University of Cambridge

Plant coming out of concrete

‘Absolute miracle’ breakthrough provides recipe for zero-carbon cement

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Concrete is the world’s most used building material, and making it is a particularly dirty business – concrete production alone is responsible for about 8% of total global CO2 emissions. But according to new research from the University of Cambridge, throwing old concrete into steel-processing furnaces not only purifies iron but produces “reactivated cement” as a byproduct. If done using renewable energy, the process could make for completely carbon-zero cement.

3d illustration of gut and stomach pain

79% of Crohn’s disease patients in remission after early intervention

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Led by researchers from the University of Cambridge, a clinical trial examined the effectiveness of giving the immunotherapy drug infliximab earlier, as soon as possible after diagnosis. They employed what’s called a ‘top-down’ strategy, meaning the drug was given straight after diagnosis regardless of the patient’s symptom severity. They found that this early intervention significantly reduces complications of this often debilitating disease, including the need for surgery by a factor of 10.