Tag: University of Oxford

Coal pollution is cutting solar power output

Stuart Mitchell

Pollution from coal-fired power plants is significantly reducing the energy output of solar photovoltaic (solar PV) installations, particularly where these are expanding side by side, according to new research led by UCL and the University of Oxford. The new study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, mapped and assessed more than 140,000 solar PV installations worldwide using satellite data. By combining this with atmospheric data on air pollution, the researchers calculated how much sunlight is lost and how this reduces electricity generation. They found that aerosols – tiny particles suspended…

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UNESCO and University of Oxford launch a free global course on AI and Rule of Law

Stuart Mitchell

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future challenge for justice systems. It is already being used in courtrooms, shaping evidence, decision-making, and access to justice. Yet many judicial professionals lack the guidance and tools to assess these systems in line with fundamental rights and the rule of law. To address this gap, UNESCO and the University of Oxford have launched AI, Justice and Rule of Law. This Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is designed to help justice professionals navigate the ethical, legal and human rights challenges of AI. Developed by…

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£1.7 million for the world’s first vaccine to prevent lung cancer

Stuart Mitchell

Researchers at the University of Oxford, the Francis Crick Institute and University College London have been granted £1.7 million of funding from Cancer Research UK and the CRIS Cancer Foundation to develop a lung cancer vaccine.  The team are seeking to create ‘LungVax’, the world’s first vaccine to prevent lung cancer in people with a high risk of the disease.   From COVID-19 breakthrough to lung cancer vaccine The LungVax vaccine will use technology similar to the highly successful Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.   In the same way traditional vaccines use part…

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Study confirms need for urgent transition to a circular economy for plastic

Stuart Mitchell

The Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ have released Breaking the Plastic Wave, one of the most comprehensive and analytically robust studies ever produced on ocean plastics. As a thought partner of the report the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, along with University of Oxford, University of Leeds, and Common Seas, has contributed its expertise on the circular economy and the plastics value chain. Read our perspective here. Breaking the Plastic Wave shows that plastic pollution is rapidly outpacing efforts to stop it. By 2040, if we fail to act, the volume of…

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