Koh-ding Pokémon success

Christ’s College student, Marcus Koh, has qualified for the 2026 Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco, using a computer code he developed from skills he learned through his maths degree. The 22-year-old student said the code predicts how the Pokémon he has “trained” would likely fare against opponents. He then uses this information to adjust their training and improve his chances of winning. Koh is a member of the University’s Pokémon Society, and has played the game competitively for around three years. Koh said: “I’m someone who tries to win by doing my ‘homework’, and the code saves me a huge amount of time.” He added: “I’m thrilled to be competing in my second World Championships. I feel that I’ve learned and improved so much as a player since last year, so I’m really hoping to give it my best shot.”

Trinity Tribute

Trinity College gardeners have recreated a 336-year-old garden to commemorate John Ray, a former Trinity Fellow. Ray was a 17th Century botanist, and a tutor at Cambridge, when he created his first garden. He taught mathematics, philosophy, literature, and Greek at Trinity – he also studied plants alongside his teaching, coining the terms “petal” and “pollen,” and laid foundations for modern biology. Trinity gardeners used plants that Ray documented planting in his garden at Trinity. Professor Richard Serjeantson, a fellow at Trinity, said: “I am delighted that this garden – perhaps the most scientifically important piece of land in seventeenth-century England – has been reimagined in recognition of the achievements of both scientists.”

Deadly discoveries

Cambridge researchers have found that early strains of the plague caused fatal outbreaks long before the famed Black Death pandemic in the 14th century. A study published in the journal Nature shows that the plague had already proved lethal in hunter-gatherer communities 5,500 years ago, before cities and agriculture were able to create the conditions that were usually associated with plague epidemics. Professor Eske Willerslev, member of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Genetics and the University of Copenhagen and leader of the research project, said: “Whether the earliest forms of plague were mild or virulent has been a matter of debate, but our findings demonstrate that these ancient strains were already highly lethal.”

New train station opens

The Office of Rail and Road has authorised the opening of the new railway station at Cambridge South. It will be fully operational from 28 June, and will run up to nine trains per hour from Cambridge South to Cambridge. The station’s location will allow access to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and is also close to AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre, the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and Royal Papworth Hospital. It also incorporates an art installation by Turner Prize nominee Mark Titchner.