Topic description and stories

Madeline Lancaster in a lab

The neurobiologist who grew ‘mini-brain’ tissues in a dish

20 September 2021

When Madeline Lancaster’s attempt to grow neural stem cells ‘failed’ she had no idea that the floating balls of cells she saw in her petri dish were in fact miniature brain tissues. They would revolutionise our ability to study the early stages of brain development and take us closer to answering: what makes us human?

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HeLa: the cells that changed science

25 Feb 2021

Discover the incredible story of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cells enabled a scientific revolution and contributed to numerous...

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World first as Bell Burnell pulsar chart goes on display

08 Mar 2019

Iconic object exhibited for the first time, alongside works by Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University Library.

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Bridging the divide: philosophy meets science

12 Jul 2018

A unique three-year project to bridge the divide between science and philosophy – which embedded early-career philosophers into some of Cambridge’s...

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Image from Newton’s own annotated copy of Principia Mathematica

Sir Isaac Newton’s Cambridge papers added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register

01 Dec 2017

The Cambridge papers of Sir Isaac Newton, including early drafts and Newton’s annotated copies of Principia Mathematica – a work that changed the...

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Believing is Seeing: a Cambridge Shorts film

09 Nov 2016

Imagination is where ideas start: in the mind’s eye. The ability to think creatively – to dream the impossible – is behind the technological...

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Opinion: Only by keeping close ties with Europe can UK research remain globally competitive

08 Aug 2016

Ash Amin (Department of Geography) and John Bell (Faculty of Law) discuss the importance of European research collaborations, and how they might...

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Priceless treasures: in a shot commissioned to celebrate Cambridge University Library’s 600th anniversary, Professor Stephen Hawking is pictured with Newton’s annotated first edition of Principia Mathematica. Credit: Graham CopeKoga

Understanding gravity - from Newton to Hawking

29 Apr 2016

The most important publication in the history of science – Isaac Newton’s own annotated copy of Principia Mathematica – and other seminal works by...

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Newton, Darwin, Shakespeare – and an envelope of ectoplasm: Cambridge University Library at 600

23 Dec 2015

In 2016, Cambridge University Library will celebrate 600 years as one of the world's greatest libraries with a spectacular exhibition of priceless...

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Skulls in print: scientific racism in the transatlantic world

19 Mar 2014

A PhD student’s research at Cambridge’s Department of History and Philosophy of Science has revealed how racist ideas and images circulated between...

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The longitude problem: 300-year-old archive opened to the world

18 Jul 2013

It was the conundrum that baffled some of the greatest and most eccentric experts of the 18th century - and captivated the British public during an...

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Westminster

Economic growth and infrastructure resilience are key for Government’s new Chief Scientific Adviser

18 Apr 2013

Sir Mark Walport set out his priorities today at the Centre for Science and Policy’s annual conference

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Detail from the Ripley Scroll housed at the Fitzwilliam Museum

Body, soul and gold: quests for perfection in English alchemy

08 Nov 2012

From the elixirs of legend to transmutation of base metals into gold, medieval medical practice and social mobility were steeped in alchemy.

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