UCM

Complutense University of Madrid

Information
Av. Séneca 2, 28040 Madrid

addictions, Alzheimer's, Antarctica / Arctic, astrobiology, astrophysics, big data, bioethics, climate change, cancer, behavioural sciences, natural sciences, climate, quantum computing, pollution, covid-19, embryonic development, diabetes, gene editing, education, energy, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, rare diseases, ageing, epidemiology, STDs, physics, immunology, language, mathematics, microbiology, nanoscience, neuroscience, new materials, palaeontology, chemistry, robotics, mental health, AIDS / HIV, sociology, supercomputing, transgenics
Contact
María Milán García
Journalist at the OTRI Scientific Culture Unit
m.milan@ucm.es
617691087

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SMC participants

Lecturer of Palaeontology at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and affiliated researcher at CENIEH

Professor of Prehistory and member of the Institute for Feminist Research at the Complutense University of Madrid

Associate Professor at Camilo José Cela University, researcher at the HM Hospitales Health Research Institute (Madrid) and collaborating researcher in the Department of Personality, Evaluation and Clinical Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid

Professor of Astrophysics and Director of the Space Astronomy Group at the Complutense University of Madrid

Acute Cardiac Care Unit Coordinator. Cardiovascular Institute. Hospital Clínico San Carlos. Madrid; Associate Professor of Medicine at Complutense University of Madrid; and President of the Association of Ischemic Heart Disease and Acute Cardiac Care of the Spanish Society of Cardiology

Accredited professor, lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology and director of the Research Group on Testimony Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid

Professor of Biochemistry at the Complutense University of Madrid, president of the Spanish Society of Dietetics and Food Sciences (SEDCA) and treasurer of the Spanish Federation of Nutrition, Food and Dietetics Societies (FESNAD).

Lecturer in the Department of Theoretical Physics and member of the Dynamics of Disordered Systems group at the Complutense University of Madrid

Professor of Animal Health at the Complutense University of Madrid and advisor to the WHO in the field of antibiotic resistance

Permanent professor at the TRANSOC Institute of the Complutense University of Madrid

Contents related to this centre
meteorology

Two studies published in the journal Nature use artificial intelligence (AI) to try to predict the weather. One system, trained on nearly 40 years of global weather data, is capable of predicting global weather patterns up to a week in advance. The second, called NowcastNet, combines physics rules and deep learning for immediate prediction of precipitation, including extreme precipitation.

aspartamo

Reuters has reported that aspartame, one of the most common artificial sweeteners, will be listed as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organisation, in July.

sacarina

The WHO has issued a new guideline advising against the use of non-sweetened sweeteners for weight control or to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases. The recommendation is based on the findings of a systematic review published in 2022.

familia

Two decades of research has found no differences in psychological well-being and the quality of family relationships between children born through assisted reproduction with third-party intervention (gamete donation or surrogacy) and those born naturally. The results, published in Developmental Psychology, suggest that it is better to talk to them early, at preschool age, about their biological origins.

baby and dog

Babies who are exposed to dogs and cats during foetal development and early childhood have a lower risk of food allergies up to the age of three, according to a Japanese study published in PLoS ONE. Previous work has focused on the beneficial effect of dogs in this period, while this analysis, based on retrospective data from more than 66,000 children, also includes other pets such as cats and hamsters. According to the study, exposure to dogs is associated with a lower incidence of egg, milk and nut allergies, while contact with cats is linked to a lower incidence of egg, wheat and soy allergies. However, exposure to hamsters is associated with a higher incidence of nut allergy.

fecundacion

A sperm donor in the Netherlands has allegedly fathered more than 550 children in at least 13 clinics in the Netherlands and other countries. One of the mothers of these children and the Donorkind Foundation (Netherlands) have sued him. In Spain, there is a national registry of gamete and pre-embryo donors, and the law on assisted human reproduction techniques does not allow more than six babies to be born from the same donor. 

IA

More than two thirds of Spanish citizens think that artificial intelligence presents a very high or high risk that we will be manipulated with our data by companies or governments. However, just over a third believe that artificial intelligence will have an impact on improving the quality of public services and companies. These are some of the results gathered in the 2022 edition of the Survey of Social Perception of Science and Technology published today by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), carried out among more than 6,000 people with face-to-face interviews in the 17 autonomous communities.

sperm

Researchers in the United States have tested a new technique to select sperm and thereby increase the chances that the embryo will be of either sex. The proven efficacy is around 80 %. Although some countries such as the United States allow this type of procedure, in Spain it is prohibited except in cases of prevention of diseases linked to sex chromosomes. The authors of the article state that sperm selection is more ethically acceptable than embryo selection. The results are published in the journal PLOS ONE.

orbital debris

Space debris and satellites orbiting close to Earth have proliferated in recent years. Two articles in Nature Astronomy warn of their impact on light pollution. In the first, a team calculates the increase in the brightness of the night sky and warns of the effect on ecosystems and astronomical observations from Earth. In the second, which is a commentary, the authors call for limiting the production of artificial light and the number of satellites in orbit, calling on the scientific community to take on the big space and big light companies. Both articles are co-signed by Salvador Bará, from the Agrupación Astronómica Coruñesa, and the second by Fabio Falchi, from the University of Santiago de Compostela.

sucralose

A study in mice has found that high doses of the sweetener sucralose can reduce the immune response and, under certain laboratory conditions, alter its action against infections or tumours. The results are published in the journal Nature.