range of practical applications, including inexpensive printed electronics, intelligent packaging and disposable sensors. Developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Cambridge-based technology company…

The present size and speed limitations of computer processors and memory could be overcome by replacing silicon with ‘phase-change materials’ (PCMs), which are capable of reversibly switching between two structural phases with different electrical states – one crystalline and conducting and the other glassy and insulating – in billionths of a second. View: Breaking the…

Faster, smaller, greener computers, capable of processing information up to 1,000 times faster than currently available models, could be made possible by replacing silicon with materials that can switch back and forth between different electrical states. Read: Quick-Change Materials Break the Silicon Speed Limit for Computers For more information visit http://www.cam.ac.uk.

A flexible display incorporating graphene in its pixels’ electronics has been successfully demonstrated by the Cambridge Graphene Centre and Plastic Logic. This is the first time graphene has been used in a transistor-based flexible device. The partnership between the two organisations combines the graphene expertise of the Cambridge Graphene Centre (CGC), with the transistor and…

A new method of building materials using light, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, could one day enable technologies that are often considered the realm of science fiction, such as invisibility cloaks and cloaking devices. Although cloaked starships won’t be a reality for quite some time, the technique which researchers have developed for…

A new app which turns any smartphone into a portable medical diagnostic device could help in the fight against diseases including HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in the developing world. A recently-developed mobile phone application could make monitoring conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, and urinary tract infections much clearer and easier for both patients and…

The realization of quantum networks is one of the major challenges of modern physics. Now, new research shows how high-quality photons can be generated from ‘solid-state’ chips, bringing us closer to the quantum ‘internet’. The number of transistors on a microprocessor continues to double every two years, amazingly holding firm to a prediction by Intel…